«Return to News ListingNMCTR Receives a Grant from the Rotary Club of Santa Fe!

March 4, 2017 – 

Each year on July 4th, the Rotary Club of Santa Fe hosts “Pancakes on the Plaza”, their big fundraising event for the year. At the end of the calendar year, the Club accepts grant applications from non-profit agencies in Santa Fe. The proceeds from the Pancakes event are then awarded to several of those programs. The New Mexico Center for Therapeutic Riding is pleased and proud to announce that we have been awarded a $15,000 grant from the Rotary Club of Santa Fe for 2017!

These grant monies will be used to fund a pilot outreach project with Special Education programs in the City of Santa Fe School District. Scholarships will be earmarked for students to participate in therapeutic riding activities at NMCTR during the Spring and Fall Semesters. In the spring, students from Eldorado Community School, Nina Otero Community School, and the New Mexico School for the Deaf, a total of five classes in all, will enjoy an eight-week session getting acquainted with aspects of horsemanship. Activities will include learning about safety in an equine-related setting, caring for the horses (grooming and tacking up), and riding. Each student will be encouraged to participate to the extent that his or her age and abilities allow. Additional schools will be targeted for the fall.

Some grant funds will be used to purchase equipment needed for the project. A special handicap adaptive saddle will be acquired to accommodate our riders. The grant monies also will allow us to add new safety helmets for riders and selected tack items for the horses.

On February 23rd, our Program Director, Ashley Armijo, attended a special meeting to receive the grant check from the president of the Rotary Club of Santa Fe, Ed Burckle. NMCTR was one of several non-profit agencies to be awarded a grant. All of us affiliated with NMCTR extend our heartfelt thanks to the Rotary Club of Santa Fe for their community service and generosity. These funds will enable NMCTR to expand our outreach in the schools and serve many more students with special needs. We are pleased and excited to begin working with these schools, “Changing Lives, One Stride at a Time”!