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Annual Fund Thank You!
NCEFT Year End Campaign a Success!
We want to take a moment to thank all of you who made our Annual Fund Campaign a rousing success! We got off to a somewhat rocky start on #GivingTuesday, December 2, when our online donation hosting company was overwhelmed, rendering their servers down. All day. But our donors and supporters were not to be phased by one little technical hiccup! With an amazing outpouring of support from mailed and online donations (yes the donation pages were restored as of December 3), we surpassed our giving goals, welcomed more than a dozen first-time donors, and received many gifts in honor and memory of loved ones.
NCEFT is humbled and gratified by your generosity of spirit and steadfast belief that together we can make a difference in the lives of those with disabilities. As we look ahead to 2015 we are confident that we have the financial stability to continue our life-changing programs, support those less fortunate with financial assistance, and continue to provide services free of charge to military Veterans. As we pointed out in our Annual Campaign materials, the fees we charge patients for services only cover about 26% of the cost of providing services. We look to generous individuals, corporations and foundations to raise the rest.
THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING SUPPORTERS FOR BEING PART OF THE 74%!
Daphne Adam
Deborah Addicott
Katherine & Kimberly Aitken-Young
Beverly & Lee Altschuler
Linda & Alvin Arata
Nancy Argo
Karen Arimoto-Peterson
Steve & Joy Atwell
Sybilla & Alex Balkanski
Shelly & Ed Begun
Carole Bridgeman
Suzanne Bryan
Geraldine & Sonia Cacianti
Susan & Gerald Caraher
Gail Carter
William R. Clark
Mary and Drew Crousore
Dayton Crummey & Jeanne Lycett
Betsy & Albert Cuisinot
Regina Davis
Christine Devoto
Diana Dollar Knowles Foundation
Alex Dziekanowski
Erin Mac Jewelry/Erin MacGeraghty
Patricia Doll Fallstrom
Rose Marie Ferrando
Christine Finerty
Bear Gulch Foundation
Marie Fox & George Ellison
Anne & Buzz Frahn
Susan Frankel & Brittany O'Leary
Dianne & Dennis Garcia
Jan & Bob Garcia
Mr. & Mrs. Theodore Geballe/Eucalyptus Associates
Ronda Goldman Sahara Farms LLC
Joan Grazzini
Dennis Green & Heather de Valois-Green
Derrick Green
Cherie & Tom Hammer
Andrew Harman & Liyang Zhou
Randall Heath
Darayn Hickingbotham
Marianne & Paul Hoffman
Ron & Leesa Kirkish
Jan & Robert Kopf
Mark & Kathleen Kraynak
Lucy & Rob Krensky
Susan Lang & Robert Levenson
Marty Lenzi
Elaine Levenson
Daniele Levy
Summer Lopez
Maco Security Products
Shelly Meredith
Nan & Bill Nagle
Leslie & Thomas Norrie
Diane Northway
Gale Olson
Lynda & Pete Paffrath
Barry & Suzette Pangrle
Bubble Pop Software
Pelzner & Associates/Lawrence E. Pelzner
Patricia Piersimoni
Scott & Kimberley Rago
Sheryl Reo
Mark & Maureen Sanders
Frances Santo Domingo
Scandling Family Foundation
Wendy Scott
Kathleen Scutchfield
Jenny Canfield Smith
Staley Family Foundation
Dr. Joanne Stenger
Laurie and Lee Strawn
The Mah Jongg Ladies @ Peninsula Golf & Country Club
Jim and Gayle Travis
Diego Valderrama & Afra Afsharipour
Nathaly & John Walker
Steve & Laura Welch
H. Frank Wentholt
Carleen Whittelsey
Elizabeth Williams
Merle Wolfe
Donna Wonnacott
Stuart & Karen Yasgoor
Chris and Suzanne Zaino
Charlotte Ziems
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2015 WINTER CALENDAR
JAN 5: Session I begins
JAN 19: Martin Luther King Holiday (NCEFT closed)
FEB 16: President's Day Holiday (NCEFT Closed)
MAR 16-20: BREAK (no sessions)
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Notable Clients...
Two NCEFT clients are in the news
Ohlone Elementary School fourth-grader, Dashiell Meier, has taken his message about living with Down syndrome to Sacramento, as well as to Washington, D.C. Whether meeting with members of Congress or speaking to fellow Palo Alto elementary school students, Dashiell has worked to create a culture of acceptance and tolerance by educating people about why he's different. This year he won the Council for Exceptional Children's "Yes I Can!" Award for Self-Advocacy, a national honor.
Click here to read more about how Dashiell is one of "Five People Who Inspired Palo Alto Online in 2014"!
