Support the Minis
Since 2007 Hearts & Hooves has relied on borrowing and renting a truck and as you can imagine this has been very hard and is greatly effecting our ability to do our visits. We were so pleased when The Stollery Foundation had given us a conditional grant for $10,000 if we could match that amount before September 15th.
This spring and summer our family of Hearts and Hooves volunteers have held several fundraisers
- two pancake breakfasts with Saffron and the Rotary at Salisbury Greenhouse
- a chilli fundraiser
- hosted two BBQ’s one at Wal-Mart and the other at The Horse Showcase
- spent two days selling mini donuts at Wal-Mart
- we have done a bottle drive and several promotional tables at horse shows
- At Christmas we handmade ornaments and asked for sponsorships as part of our ‘Gift of Love’ campaign.
At this point we are close to our goal of $20,000. Though we need your help to reach our goal, and everything hinges upon the success of us being able to get to and from our visits.
We have partnered with Welcome Ford as they promise to help us by enabling our hard earned $20,000 to purchase a newer F250 or F350, gas, 4×4 Crew Cab to pull our horse trailer to and from our hundreds of visits per year and tote around our many youth volunteers.
As you know Hearts & Hooves, is a federally registered charitable organization, we operate in part as a rescue organization for Miniature horses, though we focus our initiatives on providing Equine Assisted Activities and Therapy to children with special needs, youth at risk, and seniors in care centres and hospitals. Hearts & Hooves is made up of a family of volunteers, a large majority who are youths and has been in operation since 2004 thanks to yours and others continued belief in our programs and initiatives.
If you would like to help us reach our goal please contact us or send donations in Hearts & Hooves name. Every donation counts, each dollar gets us closer to our truck.Tax receipts will be issued for all donations. We are so appreciative of your support and we just know we can do this. Thank you for helping us help others. We hope that with your endorsement and support we can visit more children, reach more lives, share more laughter, and love by bringing our little horses places they are needed for many, many years to come.
To learn more about what Hearts & Hooves is doing in your community keep reading.. there are some amazing programs happening.
Currently Hearts & Hooves has many new and exciting programs underway and in development and they are;
Horse, Health, and Harmony Initiative – focuses on including mini horses in the daily lives of seniors in long term care facilities through daily visits, the horses living acentresenters, and specialized programs coordinated with Recreational Staff, Physical Therapist, and Occupational Therapists in the benefit of improving the quality of life for senior residents in care.
- For the past 2 summers we have had 2 horses living at The Kipnes Seniors Center for Veterans in the Northside of Edmonton. The seniors there are actively involved in the care of the horses and the horses come indoors to visit the seniors several times a week. This program is the first of it’s kind in the world. Maybe you should say Canada – do we know that it is the only one like it in the “world” – Have you researched the entire world?
- We are very excited to report that Hearts & Hooves is actively creating a Research Study with the Capital Care Foundation to research the benefits and improvement of the quality of life for seniors with dementia and Alzheimers in care centers as a result of the interaction with Equine Guided Activities. Do you need permission from the designer of Equine guided Activities to use her terminology? We will be working alongside the Recreational Staff, Physical, and Occupational Therapists, and with the families of the seniors involved.
Spirit Quest Program – success orientated program that helps youth who have histories of abuse and have been involved with the law by incorporating the youths in volunteer activities and visits with the Hearts & Hooves mini horses. Hearts & Hooves Spirit Quest Program focuses on helping youth discover parts of themselves through interacting with miniature horses, seniors in care at a long-term care facility.
- Hearts & Hooves has submitted a grant to the Federal Government through The Horizon Program for seniors and is awaiting word on the success of our application for our Horses, Health, and Harmony Initiative, so we can sustain the Spirit Quest Program while involving seniors from 8 various centers to have a minimum of 5 visits sponsored a year. As part of this program we will be involving youth at risk as part of giving and getting love and acceptance in a truly unique form.
REACH OUT Program – goal orientated therapy based programs for children with special needs in Edmonton and area schools. Hearts & Hooves Reach Out Program provides social, motivational, educational, therapeutic, and recreational incentives and benefits to already existing programs and goals.
- Hearts & Hooves is very pleased to announce that we have received grants from The Edmonton Oilers, Dow Chemical Canada , Agruim, The County Clothes Line Foundation, and Wal-Mart which will fund 17 visits in and around Edmonton to classrooms for children with Special Needs. Hearts & Hooves will work closely with Teachers and various other professionals to develop individualized and purposeful visits to meet the needs of those we are visiting.
Horse N Around Program – Hearts & Hooves Youth Volunteer program meets to help with the care and rescue of the horses, fundraising initiatives, and many other meaningful and engaging goal orientated tasks at the farm. The youth in the program also act as handlers on all the weekend visits as well as the Day Programs hosted for groups at the farm. Our Youth Volunteers are an integral part of our visits in the community. We believe that our youth volunteers have the opportunity to engage in meaningful participation, we encourage civic engagement, building positive relationships, fostering work experience and life skills, while finding self worth and responsibility.
- Our volunteer program continues to grow as we are looking to attain means to support hiring a volunteer coordinator or a youth coordinator who will increase our volunteer programs to include 2 meetings a week for youths between 13 and 18 years of age.
Hearts & Hooves continues to provide simple and fun loving visits indoors to hospitals, palliative care units, dementia care placements, and seniors centers.
Hearts & Hooves continues to help miniature horses through means of rescue, ongoing care, adoption, and through advocating for them. Since 2004 we have rescued, rehabilitated, cared for, and adopted out 24 mini horses. Hearts & Hooves currently has 9 horses at the farm.
Hearts & Hooves offers Level I and Level II Workshops to teach the principles, guidelines, theories, and hands on training of Equine Guided Activities and Interactions with miniature horses indoors as part of therapy programs and holds training sessions 3 times a year.
Hearts & Hooves publishes educational and informational material to share with others on Human and Horse relationships with the intent to increase awareness of Equine Guided Programs as well as advocate for the proper care and treatment of horses. Hearts & Hooves has 3 Children’s Story books which we hope to publish as a means of advocacy and fundraising.
- Hearts and Hooves Canada
