Great Strides Therapeutic Riding, Inc.

Hurricane Katrina Hay Relief Effort - Round 1 a Success!

Vicki Carson's email said it best:

Hurray! The hay is in LA! Louisiana, that is. A whopping big 53-foot long box trailer left Flying Chesterfield Farm Wednesday, September 14, full of 640 bales of donated hay bound for the Lamar Dixon Expo Center Horse Rescue site in Gonzales, Louisiana. We received a report that the hay was delivered Thursday, September 15 to an appreciative crowd and the truck turned for home. Thanks to the abundant generosity of Maryland hay producers, the rescued horses in Louisiana had enough hay to eat for a week, and we determined that we have enough hay donation pledges to fill two more tractor trailers! Our truck driver, Mike Murphy of the Braddock Heights Volunteer Fire Department generously offered to donate his time and truck again for another run. Thanks to the wonderful generosity of those who sent contributions (you know who you are!), we had enough money to cover the transportation costs (mostly fuel), and are making progress toward raising enough to send Mike back to Louisiana with another load of hay in the next couple of weeks.

Our driver, Mike Murphy

Mike Murphy - Our Relief Driver - Braddock Heights Volunteer Fire Dept.

What a community effort it was to pull this trip together. Many, many thanks to everyone who stepped right up without hesitation to help the horses and other animals in need as a result of Hurricane Katrina's devastation. On behalf of Great Strides, I want to give special thanks to the following people without whom we would never have pulled it off so quickly and smoothly:

The entire Great Strides staff and board of directors and the group of strong-backed volunteers who loaded all that hay at Great Strides Farm and Flying Chesterfield Farm.
John Carson and Dave Taylor, who ran all over Carroll and Frederick counties with trucks and trailers picking up hay donations and bringing them to the staging area from farmers who were busy in the fields making hay this week.
Sherri Thornley for the use of her hay elevator
Mike Murphy for arranging the use of a donated truck and trailer and his time to drive the hay to Louisiana,
Mary Mease and her husband John, of Criswell Chevrolet, for making the connection with Mike Murphy
Charles Brault of Bought the Farm, Jerry Watt of Cedar Knoll Farm, Kristen Lawyer of Winterbrook Farms, Todd Greenstone, Mike and Lisa Reid of Black Fox Farm, John Condon of Condon Farms, Daphne Boogaard of Tulip Pond Farm, Reddemede Farm, and Pierre Gabriel of Burgundy Farm for large hay donations and pledges for the next truckload.
Laurel Scott and Tracy McKenna and the staff of the Equiery, Rebecca Roach of Moon Rising Farm and Mike Bell and Janie Dell of the Carroll County Cooperative Extension Service and George Little of the Maryland Small Farm Cooperative for getting the word out to the community.

Many of you have volunteered to help with foster care and adoption of horses whose owners are unable to reclaim or relocate them. I am attempting to get information from the Louisiana and Mississippi departments of agriculture regarding the plans for that step. I will share information as I receive it.

Heartfelt thanks to all of you,

Vicki

Our Katrina Hay Relief Donor Honor Roll

Hurricane Katrina Hay Relief Effort - Round 1

Great Strides is grateful to all those who contributed to our collection of hay and feed for horses affected by Hurricane Katrina, in September, 2005. In response to urgent requests from the Louisiana Farm Bureau, the director of the horse rescue center near Baton Rouge, and the LSU horse rescue hotline, our Executive Director Terry Lewis and board member Vicki Carson spearheaded this very successful effort. We worked with rescue and relief workers in Louisiana and Mississippi to coordinate getting them help in the form of donations and supplies. Over just two weeks we collected over $8,350 and over 640 bales of hay for horses stranded or abandoned in the Gulf region. Also playing a key part in this effort was our AmeriCorps member - Volunteer Maryland Coordinator Elise Scott. (That's her reaching for a bale of hay in the "Loading Hay" photo, below.) Thanks, again!

Hay Truck - Supersized

The big hay truck arrived at 9 am to load up and get going!

Hay truck 2

Hay Delivery

We were grateful to have a delivery of hay that we could just move from truck to truck. This shipment was transfered right in the driveway of the Great Strides farm.

Sunny

Hay Loading

After finishing at Great Strides, the crew moved to Vicki Carson's place in Carroll County - Flying Chesterfield Farm. She had collected hundreds of bales at her place, too, and here you see the hay being loaded.

Young people loading hay

Young people pitched in!

Here you see some of our local students who took some time to help us get the hay loaded. Thanks, y'all!

Adults loading hay

Adults pitched in!

Here are some of the adults who took time to load hay. Thanks, y'all!

Young people loading hay

Finally the hay is loaded!

The truck was nearly full, save a few more bales and some supplies. Then it went on its way to Louisiana to the Lamar Dixon Horse Expo to bring much needed meals to the 200+ horses living there.

Great Strides Therapeutic Riding, Inc. --- www.GreatStrides.org