American - Press - American Paint Horse Association

American Paint Horse Foundation
envisions a better world on the horizon
Thanks to the efforts of countless friends and benefactors of
the American Paint Horse Foundation, the charitable organization
experienced one of its best fundraising years to date.
Recently, the Foundation re-emphasized its mission and
expanded its mission to do good and improve our world
through “The Power of Paints.”
Specifically, the Foundation’s goals include:
• fostering positive youth development;
• promoting healthy lifestyles;
• improving lives and communities through interaction
with Paint Horses;
• instilling pride in the heritage of the American Paint
Horse and APHA;
• and funding research that ensures the health and vitality
of the American Paint Horse.
To its credit, the Foundation has awarded more than
$530,000 in youth scholarships since it was formed. It has
also helped subsidize APHA’s larger-than-lifesize statue in
front of its headquarters and is undertaking ambitious new
projects, such as supporting therapeutic riding programs
involving Paint Horses.
Proof that the “spirit of giving” is higher now than ever before
to the Foundation can be found in its recent fundraisers,
which include:
• The New Holland Tractor giveaway, with a record $39,500
raised;
• A filly fundraiser of more than $26,000;
• An unprecedented, new therapeutic riding fund established
at $25,000;
• World Show warm-up class participation, which has netted
an all-time high of more than $15,000 for the Foundation
and will continue at both the Summer and Fall World
Championship Shows;
• An APHA Workshop Auction that raised over $7,500.
An enhanced “Find a Trainer” program was also launched
and serves as a great Foundation fundraiser, but also helps
link horse owners with outstanding Paint Horse trainers
around the country. In this program, trainers donate one
month of service while horse owners pay a training fee
directly to the Foundation scholarship program. This
enhanced program will create greater exposure for generous
trainers. Horse owners, in turn, will be able to select from
some of the finest Paint Horse trainers in the country.
The Foundation has also added a “Heritage Tree” at APHA
headquarters. The tree will commemorate the people with
vision and horses with heart and talent who have made APHA
a world-class breed organization. Past APHA President Bill
Hittle of Hugoton, Kansas, stepped forward at a recent
APHA Convention in San Diego, California, to buy the first
commemorative leaf at $500.
Also at that APHA Convention gathering, the “spirit of
giving” among APHA members was underscored during a
formal “Presidential Inauguration Dinner.”
Oklahoma Paint Horse Club members Brad Perkins and
Kevin Hardcastle enlisted the help of Past APHA President and
auctioneer Tom Elliott for an impromptu auction during the
dinner to benefit the Foundation’s therapeutic riding initiative.
Earlier in the year, during Workshop in Irving, Texas, Perkins,
Hardcastle and member Ron Shelly were part of a “bidding war”
that resulted in the sale of a St. Jude necktie that brought in
$1,300 for St. Jude’s and the Foundation. The tie had been won
and donated back several times at the APHA Workshop.
That tie resurfaced during Convention, went up for sale
and was sold to Lori Nevin of Des Moines, Washington, for
$1,000. The money was added to $10,000 already donated by
the Oklahoma Paint Horse Club to benefit therapeutic riding,
which ended the year with $25,000 pledged.
Add it all up, and major fundraisers nearly doubled for
2008 over the previous year, up 97 percent, and totaled more
than $120,000.
Thank you to our donors, friends and supporters who keep
the American Paint Horse Foundation—the “heart” of the
American Paint Horse Association—beating strong. ■
APHA Past President Bill Hittle and his wife, Linda, of
Hugoton, Kansas, stepped forward to buy the first leaf on the
Foundation’s new “Heritage Tree.” American Paint Horse
Foundation President Cheryl Newman, center, gladly accepted.
A necktie that was sold, donated back and resold for a total
of $1,300 during APHA Workshop last spring in Irving,
Texas, made its way back to Convention in San Diego,
California. Oklahoma Paint Horse Club members Brad
Perkins, left, and Kevin Hardcastle, the tie owners, sold it
with the help of auctioneer and APHA Past President Tom
Elliott. Lori Nevin, second from left, of Des Moines,
Washington, bought the tie for $1,000. Money will be used
to help fund the Foundation’s therapeutic riding initiatives.
JESSICA SMITH
JESSICA SMITH
35