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Local Bay Area filmmaker, Taylor Whitehouse, is debuting a short documentary, GURU ZANE, about long-time NCEFT client, Zane Robinson, a special needs child whose warmth and character transform his family and caregivers in reciprocal loving devotion. Zane, now 14 years old, was diagnosed with Emmanuel Syndrome shortly after birth, and he is only one of roughly 500 people who have been diagnosed worldwide. GURU ZANE is an illustration of growth and love that demonstrates the most valuable lessons a family can learn from having a child with special needs.
GURU ZANE will be premiering at the Roxie Theatre in San Francisco on January 24th at 3pm. Tickets are $10 and open to all. For more information click here. To purchase tickets, click here.
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Leaps of Faith
"Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith." -- Margaret Shepard
New year. New resolutions. New beginnings. New transitions. The dropping of the ball on New Year's Eve might naturally makes one think of fresh starts and new beginnings or, at the very least, finding a new calendar to hang next to the desk come January 1st. When you think about it, most New Year's resolutions are by their very nature more leaps of faith rather than the result of analytics. As our world gets more techno-saturated and driven by numbers and data, leaps of faith actually become more important and more meaningful to our lives. At NCEFT we see these leaps every day: a new patient trying a hippotherapy session for the first time, a new horse joining the team, or the launch of a new program like our Social Skills Playgroup (see below). New is good. New is exciting. New is risky. What I love about the picture above is that Willy and Wonka are taking a leap, but doing it together. Sometimes the only way to get to a new place is by a leap of faith, but when you do have to take that leap, isn't it always better to not take it alone? Here's to a 2015 filled with a lot of leaps that lead you in new, exciting directions!
Cherie Hammer
NCEFT Development Director
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SOCIAL SKILLS PLAY GROUP
New Program Starting January 2015
NCEFT is pleased to announce the formation of the Social Skills Play Group!
The SSPG is a new program, led by NCEFT staff Occupational Therapist, Lexi Parker. Lexi plans to utilize a wonderful curriculum, Sensitive Solutions, combined with animal therapy to help children aged 3-7 with emotional regulation, verbal expression and negotiation, empathy, flexibility, and sensory integration. You can learn more about Sensitive Solutions at www.sensitivesolutions.org.
Groups are forming now, and 10-week sessions are slated to kick off on Wednesdays beginning January 21st. For ages 3-5 the group will meet at NCEFT from 2:30-3:45p. Ages 5-7 will meet from 4:15-5:30p.
For more information or to sign up for one of the groups, please email Lexi Parker at [email protected] or call NCEFT at 650-851-2271.
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Don't loose the holiday spirit - click below to watch some great moments from the
2014 NCEFT Family Holiday Party
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NCEFT Family Holiday Party December 2014
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Staff Spotlight: Darrel Le Blanc
Horse Handler and Singer Extraordinaire!
In this issue we shine the spotlight on NCEFT Horse Handler, Darrel Le Blanc. Most days you will find Darrel at the end of a line - a horse line that is, be it a lunge line exercising one of our horses or a long line driving a horse during a hippotherapy session. Darrel is a superior rider and horse handler, but if you haven't had the pleasure of hearing him sing, you are truly
 missing out on his secret hidden talent! He rocked the National Anthem at the 2014 Gala and never fails to carry us along during staff sings of "Happy Birthday." Darrel's cool, smooth manner and warm Southern grace is appreciated by NCEFT's humans and horses alike. Here are a few Darrel factoids... Where were you born? Morganza, Louisiana How long have you been with NCEFT? Almost 1 year What's the strangest job you have ever had? Starting new horses for the racetrack. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate What's your favorite color horse? Gray If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go? France (particularly the area outside Lorraine where his forebears are from) What is your favorite non-horse related activity? Singing & gardening iPhone or Android? iPhone Last book you read? A Stone of Tears by Terry Goodkind Favorite cartoon character? Popeye
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AmazonSmile: It's not just for holiday shopping! You shop, Amazon gives all year through! Simply start your Amazon shopping at smile.amazon.com and NCEFT will receive a % of your purchases as a direct donation from Amazon at no additional cost to you!
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About Us
For more than four decades, NCEFT has helped thousands of children and adults with special needs move beyond their boundaries through the healing powers of the horse and the skills of dedicated professionals and volunteers. Internationally recognized as a leader in the field, NCEFT offers Hippotherapy, Adaptive Riding & Carriage Driving, Veterans programs and School programs at its beautiful,12-acre facility in Woodside, California. We are a 501(c)3 organization, Top Rated on www.GreatNonProfits.org and a bronze www.GuideStar.org participant.
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National Center for Equine Facilited Therapy - NCEFT
880 Runnymede Road
Woodside, CA 94062
(650) 851-2271
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