Sunday, October 27, 2013

Girl Power

This Sunday, we were blessed with beautiful weather, wonderful animals and fantastic women.  Two lovely ladies from Lighthouse Care Center brought six girls to the barn.  We were graced by the presence of several volunteers from diverse backgrounds.

As always, we are beyond grateful for the support we receive from our volunteers.  The diversity of our volunteers provides our riders different people from whom to connect.  We are so happy to have formed a connection with the Beta Club at Carolina Forest High School.  These young girls act as peer mentors for our riders.  We appreciate them sharing their time with us!

The girls are beginning to make progress in their riding skills.  It has been fun to watch some of these ladies, who at one time were scared to even brush a horse, but are now trotting independently.  As always, Maya is a great learning tool.  What better way to teach leadership and communication than through a sometimes stubborn mare?  I always tell our riders that we need to communicate through our bodies, with good posture and confidence and that horses and humans will take us more seriously when we do.  It makes me laugh when our riders have the "ah-ha" moment and realize that sometimes in life they are the stubborn mare!

It was really exciting for me to see the willingness of our riders to give back.  Today, not only did they get to participate by riding, we also had some tasks for them to do at the barn.  They got to see what it takes to care for our animals.  The girls put in some hard work and dug some holes for fence posts for a new pen for barn favorites, Rosie and Schooner.  It is because of our volunteers and role models that they were able to see that woman can accomplish these labored tasks.  Next time they are with us, they will be able to witness what their hard work was for.

It always makes me smile that we have to practically drag the kids out of the barn.  It tells me that we have created a positive environment and that our horses are part of the healing process!

Monday, October 21, 2013

Serving Aces for Smiling Faces

There have been some exciting happenings for the Fidelis Foundation since my last post!  First of all we are continuing to serve approximately 30 youth each month!  It is due to the outstanding efforts of our volunteers that we are able to touch the lives of these children.

I wanted to keep you all updated with some of the happenings occurring on an organizational level.  We are seeking accreditation from PATH International. We are hoping this accreditation will help us better assist the youth, increase our likelihood for grants, and improve our community awareness. Jennifer and I will be attending  a conference in November to begin the process.

Lastly, I wanted to invite you all to "Serving Aces for Smiling Faces," a tennis tournament to benefit Fidelis.  The event will take place on November 16th at Prestwick Country Club.  The event will begin in the morning with breakfast provided by Chick-fil-a of Surfside. Following breakfast some of our younger riders will trade their reins for racquets and try some skills on the court!  Following the demonstration, participants will play in a tennis mixer.  Registration is only $25. Following game play, lunch will be held at the clubhouse courtesy of Subway.  Photographs from the tournament will be available for purchase, a 50/50 raffle will be held and a special prize for the winners of the tournament!

Fidelis is currently looking for court sponsorships for this event. Blue ribbon sponsorships are available for $100 and red ribbon sponsorships for $50.  We would like to extend a special thanks to those business who have already committed to sponsoring this event and helping us "Change Lives, One Stride at a Time."