Buffalo Gap Nonprofits and Charities

About three years ago, I visited Camp Able of Buffalo Gap for the first time. A group of elementary students from a local school were participating in their weekly equine therapy program and I was asked to help out for the day. All the students were children with a variety of special needs. But what I was taken with is that none of the children seemed to be hampered by their specific special need. They were happy and engaged with each other and following directions with regard to caring for and riding the horses. You could see joy. You could feel their confidence. It was nothing short of magical. As I left the ranch that day, I said that if there was any way I could continue to help that they should let me know. (This was potentially a difficult offer to make since I reside in the Washington DC area and Camp Able is located in West Texas.) <br /><br />Camp Able was just then getting its Board of Directors together and filing for its 501(c)(3) tax exempt status and it needed all the help it could get - so they took me up on my offer. I joined the Board and provided my services as an experienced communications professional, offered to spearhead fundraising efforts, donated money and time, and recruited my family and friends to do the same. I'm pleased to say that over the course of the last three years, the organization has made steady progress toward its mission. Most importantly, the number of people Camp Able has helped has grown, as has its services, which is particularly important because there's nothing else like it in this part of the country. <br /><br />But what means the most to me, personally, is when I visit the ranch and get to volunteer on the day that those same young students I met three years ago from a local school (now in middle school for some of them) come to ride their favorite horses. It's at these times that I'm reminded what's important. I get to see with my own eyes the joy on their faces and observe their increased confidence, and make note of the obvious improvements in their physical, intellectual, emotional and social capabilities. Its at those precious times, watching those beautiful faces of young people with special needs, that I know that the dollars I personally donate or the hours I spend on my computer writing or researching grants, or drafting Facebook posts or press releases. or planning a fundraising event are all worth it. Because, magic happens at Camp Able of Buffalo Gap. And I get to help.