The following post is an archive of our GoFundMe campaign which began in 2020.
Hello everyone,
It’s been several months since my last update, time seems to pass so quickly and lots of things have been happening here and all around us. But for us at the farm our daily lives, our main focus and most of our energy and love go towards the care of the animals – their daily needs and individual care dictate our lives and they certainly keep us busy.
The short summer season while the farm was open to visitors went by very quickly – operating the farm with the new and multiple challenges presented by the risk and demands of the current health crisis of Covid-19 was a very different and sometimes stressful experience. I’m very grateful to the great team we have the pleasure to work with during the season – everyone did their personal best to take care of the animals and keep the farm as safe and fun as possible – as well as to all the visitors who came by to visit the farm during this different and difficult season. I’m sorry your visits to the farm were not the same as in previous years and some days we couldn’t open as we didn’t always have enough well trained staff (luckily that happened just on a very few days). To our relief we were able to keep everyone – humans and animals – safe and healthy during the months we were open. We were all very happy to have this time to be able to share a little bit more about the animals and their care, giving some insights into their lives and tell their stories in person. Thank you for all your kind interest, many questions and positive comments.
Unfortunately, this season was so short and much less busy compared to other years, that we were not able to collect enough funds to make it through the winter ahead. Our animals always receive the best possible care including feed, supplies and medical attention and the requirements of operating the farm under a Covid-Safety-Protocol added higher costs as for example we needed more staff and other supplies. Now, we are facing many winter months where we have to and will provide safe, warm and cozy barns for all the animals, plenty of food to keep up their energy and any necessary veterinary care – be that as preventative measures as all the goats are due for their yearly booster vaccinations as well as emergency care as several of our animals are rather old and the winter months are always especially hard and sometimes critical for them. In the hope to raise more funds over the winter months we’ve decided to refresh and improve our sponsorship certificates. They are available on our website beaconhillchildrensfarm.ca where you can find a short description of the animals and their cute pictures. Just go and check them out. There are specific categories for all the different animals as well as some especially for medical care or feed and really cute ones for Christmas. So, if you are looking for an easy but meaningful gift for an animals lover, like to treat yourself to a cute certificate or choose to support the animals one more time, we will be deeply grateful – as the animals really need your help again.
Most of the animals have now moved to the winter farm, just a few of them are still here in town and on sunny days you might be able to spot some of the little goats, our big boy Maple or the chickens through the fence. Part of the staff are working on the winter farm and a small team is taking care of the animals in Beacon Hill daily, if you see us through the fence we are happy for every kind word or smile. As promised we are also in the process of setting up a blog on our website beaconhillchildrensfarm.ca to give you more details into the lives and work with the animals and a little look behind barn doors during the winter season. We are just working out the last technical details and then hopefully it will be up and running very soon.
So, I like to invite you to visit us virtually on our website www.beaconhillchildrensfarm.ca where over the next little while you’ll find some more animal stories that can hopefully brighten up these grey days. Thank you for following our journey and the all the ups and downs with our animals. It’s not an easy step to ask for help again, but the animals really need your support this winter. I don’t know what I dare to hope for, but I can assure you from the bottoms of our hearts that we’ll be thankful for any support and we are working hard to provide for the animals this winter to be back with them next season. Thank you.
Wishing you all a relaxing, cozy and happy fall season – with as little rain as possible.
Stay safe and always keep a smile in your hearts,
Claudia
