Healing and Hope Through Horses
Two years ago, my family and I moved out to the Waterford area. On my way to work, I pass a beautiful ranch on Highway 83 called Willow Creek Ranch. I wanted to know more! After visiting Willow Creek Ranch online, I learned that they are non-profit therapeutic riding center for children and adults with special needs. I knew right then that this was where my 2021 #Gift2Giving funds were going to go.
Throughout my life I’ve had very little experience working with individuals with special needs. It wasn’t until I started working at Community State Bank, that I was introduced to Shepherds College. A post-secondary college for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Our relationship with Shepherds has been such a blessing to our bank and our culture. Through that partnership, I’ve met the most amazing and inspiring individuals. It has truly created a special place in my heart of acceptance and understanding. You learn to stop focusing on their "disability" and begin to focus on their remarkable "abilities".
For those reasons, I felt Willow Creek Ranch would be a great fit for my #Gift2Giving donation and it turned out that many other CSB staff felt the same way. I sent out an email to our team with a brief description of what Willow Creek Ranch was and to my surprise, we reached a total of 16 CSB staff donations! In addition, 4 CSB staff members made personal out-of-pocket donations and then CSB surprised our staff by matching all personal donations! I think it’s donations like these that really showcase what our culture is all about at CSB. We work together to support a local cause and I believe we’ve all grown a place in our heart to help individuals with special needs. Thank you CSB for giving us this opportunity and thank you Willow Creek Ranch for being such a great community organization and inspiration!
Eloissa Heigl
Marketing Communications Coordinator
Community State Bank
Other Participating Staff: Caitlyn Eulgen, Teri Eulgen, Ellen Galvan, Lisa Galvan Alyssa Hegemann, Nicole Kurhajec, Brian Lois, Marion Myers, James Muraski, Shelly Petrick, Kacie Rose, Miranda Swirth, Marilyn Sorenson, Paityn Weber