12/15/2009 4:39:00 PM
Christmas at the Ranch in Cornville
Event supports Connections Equine Therapy
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| Courtesy photos
Connections founder Andrea Baldwin said the non-profit equine program, with the help of horses, assists at-risk and disabled children, teens and adults to cope with challenges and also to grow stronger physically and emotionally. |
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CORNVILLE - It happens Dec. 19, and it's going to be like a day at the fair. The event is Christmas at the Ranch, and proceeds will help support the Connections Equine Therapy Program in Cornville.
Connections founder Andrea Baldwin said the non-profit equine program, with the help of horses, assists at-risk and disabled children, teens and adults to cope with challenges and also to grow stronger physically and emotionally.
"What most people don't know," Baldwin said. "is that we do equine assisted psychotherapy." She said Connections has worked with a lot of populations, including those with addictions.
Baldwin said this is the first year for the Christmas at the Ranch fund-raising event, although Connections was founded in 2000.
Connections Ranch is located at 11585 Purple Sage Rd, but parking will be at Oak Creek School, also on Purple Sage Road. "We'll have signs up," Baldwin said. A free, hay-wagon shuttle will move people to the ranch and back to the parking lot.
Admission to the event is also free. But, just like at a real fair, tickets for activities and events will be $1 each.
Those tickets will be used for face painting, horse rides, toys in a haystack games, chicken bingo and for making Christmas ornaments. Food, including chili, corn dogs and soft drinks, will be available for purchase.
Photographs of individuals on a horse, or with Santa or for the whole family will be available for $10 each.
A $20 raffle ticket will offer an opportunity to win $1,000.
All of the money goes to keep the ranch's programs going. "We try to make every penny count," Baldwin said. The ranch offers a sliding-scale system of payment to clients so that those who can't afford the program can still be part of it.
Besides raising money for the ranch, Baldwin hopes the Christmas at the Ranch event will encourage some of the guests to think about helping out with the program.
"We're always looking for volunteers," she said. "And they don't need to be horse people."
The ranch needs volunteers who can help with secretary and bookkeeping duties, grant writing, and taking care of the horses.
Baldwin said about four hours of training is provided for all volunteers.
The event begins at 10 a.m. and runs until 4 p.m.
"This is a good, clean, wholesome family activity," Baldwin said.
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