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| Mike Archambault, founder of New Beginnings Youth Ranch, and some of his rescued mustangs. |
Last month, I was reading the February issue of the Tennessee Cooperator when I came across the cover story about a wonderful place not far from here called New Beginnings Youth Ranch in Clarkrange, TN. The more I read of this article, the more amazing the story became. I had no idea this was just down the road from me, not more than an hour from Knoxville. What a special place! I am and always have been a firm believer in the power of horses (well, all animals) to change and improve the lives of anyone/everyone around them. This ranch certainly proves that theory many times over. I know that there are programs out there that connect horses with convicts, dogs with convicts, etc., but the Archambaults endeavor to help those kids before they ever become a convict or prison inmate....and that is really saying something. In a world where I become so disappointed and dismayed much of the time by the greed, selfishness, and lack of compassion I see around me, this really brightened my day.
And, on a related note, I noticed that they have a link on their homepage to a list of items that they can use as donations. I will go through my tack trunks this weekend and pull out some old brushes that I inevitably have more than 2 or 3 of that I never use, as well as other miscellaneous grooming tools, and I will send them on. If anyone else has an inclination to help them out, it is a truly worthy cause. I always want so badly to help these organizations that do such wonderful work, yet I never have enough money to cover my expenses, it seems, much less having much left over for the people/causes I want to reach out to. It is refreshing to see that on their list of requested items, they also ask for "prayers." Now that is something I can offer that won't cost a thing!
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