December has been an amazing month at Hoofprints. We have been blessed by several large donations and two very generous grants.  We are so grateful to the foundations and persons responsible for these funds!  This type of support guarantees that the program will continue to operate with a strong financial foundation and will have the funds available to add programs and equipment as they are needed.

• We thank The Claire Giannini Foundation for the largest grant we have ever received!
• We thank The Safeway Foundation for a significant grant which will be used to begin a preschool program
• We thank Dan and Keri Crask for a generous monetary donation and for sponsoring future leadership/strategic planning training for the staff and board of directors.
• We thank Carol Turanin, who has a Horse Massage business in Danville, for her generous donation.
• We thank five, generous repeat donors:  Jeff and Ann Csillay, the Setchell family and extrateam, Barbara Pallo, Mary Maenchen, and Gay Maestas.  Their continued support is very reassuring.
• We thank Walt and Marilyn Chaney for an early Christmas present of a rubber tire horse swing. The kids will love it!

We send our sincere thanks to all these wonderful people who humble us and help us remember to be grateful everyday!

 

On October 15^th we had a very special visitor at the ranch.  Rupert Isaacson, author of The Horse Boy was in the Bay Area for appearances at the openings of his documentary film by the same name.  He very graciously accepted our invitation to spend an afternoon at Hoofprints to meet the children, staff and horses. After a tour of the Center, Rupert joined our teachers in the arena for a demonstration lesson. His calm demeanor and creative spirit permeated the ranch and left us with abundant creative energy.  His family has established New Trails Center in Elgin TX, near Austin, which services families of children on the autism spectrum as well as normally functioning children. We were able to compare notes and had many ideas to share.

On Saturday, Oct. 17 a group from Hoofprints attended the opening of The Horse Boy movie in Berkeley.  We found it to be a very inspiring, hopeful and authentic representation of his family’s quest for healing for his son, Rowan. We give the film 5 stars! The description of life with an autistic child and interviews with experts in the field were very enlightening and helpful. horseboymovie.com

Two sunny Saturdays in October found large groups of young people tirelessly doing yard work around the ranch.  They trimmed trees, raked leaves, weeded the flower gardens and did general clean up.  The October 10th group, numbering about 20, was the Middle School young people’s group from St. Raymond’s Catholic Church in Dublin with their leader Kari Stempfle.  It has become a tradition for this group to come in the fall. This is their third workday at Hoofprints.

The Oct. 17^th group of about 25 young people and adults were participating in the Building Bridges to Work Project sponsored by the San Ramon Presbyterian Church. They represented San Ramon Presbyterian Church and Valley Gospel Church In six hours they had the place looking really spiffy.  Hoofprints is so grateful for groups like these.  The Hagemann Ranch is a large area and we always appreciate help maintaining the grounds.

If you are thinking about opening a bank account of any type, think no longer!!! Go to ComericA Bank and support Hoofprints on the Heart! ComericA Bank believes in supporting their community by donating to local non profit organizations. Everyone who opens any type of account at ComericA receives a ComericA Cash and Care card which entitles them to choose their favorite from a list of non profit organizations. ComericA will then donate $100.00 to that organization. Be sure to choose Hoofprints on the Heart from the list!
The local branch of ComericA is in Pleasanton at 600 Main St. Suite A.
comerica.com/cashandcare