"I have donated to the wounded warriors project for years and this year I chose to donate closer to home, as my daughter is a volunteer and rider in the hearts veteran program. And I am so thankful we did; now my wife Ginger and I can see where the money goes and what Hearts is doing with it. I am glad to see that your group is taking care of the Vets as well as children in need. Ginger and I are so proud of our daughter, and can see how much her life is changing from her experiences at Heart's. We want to see our own "Wounded Warrior" keep benefiting from working and riding at Heart's and that's why we stopped donating to a federal veterans group like WWP and want to give to the place where our daughter benefits from our charitable donations."
Tim & Ginger McGraw, of
Silverdale, WA.
In 2005 after a career of 35 years with the Federal Government, I retired from the US Navy, Force Protection, as a Crash Rescue Firefighter/EMT. I went back to school to become a counselor. In the course of my Education I worked for various agencies serving Veterans and others who might have been Underemployed, Homeless and/or Disabled. Committing to a course of action was the toughest transition for everyone of the people I worked with. They might be able to describe what changes they wanted to make and identify how those changes would open doors for them. However very few people could buy in and fully commit to a process. Years before I had seen Hearts change the lives of some profoundly isolated and disabled young people. When Hearts started the, "Horses for Heroes," program I knew that it could work. I was working at a Residential Facility tasked with helping people transition from various forms of assisted living to independent living. The Veterans who came out and participated in Horses for Heroes came alive. Years ago my first Riding Instructor told me that he had heard General Eisenhower say he had never seen any person in trouble that couldn't be straightened out on the back of a horse. I believe that is true. Horses know all about us before we put a saddle on them. Hearts Horses can teach a person to trust, saddle up and follow thru.
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