Kids & Horses receives Campagni Cares donation from Carson City Toyota
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Wed, 06/30/2021 - 1:54pm
Each month, the team at Carson City Toyota combs through countless nominations for local charities and nonprofit organizations. One local charity climbed to the top of the nomination list, with a huge outpouring of support: Kids & Horses.
“Kids & Horses caught our attention because what they are doing is something you wouldn’t normally see in our local area,” said Jeff Campagni, General Manager of Carson City Toyota. “They are providing much needed, high-quality services to families with disabilities, and they are doing it in a tremendously unique way.”
Kids & Horses has been serving the Northern Nevada community for over 20 years, but still remains a well-kept secret in the heart of the Carson Valley. Kids & Horses utilizes occupational, speech and physical therapies in combination with adaptive riding lessons to transform the lives of local families.
Serving all kinds of special needs from those on the autism spectrum, Down syndrome, stoke, dementia, and more, the team provides many opportunities for anyone from age 2 to 100 to utilize adaptive riding to improve their lives.
“The stories of those we’ve been able to help; that’s what keeps us going all these years,” said Doug Brimm, Executive Director of Kids & Horses. “We’ve been so fortune to have such support from our community, but we always have needs in order to expand our programing, keep our facility in operation, and ensure that every person who walks through our doors receives the services they need.”
Each week, the center serves around 100 clients, and each session requires at least two volunteers to ensure the safety of both the student and equine. Volunteers have often found the experience more rewarding than even that of the participants. One nomination came from a volunteer who said:
“As a volunteer there, I have seen first-hand the difference they make in the lives of the people they serve. From an Autistic little girl who only mimicked words, yet after just three sessions at Kids and Horses found her voice, the joy in her father’s voice brought tears to my eyes. And the man in his twenties that I saw having a difficult time walking after a spinal injury, yet the rhythm of the horse helped him gain visible stability after his lesson. These are just two of the dozens and dozens of miracles I’ve seen.”
In addition to needing volunteers, donations are also a key part of their ongoing needs. Typically, they hold annual fundraising events, but were unable to last year due to COVID restrictions. That didn’t stop them from serving their students, though.
“One thing we are really proud of is that we didn’t have to shutter services during COVID. We were able to make adjustments and remain consistent in these kids’ lives, even though many of their normal routines were thrown off,” said Catherine O’Brien, Program Director for Kids & Horses. “It certainly wasn’t easy, but our volunteers and staff all stepped up for our participants.”
Donations are used to help provide for the care of the horses, offer scholarships, ensure program participants have top level access to speech, occupational, and physical therapists, and so much more. If you’d like to donate to Kids & Horses, sign up to volunteer, or to simply learn more about their programs and offerings, please visit https://kidsandhorses.org/
They are also always seeking opportunities to lease “work” horses that may be a good fit for their programming. For more information, contact Kids & Horses directly at 775-267-1775.
Don’t forget, each and every month throughout 2021, the group at Carson City Toyota will select a nominated charity to donate money to and feature in a community spotlight. For more information on Campagni Cares or to nominate a charity or nonprofit program that you care about, visit www.carsoncitytoyota.com/cares.
