A CENTER FOR 21ST CENTURY LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT:
Where the wisdom of the past, present, and future of leadership comes together for the dignity and benefit of all.
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Your Donations are Tax Deductible.
August 2023
First Nature Notes: Exciting Days Ahead
Dear Friends of First Nature Foundation,
Save the date! We have announced wine-tasting fundraiser on Friday, October 20! We invite you to Fall In Love With Nature with us at this fun event with wine samples, charcuterie and desserts. All proceeds from the ticket sales and silent auction will go towards continuing our programs that we hold at no cost to participants, like PASOS, Horse Wisdom for Heroes and Horse Sense for Teens. Please put this on your calendars, we’d love to have you with us!
After many brutally hot and humid days we are finally on a few more days of more moderate temperatures. By moderate, I mean temperatures around 90 degrees, with a heat index of 100, instead of temps around 96-97 with heat indexes well over 110-115, and we are thankful! So are the horses, as the heat gets to them, too, and they don’t get to come out of it and into air-conditioned spaces, like us!
We want to thank our summer staff members, Leyna Landers and Aimie Bissonnette, as they transition to the next chapter in their lives…college! We are sad to have them leave us, but we wish them much success and enjoyment as they experience their first semi-adult adventures. We are delighted to welcome Aslyn Maust and Callie Grace Hanson to our staff. They started several weeks ago and have been settling into the horse and facility-care routine very well. We are grateful for their help. We are also starting to welcome new volunteers who are in the local high school agricultural, veterinary, and/or Bright Futures scholarship programs.
Our most recent cohort in the Horse Wisdom for Heroes program has graduated, and we have started posting some short videos on Facebook where they talk about the value they’re getting from the program, so make sure to check those out.
As we ended the multi-session program with Lotus Behavioral Health in our Horse Sense for Teens curriculum, they asked us to continue the program on an ongoing basis! They decided to continue because they can see the value it is providing for the teens who are patients in their residential treatment program. At the ranch, these kids learn to be gentle yet assertive when needed, embody the confidence and vision of a leader but ask for help when they are struggling. It’s wonderful to see how they are growing through this experience. We do have some days available this fall, so if you want to bring a group out for a program book now before we fill our fall schedule.
CHECK AT THE END TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOW YOU CAN HELP US!
As a nonprofit, we need your support to continue to offer our programs and events. Fortunately, there are many ways to support us! See below for more information. And if you know of an organization looking for some novel, fun, effective leadership training for their executives or staff, we would be very happy to talk with them. We depend on word of mouth for all of these functions, so please do give a moment or two of thought to who you might know that could be interested in our mission and programs. We are now booking events and programs for the fall and winter months.
Please do come out to the ranch if you haven’t been in a while. Reach out and we’ll get a tour on the calendar. The horses would be delighted to see you and have you give them a treat!
How Can You Help?
Everyone has a talent or resource that is valuable. It could be time, money, contacts, or a love of horses. Every little bit helps, and your support can make a big difference in our mission. Here are some easy ways to help:
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Volunteer: Your time and skills to help with our horses, facility, or programs. Or are you interested in serving as a board member for our nonprofit? We are still looking!
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Donations: You can make a one-time donation, set up a recurring donation, or donate in-kind gifts, such as treats or equipment that can assist us with our programs and serving our clients. You can donate here!
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Advocate: Spread the word about First Nature and share our mission to equip our community with leadership skills for the 21st century.
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Sponsor a veteran or a teen: It takes $500 to sponsor just one veteran for their 6-week Horse Wisdom for Heroes program, or $300 for a teen in the Horse Sense for Teens program. Consider donating and sponsoring a veteran or teen.
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Fundraising: Have you helped a nonprofit with fundraising? If so, we’d love to speak with you!
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Join Us: Come to our premier Fall fundraising event, the wine tasting to support our no-cost programs for veterans and teens!
Simply reply to this email to get started with one of these items today!
Happy Almost-Fall!
Kerul and Crew
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First Nature Ranch / First Nature Foundation
“Where the past, present, and future of leadership come together for the dignity and benefit of all.”
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