November 2016
November is a time to give thanks for what we have and to give help to those who don’t. It feels good to give back, and there are so many ways to do it.
Every non-profit organization ramps up their fundraising activities this time of year, and programs such as #GivingTuesday, which conveniently follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday, have made it easy for people to get into the end-of-year giving spirit. Maybe the UHC version of #GivingTuesday should be #GeldingTuesday! I’ll have to work on that.
Yes, the season of giving is on my mind, and I didn’t want to just talk the talk, so last weekend I decided to walk the walk.
My family hosts an annual Halloween party. Rather than just revel with ghouls and goblins, and the hornet’s nest I happened to discover along the haunted trail, we asked guests to purchase eyeballs for $5 each and donate them to one of three causes. We had a personal connection to each cause and, obviously, found a creepy or graphic photo to represent each one. The first was the high school theatre program represented with images of zombies from last year’s production of Zombieland. The next image was of a pancreatic surgery for the great work being done at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Can you guess what the third image was for the final cause? Well, the extraction of testicles, of course!
Thanks to the generosity of our guests, we were able to turn a regular party into a giving party (fundraising really does have the word “fun” in it), and raise a couple hundred dollars for the three causes. I was happy to write a check to support the Operation Gelding program and hope to do so again next year.
I invite you to get out there and have some fun while raising funds for a cause important to you. For the equine enthusiast, there is no shortage of organizations to which you can donate cash, items, or time. And no gift is too small.
Although we work year-round to find solutions to reduce the number of unwanted horses, this time of year just seems to be the time we work hardest. Not only are organizations focusing on fundraising, but as most of you know, the actual need for these funds increases as winter arrives. One can never go wrong with a gift of feed and hay.
So, what am I thankful for? So many things. A good job, a great family, an old horse that thinks he’s all that… too much to list here. I’m also thankful for the many organizations that better the lives of humans and horses, and I’m grateful for each and every person who supports causes important to them.
This Thanksgiving, thank you for giving!
