Melissa sponsors Ophelia the chicken

Thirteen-year-old Melissa Magaliff first learned about WFAS when she stopped by our table at the Clearwater Folk Festival. She was there on a mission: to find an organization she could believe in and make a donation. Not only did she choose us but she was there with more than piggy bank change -- her donation was over $200, all gifts from friends and family for her Bat Mitzvah. Rather than buying the coolest new tech gadget, Melissa chose to use the money to support our work for farm animals. The actual amount was $236, which Melissa told us has a special significance: 36 is the Hebrew number that stands for life. Melissa recognizes that all the animals at our farm are given the chance to live out their life.

Melissa and her family visited the farm a few weeks later for our June Jamboree, and an in-depth tour of the farm and meeting our animals has helped Melissa to make a personal decision. "I have decided to become a vegetarian and it is working out great for me," she wrote in a follow-up email. "It is a little hard but most things are when you start out. I think that our conversation and the tour really woke me up to what needs to be done in our world today and how I can make a difference."

At the Clearwater table, Melissa got to meet one of our sweetest chickens named Ophelia. Ophelia came to us via a strange rescue where she was placed in a firetruck in New York City.  When the firemen & women came into work, they found poor little confused Ophelia waiting for help. Luckily she was brought to a shelter which then brought her to the farm.  After Melissa heard about our sponsorship program, she decided to use her allowance to do an additional gift of a monthly sponsorship of Ophelia. 

Melissa's home has become a sanctuary to 1 cat, 2 geckos, a hamster ... and a little brother.

Cody and Brandy enjoy some quality time together

This 12-year-old neighbor has been volunteering at the farm since the very beginning. When other dudes his age might be busy playing video games, Cody rides his dirt bike down to the farm every chance he gets to help out with cleaning barns and feeding animals.

Cody even conducts tours of the farm, which is kind of funny since he just took it upon himself to start doing that one day when we were really busy -- and has received rave reviews from visitors tickled by his encyclopedic knowledge of all the critters.

If that weren't enough, he's collected classroom money, arranged large donations from local residents, bought his friends t-shirts, and even gave us the contents of the family "mean jar" -- which is used to settle the inevitable disagreements between Cody and his sister Emma.

He knows lots about caring for animals since he has a more than few critters of his own -- a rooster, 12 hens, 2 guinea fowl, 3 goats, 1 bunny, 2 hermit crabs, 1 beta fish, 4 dogs, and 2 cats all reside on the Baldwin property.

We’re so happy to have him as a friend and a supporter—and watch out girls because this guy is going to grow up to be a real lady-killer! Look at those eyelashes!

Cromwell enjoys some love

The Chicken Whisperer