In these unprecedented times, Brooke USA is thinking of you! While things feel uncertain and scary, we remain grateful for you and your support of our mission.
As you may have heard, due to COVID-19, we’ve postponed our largest annual fundraising event, Brooke USA’s Sunset Polo® & White Party, which was scheduled to take place in Wellington, Florida on Friday, March 20. We are confident that this was the right thing to do in these circumstances—of course, as a welfare organization, health is of the utmost importance to us. In fact, our participation in all fundraising events has been canceled or postponed through April 30. What was shaping up to be a very busy and active spring—where we projected raising 50% of the funds we would grant this year-- has slowed considerably.
And with that, life at Brooke USA has changed. The need for support in the communities we serve has not slowed—in fact, it has increased-- and we need to ramp up our efforts from home. A global health pandemic like COVID-19 will be devastating to already impoverished communities. For many of the people and animals we serve, things will only get worse before they get better, and we will be there to offer help.
While you may be able to shelter safely in your home—maybe with enough food to get you through a few weeks, several bottles of soap, and clean water—the communities we serve don’t have that luxury. Even if they have been exposed to the virus, women and their donkeys will still have to walk miles to fetch water for their families. Farmers will still need to take their mules to crowded, hot markets to sell their goods. Children will still need help from their horses to complete morning chores. None of that changes during a global health crisis. But with limited access to healthcare, lack of public information, living arrangements that don’t allow for self-quarantine or social distance, and no infrastructure for distance learning, things will get worse. When things get worse, people will fall even deeper into poverty. And, as you know, when the lives of the owners suffer, so do the lives of the equines.
This year will be a difficult one—for so many reasons—and we are determined to do our part to help. To this end, we will continue to fundraise to support much-needed projects all over the globe. We are tightening our belts and finding ways to reduce our spending to offset the lost revenue from our canceled events. We are working hard to keep you informed about the communities we serve (in fact, we’re trying out some new videoconferencing techniques to host international webinars to bring our colleagues from the field into your homes, and we are delving deeper into the use of social media).
And so, we are preparing to do even more this year. Like you, we are committed to improving the lives of working horses, donkeys and mules and the people they serve, now more than ever.
In this time of isolation, if you’d like to learn more about what we’re doing, feel free to call any of us!
Emily, Executive Director: 305-505-6170
Amanda, Major Gifts Officer: 574-286-7892
Kendall, Donor Relations Officer: 561-309-9873
Bobby, Finance and Administration Officer: 606-492-5169
We hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy during these trying times. Please know that you are in our thoughts, and we look forward to brighter times ahead!
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You have a heart for animals, especially horses and other equines, so we know you understand the dangers that face working horses, donkeys and mules in developing countries throughout the world.
And, because you understand equines, you know that they aren’t machines. They must be cared for. Overwork, too little or poor-quality feed, disease and injury threaten their lives.
Families that depend on them might not have access to adequate feed or a vet. They might not understand the need for hoof care or the hazards of a poorly fitted harness. In their haste to get products to market, they might overload their donkey or mule.
These poor animals often die needlessly. When a working animal dies, its owner can no longer plow the fields, get products to market or work in factories or mines. Livelihoods are lost; children go without food, clothing and schooling.
Because you understand these issues, we are asking you to support Brooke USA’s work to improve the lives of working horses, donkeys and mules and the people who serve them by making a gift today.
To meet our funding goals, we hope that you and other donors will help raise $100,000 before June 30.
Brooke USA raises money for international projects that improve the lives of the world’s working equines. We mainly fund the work of our sister organization, Brooke: Action for Working Horses & Donkeys, the world’s leading charity focusing on alleviating the suffering of these working animals. Right now, we are celebrating a huge success! Our efforts have helped convince the Kenyan government to close the donkey slaughterhouses and ban the donkey hide trade.
As a supporter of Brooke USA, you have a hand in projects that fund work in poor countries like Kenya, Ethiopia and Senegal. You can help prevent families and communities from suffering economic collapse by ensuring that their horses, donkeys and mules are healthy.
We have made sizable grants to each of the projects below, and with your continued help, we will do even more in 2020.
Here are four projects Brooke USA has funded thanks to donors like you:
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Training in Senegal Brings Better Equine Care
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An ongoing Brooke effort in rural Senegal is improving the health and protecting the welfare of 150,000 equines by 2021. Among the program’s aims is to train farmers and others to be farriers, train communities to protect and manage their animals’ welfare, and take measures like buying grinders and training communities how to use them to chop up grains for feed so owners have better access to quality feed. Brooke USA has committed to fund these efforts in West Africa through 2021.
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Expanding Vet Services in Ethiopia
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About 80 percent of Ethiopia’s 9 million horses, donkeys and mules work in rural areas of Africa’s second-most populated country. These animals carry the economy on their backs. They haul water, grains, fuel, wood and agricultural products; in cities, they carry people and goods. Yet, despite being the backbone of Ethiopia, they are not well cared for. They suffer lameness, eye problems, parasites. They are overworked and underweight. Brooke recognized that inadequate local veterinary care was a big part of the problem. By building more local vet clinics, it has helped alleviate a lot of the health problems facing horses, donkeys and mules. Brooke USA got right on board, providing funding—through gifts from donors like you—to build and equip vet health clinics in three cities.
Those three health clinics alone are expected to treat about 23,000 equines each year.
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Putting Know-How in the Hands of Women
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The Women4Donkeys initiative literally puts information about donkey care in the hands of the Kenyan women who own them.
In this arid, poor country, donkeys are the most-common work animal. In rural areas, about 80 percent of them are owned by women. These Kenyan women rely on their donkeys for household tasks and for subsistence farming. But with little access to veterinary care, most of these women have to handle their donkeys’ health issues themselves and they don’t know how to do it.
