We’re excited to announce our annual Round-Up this year! This event is designed to be fun for the whole family as we support our riders as they demonstrate the horsemanship skills they have learned all year by competing in some friendly horse games. Invite your family, invite your friends, invite your neighbors. We’re going to have fun! We’ll also have carnival games, food, pony rides, a silent auction, t-shirts, a raffle, door prizes, and more!

Heard of Haven Acres and want to see what it’s all about? This is a great way to get to know us. We’ll have testimonials, a tour, and you’ll get to meet the horses and volunteers. Everyone is invited! Just bring a lawn chair and your family!

September 7th from 4-7pm.

WANTED: Friends of Haven Acres (volunteers, cheerleaders, neighbors, or participants alike)!

Bowling for Bucks is one of our biggest fundraisers, raising over $5,000 each year! It’s also a valuable way for us to get the word out about Haven Acres as the bowlers will be talking to people that don’t usually hear about Haven Acres. Your support allows kids to come out to Haven Acres for the summer free of charge!

This year we will be hosting Bowling for Bucks at Bowlero in Lakeville on April 26th and our goal is to raise $10,000!! Will you consider being a part of this?

Before the event, supporters of Haven Acres get to ask their friends and family to sponsor them in their round of bowling. Sponsors can choose to pledge a flat amount or pledge an amount per point. Then we bowl! Pizza and pop are provided for the bowlers and we usually bowl 3 rounds together. We have forms that you can record your pledge amounts on as well!

A few things:
1. We ask bowlers to set a goal for at least $250.
2. ANYONE can bowl, we just ask that kids under 13 be with an adult.
3. Bowlers are responsible for the cost of their bowling and shoes.

Please let us know by April 19th if you’re going to join us!

Meet Maximus, Zacchaeus, and Cody!

Maximus and Zacchaeus were both donated to us from Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch! Maximus is a Percheron gelding who has a bad injury to his leg in the fall but he’s making a great recovery and we’re so excited to have our first draft! Zacchaeus is a mini mule (or our wee little mule) who was completely wild in the fall and has now gotten to the point where he’s a little halter broke. We’re excited to have him and work with him so that he can get loved on by some adoring kids!

And then we have Cody! Jenifer’s mom sponsored Cowboy for the last several years, and she wanted to make sure that we continue to have a Paint at Haven Acres. So in honor of Cowboy, the Garrets purchased Cody for our program. He is rather nervous right now, but we are hoping that he settles in and loves his new job. Please pray for him as he is somewhat sore right now and is in serious need of some hoof care. We’re hoping that it is not a long-term problem.

So grateful for some special blessings this year after some really hard days this winter!

Hey there, friends of Haven Acres!

In winter we sometimes start feeling disconnected from the supporters and friends of Haven Acres. Since we have had some unexpected costs arise in the last few weeks, we thought it would be prudent to send out an update and give folks an opportunity to once again partner with us.

As many of you know, Cowboy got very sick and had to be put down last weekend. The cost of this particular incident was about $500. In addition, hay prices for the rest of the winter are going to be higher than usual due to a hay shortage in Minnesota. In the off season, we still have to pay for hoof trims and shoes, medications, spring vaccinations, insurance, and salary for the Assistant Director. To finish out the winter season strong, we are praying for an additional $4,000 to be raised over and above the usual monthly donations we receive. Please prayerfully consider supporting us financially this winter! We are asking for donations to be made by March 9, 2019 through check or PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr…). These methods of giving are received by Haven Acres immediately, whereas, if people give through Facebook or another means, the funds do not reach us for weeks. For more information on donating please visit http://havenacresmn.org/donate/.

By way of update…

This spring we will be beginning six weeks of training for all the mentors at Haven Acres. We go over the basics of horsemanship and horse safety, our policies and procedures, and theology. We try to do our very best to train mentors who will be bright lights of God’s truth and grace in these children’s and teens’ lives. We also give the horses “refreshers” in the spring to get them ready for sessions.

Then this summer we will begin our regular mentorship sessions on June 3rd. We will be seeing around 50 children and teens each week free of charge who will get the opportunity to meet with the same mentor and horse weekly all summer. We work on creating a work-ethic through regular ranch chores, building their confidence through interacting with a horse, and gaining a strong sense of support and belonging through a relationship with their mentor. We believe that each participant is incredibly valuable and worth every minute and penny that is volunteered and given.

We are also excited to revamp our STABLE program this summer! Our STABLE program stands for Spiritual Training and Biblical Leadership Enhancement. We spend the summer training older teens and young adults in horsemanship, leadership, and Biblical truth. The goal of this program is to strengthen the ministry through the graduate’s future service at Haven Acres.

Come fall we are excited to begin reaching out into the community more by offering some small group sessions and field trips. We already have an event planned with Minnesota Hands and Voices, a local organization that serves families with deaf children. Additionally, we are hoping to collaborate with some other group homes, schools, and organizations that work with youth in order to expand our outreach.

Thank you so much to everyone who supports Haven Acres through service and donations. This is a big endeavor, to reach into the lives of these kids and teens, and it takes many hands! God is so good to us every year to provide all the people and funds that we need, and we are so grateful for those of you who are willing to be a part of that.