NOT HORSING AROUND
MARE, other nonprofits seek to bounce back with virtual fundraiser
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, MARE Riding Center used to serve about 60 riders a week. Now, as it celebrates its 30th anniversary, the nonprofit organization is only seeing about four on a weekly basis.
As the pandemic has taken a toll on MARE’s ability to serve its clients — many of whom suffer from various disabilities — the therapeutic riding center rolled out a virtual fundraiser this week that ends Saturday. MARE, which stands for Mastering Abilities Riding Equines, has lost at least 50 percent of its revenue in 2020, according to Kimiko Kobayashi, MARE’s executive director.
“We’ve had to cancel all three of our fundraisers this year,” Kobayashi said. “We rely on the generosity of the community and the community itself is suffering.”
MARE’s virtual fundraiser has been in the form of a silent auction that’s featured $800 in gift cards to local restaurants, the raffle of a 2015 Honda Accord from Barbara Honda and a trip for two to the Caribbean. On Saturday, its fundraiser will go live at 6 p.m. on Facebook and YouTube as it begins drawing winners.
MARE provides equine assisted activities to individuals with disabilities, including children, adults and military veterans. Kobayashi explained that a large portion of their clients are children who are immunocompromised and much of their work requires more physical touch than many people are comfortable with right now.
However, she said she’s received feedback from parents telling her how much their children miss the horses at MARE. Parents of children with autism have reported to Kobayashi that when they’re receiving equine therapy, their child’s self-injury rate goes down and sometimes they speak their first words.
“Parents were saying it’s been hard on the kids because they had their special time and special therapy with
their horse,” Kobayashi said.
She said MARE has been providing barn tours for children who aren’t able to receive their usual therapy. These give the children the opportunity to interact with their therapy horses and feed them carrots, Kobayashi said.
Additionally, MARE isn’t the only nonprofit organization that will potentially benefit from the virtual fundraiser. Other local participating nonprofits include the Wounded Heroes Fund, the Noel Alexandria Foundation, All Seated in a Barn, Hoffmann Hospice, League of Dreams, JJ’s Legacy and Court Appointed Special Advocates of Kern County.
“None of us (nonprofits) have been able to do the normal way of keeping the doors open,” Kobayashi said. “We’ve had resources like the Paycheck Protection Program and applying for grants, but we just wanted to use this fundraiser as an opportunity for raising awareness to other nonprofits.”
Trinity Brown, founder of the Noel Alexandria Foundation — which provides free educational, emotional and financial resources to families that have been affected by pregnancy and infant loss — said that COVID-19 has greatly impacted her organization. She said the way they provide services has switched to a virtual format and that there’s been an increase in their expenses.
“As a result of COVID-19, families are being financially impacted, and we have noticed an increase in the need of financial assistance to help with burials, cremations and memorial expenses,” Brown said.
Amy Travis, executive director of CASA of Kern County, said they have canceled all their 2020 events and have changed how they fundraise, recruit and advocate for the children they serve.
She said that CASA has been able to see a rise in individuals volunteering through virtual recruitments. This comes as the Department of Human Services has seen a dramatic decrease in the number of suspected child abuse reports during the pandemic, Travis said.
“Unfortunately, we are confident that as soon as children are allowed to go back to school, child abuse referrals will begin to rise and more children will need a CASA volunteer,” Travis said. “This fundraiser supports our efforts in recruiting, training and supervising highly trained citizens to be effective voices for vulnerable foster youth.”
Bidding remains open for MARE’s virtual fundraiser until 8 p.m. Saturday at https://bit.ly/36JfDWv.