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Herbivorous Acres

2019 Land Update

January 28, 2020 by Herbivorous Acres

Dearest supporters, animal lovers, and Fox and Zeus fanatics,

Marie here! I am the Executive Director of Herbivorous Acres and on behalf of the Board of Directors and our rescue animals, I have some exciting news. After many years of searching, we have found a place to call home! The wonderful owners of our current animal home offered us the option to expand our organization on their property. This is an enormous opportunity for Herbivorous Acres. We are so lucky that the owners believe in us and our mission, and will continually welcome and house our sweet animals. This means that we will be growing our roots in Scandia, MN!

Since we incorporated in 2016, we have attempted to lock down a property 4 times and have looked at countless others. Whether it was zoning, acreage, insurance, financing, or having the rug pulled out from under us, we kept coming up empty handed and let me tell you- we experienced many heartaches. There was a time back in 2017 when I had given up my residence, everything I owned was in a U-Haul, the sale fell through at the last minute, and I found myself homeless. It’s been a long road so we are grateful to have received this opportunity!

Our setup is a little different than most sanctuaries out there, seeing as how this is a private property that is owned by others. While we are working on having occasional events down the road, we will not be holding your typical “farm sanctuary tours” and “volunteer work days” on a regular basis. We know this may come as a disappointment to some. Here is the thing: the bare bones of our mission is to save farm animals. By continuing to look for a place that we can own, we haven’t been able to expand on that mission these last few years. With the opportunity given to us in Scandia, we can finally start to grow our herd and take in rescues, which we know everyone can get behind! I have relocated to the area in order to be close to the farm in order to ensure this next step goes smoothly for Herbivorous Acres.

I’ll be honest- starting a new business is no joke. It literally takes a village and in this line of work, it takes multiples villages. Despite the struggles, there are two guys in particular who kept me going. Their names are Fox and Zeus. Every time I am around our two rescue pigs I am reminded why I am here on this planet and how needed this work is. There is also all of YOU! Our Board of Directors knew there were compassionate and like-minded people out there like us, but y’all have blown us away over the years with your generosity, grace, enthusiasm, trust, and patience. We CAN NOT thank you enough.

Other exciting news is that over the last few months, we have been able to take in a few other rescues that we want to announce. We have one rooster that will be remain part of our permanent “herd,” and we have been lucky enough to save a few others that have been rehomed. Pictures will be posted soon on our social media sites!

We have lots of other plans in the works and are looking forward to what lies ahead. The search for our forever home won’t stop here but for now, we are going to spread our wings and begin making Herbivorous Acres into the organization we dreamed it to be. Thank you all for sticking with us and being so very supportive of our every move. Let’s continue down this road together- #ForTheAnimals!

Sincerely,
Marie DuCharme
Executive Director
Herbivorous Acres Farm Sanctuary

Filed Under: Announcements

Herbivorous Acres Land Update

September 8, 2017 by Herbivorous Acres

Herbivorous Acres Land Update

Dearest supporters of Herbivorous Acres,

I write this letter with a heavy heart. As you know, we were scheduled to close on a property in Milaca, MN, on September 1. I am sad to share that the sellers decided to cancel the contract for reasons beyond our control so we find ourselves without land for our sanctuary and must go back to the drawing board.

Our 501(c)(3) status remains active, of course, and we have Fox the Pig who will continue living with a wonderful foster family until we are able to find new land. While we are disheartened that we came so close to moving forward and sharing our dream with you, we know the right place is out there for us somewhere. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions, and we welcome any and all leads on land (ideally within a few hours of Minneapolis/St. Paul).

Thank you to everyone who has supported us from the beginning. Your encouragement, donations, and patience mean more to me than I can adequately express. Now that our initial fundraising campaign has ended, we will also work on fulfilling donor rewards so you will receive follow up information soon.

As Executive Director of Herbivorous Acres, I am deeply saddened by this news, but know that I will continue to work as hard as I can to make Herbivorous Acres an organization that will be the change we all want to see in the world that will help farm animals find the peace, dignity, and happiness they deserve.

Sincerely,

Marie DuCharme
Executive Director
Herbivorous Acres
www.herbivorousacres.org

Filed Under: Announcements

Step by Step… not the song by New Kids on the Block

February 13, 2017 by Herbivorous Acres

turkey rescues

It’s been 3 weeks since our big announcement and boy has it been fun! We continue to get an influx of positive, supportive, and enthusiastic messages and the donations just keep rolling in. We couldn’t be happier! A lot is going on behind the scenes. The faster and harder we work, the sooner we can open and start saving animals. This is our #1 goal.

Our first fundraiser is quickly approaching, which we are also thrilled about. If you haven’t heard yet, we will be hosting a trivia fundraiser at Lush in Minneapolis on Sunday February 19th from 5:30-8:30 pm. It will be tons of fun and there will be some raffle and trivia prizes so who wouldn’t want in on that?!? Lush also has brand new vegan options on their menu, great drinks, and wonderful staff! We have been busy planning other fundraisers as well. We will be having a dinner hosted by The Herbivorous Butcher in April that people can purchase tickets for, an eco-friendly fashion show at Bauhaus on June 13th, karaoke in August, and our Gala in October! There are still a lot of details that need to be ironed out for all of these fundraisers, but we are taking it step by step to make sure that we have some fantastic events for our supporters to attend.

