March 14, 2008

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Going into its sixth consecutive year, an Arizona horse rescue is pushing the envelope of non-profit fund raising.

Wildhorse Ranch Rescue, based in Gilbert, is a non-profit that cares for abused and abandoned horses, but at the cost of about $5,000 a month.

With such steep operating expenses, the non-profit hosts various fundraisers throughout the year ranging from yard sales to concerts.

However, its most successful event doesn’t just raise the most money, but the most eyebrows. It’s an event held at Christie’s Cabaret in Phoenix, now in its fourth year at the venue.

“With an event like this, we get people on both sides of the fence, some can’t imagine why we’re associating with strippers, but others think it’s a great, fun idea,” said Kim Meagher, founder of Wildhorse Ranch Rescue, who reports that the event brings in four to five times the amount their other benefits generate.

Having raised as much as $5,000 previously, Meagher is projecting this year’s fundraiser to bring in “the worst case scenario, $3,000, but it could be as high as $6,000.”

Meagher’s cautious outlook could very well become a reality with the event being sold out for the last three years in a row.

While some public support is adverse to the event, Meagher feels the turnout tells another story. In the past, a crowd of 700 to 1,000 have flocked to the club.

“From my perspective this shows the public is very supportive of this,” said Meagher.

For the rescue, a large turnout is a big factor in the event’s success since the Phoenix club donates a percentage of the $12 admission fee.

“We have a lot (of people) who come in just for that night, some are regulars and some are those who would never come to a topless entertainment club,” said Christie’s Caberat “House Momma” Jaynie Wiseman, who finds that the event boosts the average Saturday night crowd.

Taking place this Saturday, the annual event is themed “A Night in the Wild West” which features a Las Vegas-style costume show and “lots of country music,” according to Wiseman.

“Obviously, the girls are entertainers, but they go out of their way to put on an old-Western saloon kind of show,” said Wiseman, also a horse owner. “In addition to the tips the girls earn that night, they have been putting money in a big five-gallon jug for the past month which all will go to the rescue, too.”

Throughout the course of the evening, club-goers will have a chance to place bids on silent auction items, valued at $5,000.

All collections from the silent auction will go directly to the rescue, which has saved about 80 horses and adopted out more than 30 since 1995.

“Compared to dogs and cats, it’s not a lot, but horses are super expensive,” said Meagher, who currently has nine horses at the rescue ranch and six more in foster care. “We spend $5,000 a month to pay for their feed and supplements. But a single horse can range from $2,000 to $10,000 annually, depending on the horse’s level of care that’s needed.”

But Meagher is quick to point out that once they take in a horse, “we commit to them for life, no matter how much they cost.”

Highlighting their level of dedication, she joked that they have “a $15,000 race horse, who’s never raced in her life.”

One of rescue’s thoroughbreds recently had a colic surgery which “blew past her annual $10,000. And some people may think it doesn’t make sense to spend that much on one horse, when that money could save and help two or three other horses, but it’s not a price point,” she said.

This belief is shared by Wiseman, a self-proclaimed champion of the underdog, who was the catalyst behind the partnership that formed between Christie’s Cabaret and the rescue.

“When I read the book ‘Hope Rising’ by Kim Needer, that’s what got me wanting to do something with rescues,” said Wiseman who petitioned her manager to do a benefit for the rescue. “Reading that book got my eyes open to how many abuses and neglected horses there are out there, and so I looked locally for a way to help.”

She located the rescue and the timing was perfect. The rescue was looking for a way to expand its annual event after maxing out the capacity of its own facility. Now, the rest is history.

For Meagher, the comparison of this event to the rescue’s other involvements is like day and night.

“We just had the Girl Scouts out here doing a beautification project and those events come and go and it never catches anyone’s attention,” said Meagher, who gets three times more adoption and volunteering phone calls after the Christie’s event than at any other time of the year.

Some of those volunteers have even been the strippers themselves, sometimes as a result of Wiseman showing the women first hand the connection that can be made with a horse.

“I have the girls, and even their kids, come out and ride my horses,” said Wiseman. “So they are introduced to the horse, the animal they are trying to save. Then they see the horses as big beautiful beings that we need to take care of.”

And with so many different scenarios and stories behind the horses, and even donkeys, at Wildhorse Rescue Ranch, there is a lot of room for volunteers to pitch in and help.

“We take in the truly needy horses – the blind, the lame, or the retirees from government service work like old Calvary horses,” said Meagher. “So often we don’t have the horse that is able to be adopted, but this gives people the option of sponsoring a horse.”

Called “Bale Out a Horse,” the rescue’s monthly sponsorship program starts at just $10, their cost for a bale of hay and often enrolls a few more sponsors following “A Night in the Wild West.”

Sparking an up tick in all areas of support, Meagher is amazed at what the event allows the rescue to do.

“We don’t care that they are strippers, because there is no other group that does what they do for us,” said Meagher. “They do a killer job, and when you have to feed horses, why would you turn it down?”

While the rescue’s horses are naturally in the nude, the fundraiser is only for those 21 years and older, as it will feature partial nudity of the entertainers.

For more information on the Wildhorse Rescue Ranch visit mudpony.com or call 866-926-8007. The 7 p.m. Saturday benefit is hosted by Christie’s Cabaret located at 44 N. 32nd Street in Phoenix. Call 602-275-3095 for additional event details.

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