Live music, dinner plus auctions on tap for fundraising night
(Seguin) — Hopeful Acres, a Seguin nonprofit dedicated to equine-assisted services, is preparing to host its first ever Gala this Saturday at the Big Red Barn.
Hopeful Acres was founded in 2018 in Killeen/Fort Hood by Army veteran Rick Jansen, who served 24 years before launching the nonprofit. In 2021, he relocated the ranch to Seguin, and just recently announced its latest move to San Marcos. Despite leaving Seguin, Jansen says the organization’s service contracts will continue to work with local individuals and with local health care providers such as Bluebonnet Trails.
Jansen says research has shown the positive impacts therapeutic horsemanship riding can have on those dealing with various mental health diagnoses.
“These are horses to basically reduce the negatives effects of maybe anxiety, depression, PTSD and many other diagnoses so horses are really a great animal. They are very peaceful. They can read a person’s emotions very well. So, when our clients come out and get around the horses, it’s normally a huge relief just to be able to groom the horse, brushing them, maybe hugging the horse, talking to the horse so we say the horse is the therapist often,” said Jansen.
Funding raised this weekend will go to help support those needing therapeutic care. Jansen says it will also go out to support a range of other projects, including scholarships for lower-income clients, care for therapy horses, construction of an ADA-compliant bathroom, plus the development of a riding arena.
“We will take private pay. Often times, it is difficult for families and people to come up with the payment which is why part of gala is to start scholarships for each of the three primary groups of people that we serve. We primarily serve veterans, special needs individuals and youth at risk so our goal coming out of this gala is to establish a scholarship for each one of those sectors if you will and that could lead to either a reduced cost for out of pocket or private pay or a free session for the individual,” said Jansen.
Helping the night be successful will be a host of activities. Jansen the evening runs from 6 to 10 p.m. and will feature a catered dinner, live music, a photo booth, and both live and silent auctions.
“It should be a really fun evening. We will have a nice barbecue meal. We will have a photo booth there. We are taking one of our horses out there for photos with the horse and we have a couple of professional photographers for that. We will have a silent auction and then, we have a live band. It will be the Drugstore Cowboys Band. They are a local group. Think they are out of New Braunfels. That should be a fantastic evening. We will do a few testimonies from our clients and we look forward to t being a good and relaxing evening,” said Jansen.
Again, Hopeful Acres, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, currently contracts with organizations including Bluebonnet Trails Community Services and Belong (a foster children’s network) to provide equine-assisted therapy.
Tickets are $50 a person. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available by visiting www.hopefulacres.org.
The Big Red Barn is located at 390 Cordova Road.