July 2024
Hello RTI Friends and Supporters,
It’s hard to believe we’re over halfway through the year already! Since the beginning of 2024 we have hit the ground running. After having closed the Aurora Bakery last October, we have refocused on our founding program, our Donkey Program.
In 2023 we supplied 346 hours of supervised lessons at the farm in approximately 75 lessons with 1 – 4 individuals each session, and we completed 42 “On the Road” events:
• 6 School Events – Childcare centers to High Schools
• 5 Library Events
• 22 Assisted Living/Nursing Home Visits
• 1 Lesson Program Day at Full Circle Farm Therapeutic Riding Center
• 8 Community Events - South Congregational Church events, Hay Days at the Fells, and a Live Nativity at Faith River Church
We currently have 12 participants coming to the farm on a weekly basis. Our “On the Road” Program has been extremely busy as well with 29 visits to area care centers, libraries, and community events to date, with 19 more scheduled and more events being added to the calendar each week. Please be sure to check out our Events Calendar.
We are thankful for our community supporters. Eversource, through their employee community volunteer program, sent about 40 employees to fence two new paddocks for the donkeys in early November 2023. New Hampshire Charitable Fund which assisted with our 2023 “On The Road” program, The Newport Service Organization which has supported our program yearly since 2011, and the Sullivan County United Way. Also, a shout out to the numerous individuals who donate time and money to our program.
Paul Cuno-Booth from New Hampshire Public Radio joined us for a Farm Program visit and an “On the Road“visit to Pine Rock Manor, in Warner. Please click on the link to read the article, “They Recognize Us.”- A herd of miniature donkeys is bringing NH comfort and joy.
News | Road To Independence (rti-aurora.org). This article was also published in the Valley News and picked up by the Boston Globe!
In addition to the NHPR interview, the Soo Nipi magazine ran an article about RTI in their Winter 2023 edition and The Newport Times had an article “A Hometown Hero – Margaret Coulter” in their November/December 2023 edition. Click on this link to read the article! A Hometown Hero! Margaret Coulter (rti-aurora.org). Needless to say, with all this publicity we have had an increase in visit requests!
We are excited about our new fundraising avenue. Instead of an in-person event, we have recently partnered with Harness Giving, an online organization who assists nonprofit fundraising. https://www.goharness.com, We have launched new fundraising options on our website, Round Up for Road To Independence and a donation platform that stays within our website. With this new platform, people can choose to support our various program areas, sponsor a donkey’s care, sponsor a participant, or can Round Up their debt/credit card purchases and donate the change to us! Donation information can also be accessed by Texting Independence to 269-89. With this assistance, we hope to make it easier for supporters. Please let us know.
In other news, we added a new donkey to our herd this year! Please join us in welcoming Pinata to RTI. Pinata is a standard size, gray jenny donkey. Since she has joined us, Margaret has been working with her to acclimate her to our program and introduce her to our farm program participants. As a standard size donkey, Pinata is larger than our miniature donkeys, but she is just as sweet!
In addition to running our different programs, we at RTI are always looking for new volunteers who have an interest in assisting us in the many aspects of running a nonprofit organization. We are looking for folks who can assist with our donkey visits, our website, social media, marketing, and grant writing. Volunteer Program | Road To Independence (rti-aurora.org)
Upcoming Donkey Events - Come see us at any of the following!
August 3, 2024 New London Hospital Day Parade
August 11, 2024 Small Horse and Donkey Show, Goose Pond Equestrian Center in Enfield
August 24,2024 Wilmot Farmers Market from 9am to 12
Check out the Events page on our website to see what is on the schedule! We hope to see you “On the Road” on one of our many adventures.
Best –
Margaret, Pepper, Nutmeg, Pinata, Leonard, Pimpernel, Cameo and the rest of the RTI Board of Directors
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