Carousel Ranch receives truck donation
Mike and Ann-Marie Bjorkman, of Team Bjorkman Real Estate, donated their box truck to Carousel Ranch, a nonprofit that offers equestrian therapy to children and young adults with special needs.
Just weeks before the ranch’s annual Heart of the West event, the organization’s biggest event of the year, Carousel Ranch’s truck was deemed beyond repair.
The Bjorkmans, who are also longtime supporters of the ranch, often allowed the ranch to borrow the truck, so when Heart of the West Founder Jeanna Crawford reached out to Mike, he immediately offered to donate it to them — for good.
“I was floored, but not surprised when he offered to donate it to us,” Crawford said in a prepared statement Wednesday. “Mike and AnnMarie have always been generous donors to Carousel Ranch, and it really was just like them to fill such a big need for us.”
A truck like this is used for so many things around the ranch yearround, according to Executive Director Denise Redmond.
“There are so many things we have to transport all year long,” Redmond said. “We are constantly needing a truck to move supplies on the 20-acre ranch, as well as for other events off-site during the year.”
A week before the Heart of the West event, the Bjorkmans delivered the truck, stopping to spend some time with the ranch’s staff, students and therapy horses.
“Year after year, they used the truck and always appreciated it so much,” Mike said in a prepared statement. “It seemed only natural to give it to them. You can always sell something, but making a difference for the kids means so much more.”
Though unexpected, the donation came just in the nick of time for their event, and Redmond said they couldn’t be more grateful.
“We simply can't do what we do without a box truck,” Crawford added. “The sheer size and magnitude of Heart of the West, not to mention the needs of daily tasks at Carousel Ranch, require women to move mountains. We can get a lot of ‘mountains’ in this truck. I'm absolutely overjoyed to add Team Bjorkman's horsepower to Carousel Ranch.”