I returned a few days ago from my trip to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. My first trip out there was in June 2007 for a 10 day workshop on "How to Start an Animal Sanctuary." I left there with a feeling, that "YES" anything is possible. A group of friends (now referred to as the "founders") began with a dream .... 25 years later they have created what many of us can only imagine. I had the chance to get to know Faith Maloney (one of the founders) a couple years ago on my first trip out to Best Friends. She embodies for me what Best Friends represents ... kindness, compassion, vision, creativity and working collaboratively and sharing resources and ideas. Several of us representing four different organizations that are part of a new animal welfare coalition (Minnesota Partnership for Animal Welfare, www.MnPAW.org) visited Best Friends this past week. Faith was our host on this trip. I felt like I was infused with a major dose of inspiration and hope ... i think it was the combination of simply being at Best Friends (30,000+ acres of absolute magical, mystical awe!) where almost 2,000 animals are being cared for (many of whom would not have a chance elsewhere) ... and being around Faith who is inspiring, loving, compassionate and visionary.
I left Best Friends with a renewed sense that anything, yes anything is absolutely possible. I believe that our community here in Minnesota can come together to create something as magnificent and magical as what Best Friends has created in the middle of a desert. I believe Minnesota needs a place of refuge especially with the harsh winters we have. I believe we will some day have a place that will bring us together as a community, working with kindness and compassion, for both animals and humans.
Here are just a few of the photos I took from our last trip. For all my photos you can visit my flickr site.
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