One example of solutions presented by Brooke is a simple, technological fix -- a phone app (already developed) packed with information about vet services and donkey care that these women can access on their mobile phones.
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THE UPDATE IN SPRING 2020
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Our work has paid off in Kenya, where a ban was placed in March 2020 on the slaughtering of donkeys. The ban revokes donkey slaughter licenses from the four major slaughterhouses. Kenya’s Secretary of Agriculture, The Honorable Peter Gatirau Munya, made the announcement.
Funding from Brooke USA has put representatives on the ground in Kenya to work with government officials on protections and safeguards to stop the senseless slaughter. Last year, in Kenya alone, some 159,000 donkeys died.
Poachers want the donkeys’ hides; they sell them to buyers in China.
The slaughter has devastated entire communities.
Families in East Africa depend on donkeys to carry everything from water to wares. Without a donkey to take farm produce to market, children might have to leave school and go to work; families go hungry, medical care is financially out of reach.The slaughter has devastated entire communities.
In 2020 we are continuing to support The Donkey Hide Crisis as new efforts are made to put a stop to the thievery and inhumane slaughter, as well as continue the fight as the Chinese appeal Munya's decision. Join us as we work towards new initiatives with government advocacy and community education to impact the crisis on the front lines.
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Nonprofit organizations face financial challenges and are expecting to see a drop in contributions, as was the case during the 2008 recession. Jobs in America’s charitable sector are at risk unless a reliable source of cash can be provided to assure continued operations.
Please support advocacy initiatives to ensure that the nonprofit sector is included in the Coronavirus stimulus package.
Take Action Now | Contact Your Senator and Congressmen
1. Don’t call their offices (they are all closed due to COVID-19). Send an email as soon as possible.
3. Create your own email or use the one we have attached for you as a template. For an editable version please contact
Kendall.Bierer@BrookeUSA.org
.
Thank you for your advocacy! We are stronger together
🧡
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Due to the Unprecedented Situation Surrounding Coronavirus (COVID-19) we have made the decision to postpone all events.
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These Events Include:
Brooke USA’s Sunset Polo® & White Party
Lunch & Learn - Aiken, South Carolina
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Art for the Animals
A Special Thanks to EnviroEquine & Pet and Jeanne Chisholm
@ The Club House at Palm Beach Polo
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Brooke USA Equestrian Ride
@
CycleBar Wellington
A special thanks to Paige Bellissimo, Chair of Brooke USA's Young Leader Initiative, for organizing the ride for Brooke USA.
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Lunch & Learn and Spring Into Fashion Trunk Show
@ Palm Beach International Equestrian Center
Special Thanks to Dr. David Jones, Founding Chairman, and Katherine Kaneb, Vice Chair as well as the vendors Annie's Equestrienne, Beauty for Real, Heather B. Moore Jewelry, Horse and Rider Boutique, Middy N' Me, Rivet Leatherworks and Sofie's Boutique.
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Lugano Diamonds VIP Reception
& Crystal Awards Presentation
Special recognition to the 2020 Brooke USA Crystal Award Honorees Antonia Ax:son Johnson, Richard Schechter and Hazel and Michael Schultz. The night would not have been possible without the generosity of Lugano Diamonds.
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The Celebrity Cruises®/Hotels at Sea®
Polo Team Kick-Off Party
Thank you to Tareq Salahi and his wife Lisa Spoden for hosting this beautiful event at their home in Delray.
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A Night of Art & Wine Benefiting Brooke USA
@ CJR Fine Arts & Frames
Thank you Clare and Jack Rosen for hosting this event at your gallery and studio. A special thank you to Candace Platz, Irene Greenberg and Patricia Powers for showcasing their work to benefit Brooke USA, and for Dot Founder Marcia Kulak for attending and speaking on behalf of Brooke USA.
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Paint Wellington Orange with the
Brooke USA Young Leaders
@ The Trophy Room with Wine donated by Wollfer Estate Vineyards
Thank you to the generosity of Rob Gray and The Trophy Room, as well as Wolffer Estate Vineyards. The night was a special moment when Brooke USA honored Paige Bellissimo with our first Brooke USA Young Leaders Award, presented by Brooke USA Ambassador Hannah Selleck.
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Facebook Live. Zoom. Instagram Stories.
The possibilities are endless.
Right now, life is about connecting. Although we are not hosting our planned events, we are taking the current situation surrounding COVID-19 to heart. Putting safety first, and the health of all of our donors, we are going to expand our capabilities to include virtual ways to connect with each and every one of you.
Interested in project updates?
Want to ask some questions?
Interested in how the Brooke USA staff handles working remotely year-round?
We are here for you!
Follow our social media channels and check in on our events page on our website. Are you interested in helping Brooke USA as we go virtual?
- Walk for Working Equines - Ask for your friends and family to pledge for your miles walked. Right now, everyone is walking. Although we cannot walk together, we can make a difference together. (This also works for spinning and elliptical workouts!)
- Host a virtual yard sale or auction - Need to clean out that closet, and finally have time? Dedicate your online hand-me-down profits to Brooke USA.
- Share your talent! Host an online live video and ask your friends to donate to participate. Are you a great cook? Carpenter? CPR-certified? Can teach yoga or pilates? There is a need and your friends and followers may want to join you for a fun "get-away".
- Tried & True
- Make a Facebook or GoFundMe fundraiser for Brooke USA. Last year we raised nearly $75,000 through social media. A large portion of this was through Facebook Fundraisers.
- Shop on AmazonSmile and dedicate your purchase to Brooke USA (smile.amazon.com) it's that easy!
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