Our Cactuskate donation to charity

[Erin]

OK, folks… the contributions are (mostly) tallied, and Lisamarie is hard at work on our ad.

In total, I think we have collected somewhere around $2400-2500. The ad will cost about $1350. That leaves us with at least $1K (!!!) to donate to a charity in Kathy’s name.

The charity her family had mentioned to me was the Hospice of Yuma (Ariz.). Or, we could decide on a different charity, like the American Cancer Society, an equine rescue group, or something like that.

So… we need suggestions! Lisamarie wants to put our decision in the ad.

Thoughts? Ideas?

(BTW, for those who missed this round of threads… Cactuskate was a frequent contributor here who died of cancer last month. COTH BB’ers chipped in all this money to memorialize her in an ad in the COTH, and also to make a donation to charity.)

[Seven]

might be the one you are thinking of, Erin. It is in Arcadia, CA and has an excellent reputation.

=^+^=

I just haven’t been the same since that house fell on my sister.

[reefy]

50/50 is a great idea!

Unfortunately, I am in AZ but I don’t know what sort of horse rescues there are…I’ll ask around and see if there’s anything around.

Good idea

[reefy]

Hey Akrogirl!

I found those same links (thanks Google!)
but I wasn’t sure how to ‘link’ them into here.

I asked at the barn and the only response I got besides ‘I dunno’ was T.R.O.T (therapeutic riding of Tucson - not exactly a rescue but charitable none the less).

Sorry, I’m not much help! The only other thing I could think of was the humane society as they could do horse rescues but otherwise, I’m drawing a blank.

Jennifer

[Reginapony]

I am all for donating to the Hospice of Yuma. My father was able to die at home in his bedroom with the help of the local Hospice. They also gave my Mom and Brother a break during the day for a few hours. Dad needed constant supervision. I was working, so I helped out on my days off. I hope I can also die at home, surrounded with my favorite people and model horses. Leo can go to Ryerss farm for aged equine, if everything works out as planned.

Endurance Rider Wannabee!

[Sandbarhorse]

I vote for Hospice and Horses in the Hood 50/50.

Hopices are wonderful and many people can benefit from their help. Cactuskate was a horse lover and that’s how many of us “met” her and what made her feel that she wasn’t sick. Horses in the Hood is something she would have donated to if she had been able to. It’s also beneficial to the horses and the kids. Maybe a picture of her and her story will inspire some of the kids.

If it was me I think I would want both to get a donation. Horses are a part of my life that I wouldn’t be able to seperate and are for most horse lovers, but then again, I only knew her from the BB so maybe she wouldn’t want a 50/50.

[Cinnybren]

I’m like the 50/50 split idea as well. Just adding in my .02.

[akrogirl]

I am also in favor of the 50:50 split. I know there is a small rescue operation somewhere in Gilbert, not far from our barn, but I don’t know anything about its reputation. I would guess that it mainly deals with QH’s and paints given its location, but I will try to find out some more info.

[dublin]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Does the COTH Rescue horse need any additional funds to help offset the surgery he had? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Great suggestion, and I think definitely worth considering! If I recall correctly, the surgery ran around $3500 (???) and definitely wasn’t going to be covered by the money we raised for Patriot’s rescue.

"Of course, that's just my opinion.  I could be wrong." - Dennis Miller
Dude Clique ~ Denis Leary Fan 
Congratulations to the San Jose Sharks for a great season!  [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[Duffy]

The hospice here in town was wonderful when my sister was in her last few weeks - a very worthy cause.

Reginapony, how are you doing?

[Erin]

OK, I checked with Kathy’s friend and trainer, Jennifer, who talked it over with her sister and another friend, and they have given a blessing to Horses in the Hood.

So I’ll set up a poll as a new topic to decide if we do one or the other (hospice or HITH) or both.

[Duffy]

Sounds like a plan to me.

[wtywmn4]

50/50 split is a great idea…Hospice and a Rescue…Erin do we know which Chronicle it will be in yet?

[rockstarr]

I am so proud of the effort. It’s such a nice thing to do. I have no firm opinions on allocation. Whatever the body of contributors thinks is right is a-ok with me.

[muley1]

I think the hospice is the place to put the remainder of the money. They do wonderful work.
They’re not nurses, they’re angels.

[Pocket_Pony]

I like the 50/50, too.

I can’t wait to see the ad!

• I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. *

[akrogirl]

Here are some links to horse rescues in Arizona - unfortunately, I have no personal knowledge of any of them.

http://communities.msn.com/MadisCorral

http://werescuehorses.com/

http://members.aol.com/MudPony/

http://xs-xpress.20m.com/

[AllyS]

To Erin and WC Princess;
First I want to thank everyone that has contributed to Kathy’s fund. I am a friend of Kathy’s and rode with her here in Arizona. Actually, I couldn’t have ridden without her help and knowledge. Reading all of the kind words posted on this BB has been overwhelming. We all miss her very much.

A couple of years ago Kathy was thinking about starting up a school for under-priveldged and challenged kids, knowing the healing properties of inter-acting with horses. I even gave her an old article about Kathy Kusner and the riding school she is trying to establish in L.A. Anyway, neither one of us had the funds to do something like this, but I know it is something she thought about. I will talk to her family and close friends and see what they think. Thanks for everything.

AllyS

[Erin]

I’m bumping this up because we need to make a final decision… perhaps we can brainstorm a bit more on this thread, and then I’ll post a poll where we can vote.

I would agree that we should likely stick with better-known charities. Also, I think it would be nice if we could make the contribution to a charity that Kathy herself would have liked. Personally, I really like the idea of Horses in the Hood. But there are also some very good therapeutic riding programs in Phoenix. I’ll shoot off another email to Kathy’s sister and ask if she has any ideas.

I do think it would be nice for half of our contribution to go to the hospice.

Any other thoughts?

[Erin]

UPF is what I was thinking of Serendipity! I forget, do they do OTT rescues? I think most of Kathy’s horses were TB, so that would be appropriate.