Friday, April 27, 2012

DONKEY GROOMING AND WALKING

Chris gets her hugs from Stormy

WALK - A - DONK PROGRAM ENDS FOR SEASON
This season's donkey walking program has come to an end. The Walk - A - Donk program allows trained volunteers to spend quality one on one time with donkeys that are carefully chosen for the program and are matched to the experience level of each participating volunteer.

The Walk - A - Donk program operates on the buddy system. An experienced donkey walker is matched with a new volunteer. The experienced walker is able to provide tips and ideas to the new walker and helps to ensure that the walking session is safe, and FUN.

Volunteers must first take the Donkey Care Class offered by the Refuge. Three classes were offered this year and all were fully booked. Although each class is a repeat of the others, we find that the more learning classes a volunteer takes prior to participating in the Walk - A - Donk program, the greater the level of confidence, and subsequently, the walking and grooming experience .

The Walk - A - Donk program is intended to provide a safe, rewarding interaction between a volunteer and a donkey.

The responsibility for the safety of the volunteers, and the donkeys in their temporary care, ultimately rests with the Refuge so Rob and Shirley evaluate each volunteer's interaction with their donkey. If they determine that either the volunteer or the donkey are at risk, the donkey may be excluded from the program and/or the volunteer may be asked to consider other ways to volunteer at the Refuge.

There are so many opportunities for volunteers at the Refuge - from working in the gardens to working at Donkey Days. And, critical to the viability of the Refuge is the commitment of ALL of our VOLUNTEERS to FUNDRAISE.

Ah, the joys of being a not-for-profit organization. If you want to assist financially with the costs of caring for our resident donkeys, go to the Canada Helps website, choose Turtle Valley Donkey Refuge Society and donate. And thank you for helping us care for these amazing creatures. We thank you, and YOUR HEART THANKS YOU.

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