Jim Donovan presents Era MacDonald and Mari Lowder the book "Do Unto Animals" to be donated in their name to the Charlotte Library.
 
Club News: 
June 5 Club Meeting - member vote on budget, please plan to attend.
 
Merrymac Farm Sanctuary Presentation:
 
Jim introduced Era MacDonald, founder and director of Merrymac Farm.  Merrymac became a 501c3 non profit in the spring of 2023, as a sanctuary, the animals will never leave the farm.  Era grew up in Kentucky loving animals and always rescuing them from an early age.   He also introduced Mari Lowder, assistant director.
 
Era presented a power point presentation preceded by a short video created and filmed by a local videographer, depicting happy animals and humans enjoying their freedom.
 
Mission Statement - Kindness, compassion, education and equity. 
 
Horses are Era’s first love and it’s very challenging to transform these animals from privately owned to requiring sanctuary, due to neglect, aging of owners and other life circumstances. Fifteen veterinarians help them bring the animals back to be healthy, happy animals. 
 
One particular horse, Honey, came to them barely alive from neglect and starvation.  Slowly, she learned to trust and with her determination to survive, the team grew her into a happy and healthy horse.  This is a very slow and meticulous process. 
 
Pigs are also abandoned a lot and their transformation is also profound.   Era and Mari shared the story of three pigs that have come from private homes and required rescue.  Again, this is a slow process and takes time, patience and money!
 
The farm also provides education for children and adults, including a couple schools  with daily and weekly routine projects at the farm.
 
They are seeking corporate sponsorships to offset the costs.
 
With lots of community involvement, such as City Market, Shaws and Costco who provide scraps and food, the farm is slowly making itself sustainable.  They had six hundred visitors last year with one hundred and five volunteers.  They could not do this without the volunteers. 
 
Their budget is $200,000 annually, $550 daily to sustain the sanctuary with animal care and labor as the largest monthly expenses.  HAY is the largest expense.  Donations and grants are their sole source of funds. 
 
Donate or become a monthly sponsor, corporate partnerships and sponsors or volunteers. 
 
Jim Donovan presented the book “Do Unto Animals” by Tracey Stewart to the Charlotte library in their names.