We continue to get messages everyday of people asking how they can help and there are so many ways to do so. First and foremost- tell everyone you know and subscribe to our newsletter on our website (this is free after all!). Share our website, social media accounts, and fundraiser events with everyone and anyone (also free!). If you can, consider donating on our website(one-time or recurring). We have some fabulous donor rewards if you donate today on our website. If you know of someone who has land or you have acreage to spare as a donation, let us know. If its supplies you would like to donate, we have a wish list on our website. If you have some special skills that you would like to donate, feel free to contact us. We have a lot of planning and work to do. The more help we can get, the better!

Herbivorous Acres relies solely on donations so we really can’t do this without your help! There are so many aspects of our plan that we can’t wait to see materialize. Please know that we are working day and night to get Herbivorous Acres up and running. In the meantime, come hang out, play some trivia, say hello, and celebrate with us at Lush on February 19th. Stay tuned for more updates and again- thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Filed Under: Share, Support

Cloud 9

January 24, 2017 by Herbivorous Acres

we are so grateful for your support

Here we are 2 days in after announcing the farm on January 22nd. Every minute of these last two days has been such a rush. Not only have we raised $6,480, but there have been a few articles written(VegNews, One Green Planet), countless shares, likes, and follows, and so many touching messages and emails. We are completely humbled. Every single piece of correspondence has been positive, loving, and full of excitement. There are people wasting no time offering up their help who are also dedicated to the cause that we hold so dear.

Starting down the road of bringing this farm to the public feels like such a long time ago. There have been so many learning opportunities and we can’t wait for the many more to come. I think we have spent so much energy on planning what we think will be best for the animals and how much we will learn from them that we overlooked how much we will learn from those around us! After just 2 days, the areas of expertise of the people who have reached out, donated, or offered their love and support have been so vast. It will be an amazing thing watching this farm grow with the mix of talents that everyone will bring to the table.

We are hoping that the donation progress keeps going as well as it has so that we can open soon and start seeing the amazing things that can happen when people pull together and support each other. It gives us all the feels! We really can’t thank everyone enough. Once we are open, we hope the animals will help us with that task!

While everyone eagerly awaits for Herbivorous Acres to open to the public, please check out the list of sanctuaries that are already making amazing impacts right here in the Midwest. One of the many beautiful things that has come out of this project so far is getting to know people who want the same things for animals and are already making a difference! Click on this link to check them out and support them: https://herbivorousacres.org/2017/01/21/speaking-of-strength-in-numbers/

Filed Under: Support

Board by Board – Our Future Developments

January 21, 2017 by Herbivorous Acres

board by board

Now to answer the question that’s on (almost) everyone’s mind. Where is my donation going? And my goodness- so many places! Herbivorous Acres can’t wait to save animals. But we have so many other developments that we are just as excited about. For a complete rundown with figures, visit the “The Plan” page on our website and click on “Future Developments”. There will be so many things for visitors to do, see, and learn about. Not only is it our goal to have the best facilities for our animals, we plan on reaching our goal of being energy-efficient and solar-powered! Just another way for us to give back to the animals and the environment.

Our future developments include tiny houses and tiny cabins that will be available for weekend rental, vegan dinners on the farm prepared by The Herbivorous Butcher, vegan cooking classes, a CSA, workaway options, a beautiful Humane Education center, eco-friendly and locally-made gifts sold at our on-site gift shop, yoga classes with the animals, programs for schools, and services for adults and children with disabilities!

When you’re thinking about donating or coming for a visit, we hope that everyone will find something to connect with! Please share our mission with people because the more people support us, the more animals can be saved and live in peace, harmony, and happiness.

Filed Under: About Us

Speaking of Strength in Numbers…

January 21, 2017 by Herbivorous Acres

strength in numbers

It doesn’t stop with us. We have even more exciting news! Not only is Herbivorous Acres starting a farm sanctuary, but we have quite a movement happening right here in the Midwest! There are even more farms to support, which means more help for the animals!

We have had the pleasure of getting to know some wonderful people over the last few months who have the same goal in mind. Here is a list of some other farm sanctuaries in the MN and surrounding area that you should check out and support!

  • Chicken Run Rescue- Founded by Mary Britton Clouse
    www.chickenrunrescue.org
  • Farmaste Animal Sanctuary- Founded by Kelly Tope
    www.farmaste.org
  • Heartland Farm Sanctuary- Founded by Dana Barre
    www.heartlandfarmsanctuary.org
  • Iowa Farm Sanctuary- Founded by Shawn and Jered Camp
    www.iowafarmsanctuary.org
  • Rooster Redemption- Founded by Melanie Jacobs
    www.facebook.com/roosterredemption/
  • SoulSpace Farm Sanctuary- Founded by Kara Breci
    www.soulspacesanctuary.org
  • Spring Farm Sanctuary- Founded by Robin Johnson
    www.springfarmsanctuary.org
  • Wild Paws Sanctuary- Founded by Myk Hamlin
    www.wildpaws.org
  • Midwest Avian Adoption and Rescue Services, Inc. (MAARS)- Founded in 1999
    www.maars.org
  • Autumn Farm Sanctuary- Founded by Brandon and Alyssa Herbst
    www.autumnfarmsanctuary.com

Once again- tell everyone! Spread the love! For the animals!

Filed Under: Support

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Herbivorous Acres is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that protects animals from cruelty, abuse, and neglect.
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