Back in the Saddle!

I can't believe how tired I am feeling these days. The rush of the holiday activities has passed and I would like to sleep for about one month.

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for all the good things that happened in December. Very nice gifts were donated for all of our clients. The gifts were sorted, wrapped and distributed by a corps of deputized elves. One mother of a special needs child wrote, "I must admit I was absolutely blown away by the Christmas gifts." A teen-aged boy from a group home said, "I'm not used to getting gifts. I don't know what to do. I always told my mom to buy gifts for the little kids, they needed them. I never received gifts." Your beautifully wrapped gifts helped our clients to know they are important and loved.

Our barn was more beautifully decorated this year than ever before (mostly thanks to Bob, Shirley and Ann Wimmer). The lights and the Christmas tree in the barn gave it a magical glow. Most of you don't get to be in the DreamPower barn after dark, but I happen to be there quite often. Many nights I would turn out the overhead barn lights and just enjoy the beautiful twinkle of the Christmas lights and the tree. I don't want to take them down! (But they will be coming down this Thursday, Jan. 6, if you want to help. :)

More than 50 people attended Christmas Carols in the Barn, despite the fact that it happened during a rainstorm! About 25 of those people were new to DreamPower and interested in learning more about volunteering and donating. I've heard many wonderful comments about how fun it is to sing Christmas carols in the barn with the horses. If you missed it this year, plan to come next year. It's low-key, casual, old-fashioned singing with friends - and a lot of fun.

We put more effort into our Annual December Campaign this year than ever before. The end result was that we raised $4,000 more than ever before! The total amount donated during December was $12,276. Thank you for your help with that! Volunteers and donors asked their friends, families and employers to donate, and that made the difference.

You know what? Just talking about all these wonderful things, I can feel my energy coming back! This work is invigorating! It's a good thing, because we have a lot of opportunities ahead of us this year, and this month!

The Santa Clara County Office of Education Adaptive Physical Education students start back on January 13. We are scheduling a Horses for Heroes Play Day on January 29 and grant applications are due by January 31 and the Sunnyvale Challenge Team students start on February 1 and there is hay to buy and horses to groom and horses to de-worm and it never ends . . . What a joy and privilege it is to do this work!