"Virtual" HUGS from the Wenk Foundation

Volume 1 Issue 6

Wenk Foundation

Enriching the lives of children and animals compromised by circumstance or conditions.

SUMMER SAVED

Flying Horse Farms (FHF) is a medical specialty camp that provides healing, transformative experiences for children with serious illnesses and their families—free of charge. Located in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, camp first opened its gates in 2010 and hosts about 900 children and families each year. Flying Horse Farms serves children ages 8 to 17 and their families, from across Ohio and beyond. The children have medical conditions including cancer, heart conditions, rheumatoid arthritis, blood disorders, asthma, gastrointestinal disorders and facial anomalies.COVID-19 and the necessary shutdown of the state meant that FHF could not hold on-site camps in 2020. But they were not thwarted…and devised a plan to bring camp TO their campers in a Virtual Summer Camp. The Wenk Foundation underwrote the cost of providing a “Camp in a Box” for 500 campers so they could engage in camp activities from their homes! Have fun, kids!

If you’d like more information about Flying Horse Farms or would like to make a donation to support their 2020 camp programs, click on the box below!

Click on the photo above to watch the video!

Flying Horse Farms

SPOTLIGHT PROGRAM

Wenk Foundation Supports

Josh Groban's

Find Your Light Foundation

On Friday, June 12, Solon, Ohio native, J.R. Heckman presented a benefit concert for Josh Groban's Find Your Light Foundation. The event was sponsored by the W enk Foundati on and featured a troupe of Broadway stars and local artists.performing in a live-streamed broadcast.

(Watch the broadcast by

clicking on the photo above.)

Josh Groban’s Find Your Light Foundation provides direct support to organizations that provide an arts education to kids in under-served communities. Sponsoring the concert was a 'no brainer' for the Wenk Foundation as the two organization's missions are so closely aligned.

Congratulations to J.R. Heckman and all those who made the evening so enjoyable and enriching. We are proud to have played a role in the production!

ORGANIZATIONS WE SUPPORT

Organizations serving those compromised by circumstance are finding creative ways

to support those who need it most during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are a few examples.

(Click on the photos to learn more!).

WAGS4Kids

Founded in 2004, Working Animals Giving Service for Kids (W.A.G.S. 4 Kids) is dedicated to providing mobility and autism service dogs for children throughout northeast and central Ohio utilizing an award-winning Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) accredited Cell Dog Training Program.

W.A.G.S. 4 Kids is driven by the belief in early intervention and is dedicated to working with a family and child as early as there is a need and interest. Since our first placement in 2005, we have placed over 60 Service Dogs. As the only 501(c)(3) organization in Ohio that exclusively provides service dogs for children up to the age of 18, we provide niche services to families with nowhere else to go in seeking an animal that is custom-suited to their child’s needs. Our focus on training our dogs to best assist each individual child’s needs ensures an immediate impact on their quality of life. .

Berea Animal Rescue Friends

Berea Animal Rescue Friends (ARF) is a no-time-limit animal shelter that rescues stray and homeless companion animals, provides medical care, spay/neuter, vaccinations and housing, and prepares animals for adoption into loving homes.

They began as a grassroots organization in a family’s garage and through hard work and the dedication of volunteers answering a real need in the community; the operation grew when the city of Berea provided them with a small building and utility costs; in return the shelter agreed to always have an open cage for the city’s strays. The shelter was incorporated in 1987, and has now become one of the largest shelters in the region.

One Health Organization

One Health Organization (OHO) exists to create sustainable, equitable, affordable healthcare systems to benefit the health of animals, people, and environments, as they relate to veterinary medicine. OHO provides access to veterinary care through financial assistance to low-income older adults and people with disabilities through a voucher program. It is the only organization in Northeast Ohio dedicated to supporting the unique family bond between people and their pets.

There are an estimated 35,000 qualified households in Northeast Ohio needing financial assistance to help them pay their veterinary bills for their dogs and cats.

Their only limitation on the number of people who can receive Vouchers is the availability of funds.

FEATURED ORGANIZATION

Open Tone Music

Open Tone Music (OTM) of Akron, Ohio provides instrumental and vocal music instruction for over 300 children in under-served areas throughout Northeast Ohio. The pandemic prompted OTM to begin video lessons, virtually. However, at least 60 of those students were left without instruments when their schools closed. The Wenk Foundation coordinated the collection of donations and secured funding to help Open Tone Music obtain musical instruments for those 60 students who were missing their lessons. It was our privilege and pleasure to do so!

To learn more about Open Tone Music, visit their website at: https://www.opentonemusic.org/

Chris Anderson of Open Tone Music thanks Wenk Foundation

Click on the photo abov to watch the video!

Closing thought...

" Kindness in words creates confidence.

Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love."

― Lao Tzo

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