Giving Circle Year-End Gratitude & Feast of Epona
We are wrapping up the year 2025 and taking a moment to share our thanks and process with you. In today's bulletin, we'll share:
- An invite/reminder for Feast of Epona (Sat. 12/20)
- Fall Support Drive updates
- A Giving Circle Roundtable share, with an invitation to share your voice
- Introduction and celebration of team members and teams
Feast of Epona is our annual gathering of Red Horse Giving Circle supporters, including volunteers, donors, and sponsors. It's a potluck with Danish Glögg, Æbleskiver, and camaraderie. We look forward to connecting with many of you there!
Fall Support Drive
We are still wrapping things up from the Fall Support Drive, but we want to share our thanks for engagement and listening. We saw many of you at Farm Days, Allyship Series events, First Fridays, and in Rountable conversations, in-person and online. We received donations, in-kind services, and new invitations to connect with employer matches. We also raised $2,000 in the Artful Auction, all the while onboarding several new folx to the Red Horse human herd. (Update below!). All told, our fundraising efforts raised over $25,000 in support, and we couldn't be more grateful!
We leaned in and learned a lot, and look forward to Winter that includes our Saugatuck Second Line - Mardi Gras Pub Crawl and other fun ways to engage.
Giving Circle Roundtable and Brainstorming
We appreciated the connection and conversation at our virtual and in-person roundtables this fall. We spend some time touring the Red Horse programs and structure, for those who'd like to deepen their understanding of our mission, as well as what we do, who we do it with, and who we do it for. The slides from those roundtables are here. We conclude the sessions by circulating clipboards for feedback and discussion. If you'd like to share our ideas, you can add to the clipboards using this handy form/survey. Hearing from our community is a wonderful way for us to be informed, inspired, and supported.
Giving Team Introductions
The 2024 Giving Team set a course for us to understand how to foster our connection to supporters through and with our values. With their help, we participated in specialized training, we shaped our Giving Circle in a way that felt authentic, equitable, and supportive, and we dove headfirst into adapting organizational tools that sometimes felt big and confusing, but has ultimately helped us communicate and organize. We also created the inaugural Giving Circle Open House (aka the Roundtable)
Big thanks to Laenne, Abena, Ashley, and Kirsten for their generous contributions. and support.
In 2025, we needed to build the next version of the team to accommodate some changing life plans within that core group. Kirsten played an amazing role in guiding the transition to bringing Caraline in as the new team lead, with Theresa and Carl joining and getting their Red Horse learn on.
What does this mean for you? Our goal is to provide a connection to our most central supporters and a warm invitation to those who'd like to learn more and find out how they can participate. We hope to complement our digital outreach with human interaction and conversation. You might hear from one of them, reaching out to say thanks, invite you to coffee, or a Red Horse event. If you have questions or ideas about anything Red Horse, but especially related to Support Drives and all-things Giving Circle, you can reach out and start a conversation. Of course, Fred, Ulla, and Jenny are always on hand if you want a deeper dive into services, but the Giving Team is there to nurture and grow the giving circle with community and relationships in mind. As they say, we are more together.
You can learn more and say hi by checking out the Giving Circle page here.
More Red Horse Team Updates & Additions!
Events and Sponsorships
The story of this fall has been the growth of our human herd! Susie Daly has joined as Event Coordinator (& Sponsorships!), which is a big help, and she's busy coordinating sponsors and other details for our Saugatuck Second Line - Mardi Gras Pub Crawl on February 17th. Welcome Susie!
Trail Guides
We've also been so fortunate to grow our systems support with the addition of Stacy McDonald as our data guru, who will be assisted by Muktha. Navigating our services seems simple compared to figuring out how to manage and report on the increasingly complex data and tools. We're so glad to have new trailguides on hand to help. (Big thanks to Kyle and Kent at Black Lab 5 and Matt and Bonnie of Nonprofit Accelerator, who helped set the course to get us this far!)
Development
Grant research and writing can be a difficult endeavor. Thankfully, we have anchor Development team members, Bonnie & Tom, joined by new team leads, Sam and Kirsten, and new researchers Suri, Muktha, and Kelly. That's a lot of progress and fresh horsepower to an essential effort of funding outreach.
Herd Care
What can be said about our Herd Care team? They muck the run-in sheds, paddocks, and pastures, brush and connect to the horses, and keep eyes on the herd for wellness updates. They work in any weather and make it through flies, sweat, and mud. We are so grateful for the time they spend with the herd, and helping us keep their space clean. This team is led by Jenny and includes the tireless crew made up of Allison, Donna, John, Jen, Julie, Kathy, Kevin, Norm, Donna C., Sam, and Teji. THANK YOU!
Juniper's Dreamers
We've had a small but mighty crew of folks, helping us brainstorm and make decisions as we prepare Juniper's Retreat House for a Spring opening. Thank you to Ulla, Amy, Andrea, Eugenia, Janada, Julie, Maggie, Kate, Sue, and Tanne for your generous spirit, helping make things hygge!
Facilitation
Ulla, Jenny, Fred, and Teji continue to connect to clients in many different capacities. Teji is in the process of moving her horses and self to nearby South Bend, Indiana, while she will continue to see some clients at Red Horse. Thank you, Teji, for the work you've put into helping the farm and your clients!
& More!
We're working on a name for our other generous volunteers who come out regularly for special projects of all kinds. Folks like Erin, Kim & Mark, Eric, Dell, and Gisel. Thank you so much for your continued support.
We will be spending some time over the winter to connect, brainstorm, and shape our offerings to help people engage with mental health, wellness, and professional development services inspired by and in collaboration with horses, dogs, art, and nature.
From our herd to yours, we wish you all the best as we head through the holidays and into the new year and approach the Year of Fire Horse!
The Red Horse Board and Herd,
Fred, Ulla, Jenny, Tom, Abena
Sydney, Juniper, Maya, Gus, Clara, Prince, & Freya
