Many of you have been praying with us for an indoor arena. We raised enough money at our fundraiser last year for a nice down payment, but we were still thousands short.
At our Grand Re-opening last summer, a donor asked, “So what's the problem? Why haven’t you started building the indoor arena? Is it finances? If it is, you don’t have a problem.” I was at a loss for words, and for those who know me, that doesn’t happen often! You see, I was against going into debt for the arena. Not only that, we still weren’t paying wages for anyone at the ranch. For six years, we had grown the ranch with an all-volunteer team. Knowing that we were both thousands of dollars short and needed to start paying people weighed on me. I was thinking it would be five or ten years before we were able to pay for an indoor arena. But…miracles.
This local philanthropist pledged a $100,000 match donation. Miracle. We immediately began writing a grant request to the Howard County Community Foundation and continued fundraising and planning the next Derby Ball. At about this same time, another local philanthropist approached me to say that he was going to be tithing money from his business one Sunday out of the month! WOW! Miracles.
All the while, in the fall of 2022, we began preparing the ground where the foundation of the indoor arena would someday reside. The preparation included over 60 tri-axle loads of dirt that had to be trucked in, dumped, rolled, and leveled by yet another local donor. Before building could begin, we knew that we needed to pray over this ground where God’s people would someday work with horses to battle for the hearts of at-risk children.
Though many were giving and many were praying, we were still thousands of dollars short of the total we needed. However, we stepped out in faith in February of this year to start the building process not knowing if we would receive the matching grant from the Community Foundation. In fact, we were told that they never give out this kind of funding. Though we had worked hard to prove ourselves by fulfilling all of the requirements that they expected of a non-profit organization, we couldn’t show that we had the monthly income required to sustain such an organization with volunteers.
But God gave us favor, and in April 2023, the Community Foundation Board approved our grant request! Even their staff members, whom we had developed a close relationship with over the past 6 years, were ecstatic! Miracles.
This match brought us really close to our goal, but we hadn’t arrived just yet. With Derby Ball plans in full swing, we continued to work hard and pray hard. On top of everything else, classes commenced in March even as construction continued. Changing lesson plans at the last minute became the norm rather than the exception. At one point, the Community Foundation made the comment, “You have to be the best organization at pivoting that we have ever seen!”
Again, the Derby Ball became its own miracle story. Three of our former students shared their stories. The atmosphere was heavy as they spoke of childhood poverty, neglect, and abuse. Eyes were opened to their world and all of our hearts were touched.
Later, as the live auction was unfolding, two guests began a conversation. They had never met in person before. The next thing we knew, they had formulated a plan to add yet another live auction item into the mix! One would offer a $25,000 matching donation, and the other would donate the first $5,000 towards the match! Miracles.
The fire had been ignited. Guests were bidding on silent auction items, live auction items, and now the match donation. Within minutes, ALL of the auction items were sold, the $25,000 donation was matched, and the winner of the ladies “Best Hat Contest” decided to throw her hat in the auction followed by another guest who wanted in on the action as well. You just can’t make these stories up! God was at work!
We superseded our goal of $100,000, and the indoor arena is now paid in full! Miracles. As of this writing, we’re waiting for HVAC & electrical to be completed and footing to be installed. Finishing the work on the classrooms will take a little longer, but the arena will be usable and classes will be offered year round.
God is faithful, and miracles still happen!
-Susan Zody