Nancy's Blog
A round of applause for Sue Pearce!
A round of applause for Sue Pearce! She won the prestigious Cruikshank award from United Way!
This award was established in 1993 by the United Way Board of Directors to honor the first recipients, Nan and Pete Cruikshank, for their service in the establishment of the UW Information and Referral Service. This year is the Seventeenth Annual Cruikshank Spirit of the Community Awards.
The awards are based on the following criteria:
Need: Nominee who has contributed to a needed service to the community
Action: Nominee who has been physically active in service, not just a figurehead
Initiative: Nominee started a new program, used new methods to solve problems or initiated activities
Impact: The activity of the volunteer service produced positive changes and set an example for other volunteers
Time: The amount of time devoted to the activity, service or agency was significant
This year recognition is being awarded in three categories: 1. A group 2. Adult (ages 18+) and 3. Youth/ Youth Group (under age 17)
Sue Pearce was nominated in the Adult Category for her Exceptional Services rendered to Dream Catchers. She helped to elevate Dream Catchers from a small unknown not-for profit in Toano to a leader in the broader local community as well as the professional therapeutic riding community by 1) developing and implementing a strategic plan to provide equine activities to students with an array of disabilities and by 2) developing the board and the staff to achieve those goals.
Sue is an intrigal part of our DC Family and we are so very proud of her and her gifts! We are truly honored to have her as part of our team; as a part of our family. It is these accomplishments that make Dream Catchers Shine!
Thank you Sue and again, CONGRATULATIONS!!
Nancy
The Dream Catchers Family
I often refer to “the Dream Catchers Family” when speaking to people. What exactly does this mean? Who is in “the family”? Dream Catchers is a community unto itself, with ties to people across the geographic region, the nation, and the world. Certainly, the staff members are part of the family. We support each other through the illnesses and loss of parents, children and pets, and celebrate life-changing events such as Ben Conner receiving his PhD from Princeton in Divinity and the upcoming marriage of our own Lauren & Ben.
Our students are part of our family—including former students. This week a former student who is just entering the 6th grade lost her father very suddenly. Our thoughts and prayers are with her. This week we also learned a long-time student has recovered sufficiently from cancer that she doesn’t have to have a bone scan for a whole year! Congratulations Sarah!!!
Our volunteers make up a big part of our family. We were saddened when a wonderful volunteer lost her husband. We are worried about another supporter who when he was suddenly hospitalized. We are excited when our young volunteers are accepted into college and our volunteers who have retired from careers take fabulous trips to places like the Galapagos Islands and Alaska. Our new board chair, Karen Jamison is celebrating the birth of her first grandchild- in Australia! Mike and Sally Derrig welcomed grand- baby Chloe to their family just last Friday.
Our campers come from California (welcome back Emily!) and Wisconsin (Hello Piper!). They spread the word about what it means to work with people with special needs. We hope our local campers will become regular volunteers, and share the values of caring, compassion, and support that are the credo of the Dream Catchers family.
Together, we work to support Dream Catchers as a whole, and each member of our family. We garner financial support by supporting businesses that support us. We advocate for the riders and the horses (watch for the upcoming “adopt a horse program”). We collaborate with other organizations to create a community that welcomes diversity and people with special needs- the Fall Festival at Dream Catchers on September 13th is a partnership between us, Capernaum, and PASHN- parents and advocates for special housing needs.
We are a family.
Every Little Bit
Do you ever notice that a series of unrelated things will seem to gel together as a theme? It strikes me that just like in a family; Dream Catchers needs everyone to be involved. We appreciate our “big” donors—but we also appreciate the acts of kindness that people extend to us every day. This morning Bobby Wood of Golden State Foods Foundation http://www.gsffoundation.org/ presented a check on behalf their employees for scholarships. This will provide funds for four students to ride for one session. Yesterday we had some hay donated by Ms. St. Clair, and the hay man, Steve Smith, donated his labor, a helper, and his truck to move the hay and unloaded it for us. That was incredibly helpful. The day before that Hi-Ho Silver http://www.hihosilveronline.com/about/index.html, a wonderful jewelry store in New Town, Williamsburg gave us a percentage of everything they sold that evening, while we hosted a reception in their store. We didn’t make a million dollars, but we made new friends and old friends and students came out to support the effort. Estelle, who I referred to in my last blog, started this thought by helping us get the specialty fly-off blankets for three of our horses.
We just finished our third camp of the summer- and we could not have done that without the hard work and dedication of our teen-age volunteers. They give what they have- time! And while I am rambling on this note, I have to say, if you are ever disenchanted by teens today, come meet our teenage volunteers! They could be at home, coach potatoes, or hanging at the pool, texting or listening to ipods; but they are here- often from 8:30 a.m. until after 5:00 p.m. Mandy, Hannah, Katie, Chelsea, Courtney, Lindsey, Adam, Cassie, and Ali ( in no particular order), spend time organizing activities, walking next to the horses while the campers learn to ride, fix lunches, and teach them horse handling. They have adult supervision- certified instructor, Gwen Zimmerman, but camp could not happen if it were not for our teen-age volunteers. And a huge percentage of the therapeutic lessons wouldn’t happen either. Yesterday we had our busiest day that didn’t include a special event. Thirteen special education students and ten campers were here at the same time. The parking lot was full! The vast majority of volunteers were our teens. They made the day.
So, the common thread in this ramble is that everyone can do something. It doesn’t have to be a big check- a “little” check helps chip away at the expenses. It doesn’t have to be a full day of service; an hour is meaningful in the life of each of our riders. To each of you who support Dream Catchers, on behalf of our students, thank you. You are making a difference in the life of a child. You are helping them find freedom on the back of a horse.
Horses are loving their new fly preventive blankets
Jake, Charlie and Merlin are thankful for their new Boett Sweet Itch Blankets. They prevent painful fly bites while out in the pasture. Thank you Estelle, from Estelle’s Safety Reflective Wear and Ed from our Board for your thoughtful support. Because of you, these three Dream Catchers horses are much more comfortable!
The Horse Bio Page is Up
This Page will be used to show all of Dream Catcher’s Horses, with link to a form where you can sponsor each horse.