Founder’s Personal Statement:
Some time in mid 2004, I decided that I wanted to celebrate mynext birthday by giving back to the community. To my happy surprise,I found many people who were also very interested in giving but wanted to make sure their effort and funds were used for a specific purpose and not toward administration costs. On January 1st, 2005, I started forming a non-profit organization of my own.

The first event will be a fundraiser for an existing charity but am starting my own foundation so that I can later donate to people who haven’t had the good fortune, time or ability to secure documentation in a time of need. It is my intention to have zero overhead and will rely on donations and volunteer activity for fundraising activity. Cross your fingers for us! The first event will benefit the Therapeutic Riding at the HelenWoodward Center. The program itself is one geared towards mentally, emotionally and physically challenged people who can relearn motor skills with the help of riding horses. The center has LOTS of other programs as well. I primarily want to help them to thank them for their fast response and amazing care for animals during the San Diego fires of 2003.

At the time, I was helping to direct calls and traffic for horses that were stuck in the fires --many times without their owners close by. So, anyone we knew with a trailer (and a lot of courage) drove into the fire infested properties to release horses and bring them tosafety. Many were badly burned, some were in shock. The Helen Woodward Center took many of these horses, treated them and housed them until their owners could come find them. To my knowledge, they didn't turn away anyanimals at all including dogs, goats, and horses.

Now that the San Diego has gotten a good start in rebuilding ourselves, I wanted to thank them for changing and saving lives in a time of need. If you would like to know more about the work we do, please e-mail me at michelle_1000wattsoflight@yahoo.com.
--Michelle