Lift Me Up! Therapeutic Riding Program

HERITAGE FARM—-A GIFT OF ROOTS AND WINGS
Lift Me Up! is indebted to the Dougherty family for their 25+ years of support to the therapeutic riding community. The beautiful farm which shelters our horses, provides therapy and recreation to our riders, and tranquility to a host of families and volunteers has been in the family since 1869. Gary Kyp, age 4, is now the sixth generation to help his parents and grandparents with the Heritage Farm chores, and his attachment to the land is already evident!
Flo and Harry Dougherty and Wendy and Jim Kyp (daughter and son-in-law) work continually behind the scenes to maintain a haven for our program. They have opened their land to our riders, volunteers, horses, cars, equipment, and festivities. Their commitment and genuine desire to make a difference in each individual's life has been the cornerstone of our program. Heritage Farm has provided LIFT ME UP! the opportunity to become rooted in the Great Falls community and has provided the nourishment for it to flourish. Above all, it has allowed hundreds of riders the opportunity to experience those wings of freedom - through the powerful movement of a horse. —Colleen Zanin

Lift Me Up ‘s DIAMOND IN DENIM
FOUNDER—COLLEEN ZANIN
Like so many of us, during college, Colleen worked at a summer camp. One week of the camp was devoted to disabled children, and Colleen experienced a realization then that has had a positive impact on each of us in many ways: The disabled camper’s responses to riding the horses was exceptional. Much more than any other activity, they were amazingly moved by the riding —more vocal, more interactive.
In the 1970’s a team of 18 Americans—each one a speech, physical or occupational therapist—went to Germany to learn about Hippotherapy. The Western Europeans had incorporated horses into physical therapy programs at least 10 years before.

Among those original 18…was the founder of our own riding therapy program, Colleen Zanin. It is her vision and persistence and incredible hard work that is the backbone of Lift Me Up!. She saw the value of the collaborative learning, healing, and rehabilitative efforts by the therapist, horse and client. For 28 years she has devoted countless hours helping, instructing, encouraging. Her influence is tangible in every facet of the Program. There are so many who have benefited from her understated, unassuming determination and purpose.

Hats off to Colleen!

SPECIAL THANKS AND RECOGNITION:

Flo Dougherty, Program Administrator

Katie Fallon, Program Director

Colleen Pozniak, Volunteer Coordinator

Mary Sitnik, Horse Care

INSTRUCTORS

Mary Jo Beckman

Kristin Halizak-Eddy, OT

Barbara Hartwick

Connie Kohler, OT

Kerry Longnecker

Pam McDorman, OT

Pam Nolan

Colleen Zanin, OT

“...And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy.” – The Prophet

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bill Carbaugh, President
Colleen Zanin, Vice President, Operations
Heidi Lesinski, Vice President, Development
Lita Mellon, Secretary
Bob Goldberg, Treasurer
Lauren Carbaugh	Georgia Corey
Harry Dougherty	Katie Fallon
Lisa Gercenstein	Dave Hagigh
James Meriweather	Farhad Saba

A Community That Cares:
Special Thanks to the Newcomers Club
The Newcomer's Club of Great Falls extends a warm welcome to new neighbors in the community. This year, the Club recognized Lift Me Up's contributions to the community with an extremely generous $12,000 grant. We are more than grateful to the Newcomers Club for helping us continue to fulfill our mission helping our special riders. We are thrilled to be recognized as a worthy local “cause” and share in the Newcomer Club's efforts to make our community a better and more caring one.

A Family Affair
The Whitney family of Great Falls has been donating “Woman hours” to LMU! for many years. Barbara and her daughter-in-law Kristin have been knowledgeable and reliable horse leaders and sidewalkers for our riders for several seasons. Kriston has also been a great help with several fundraising activities and organized our spring benefit horse show at Cavallo Farms.
Now they've really out done themselves! In response to our request for donations for a hydraulic lift to help ease the sometimes cumbersome mounting process for our special-needs riders, the Whitney family donated $5,000. The new lift has been in service for several months now, thanks greatly to the Whitney's generous gift.

Volunteer Recognition
Maggie deserves recognition as a very devoted volunteer with LIFT ME UP! She is an excellent horsewoman who does a wonderful job of preparing the horses for the lessons, leading or sidewalking during the lessons, and provides extra special care afterwards. She carries a bucket of horse food in her trunk which she gives to the horses as a treat after lessons. Maggie works with several instructors and has recruited other volunteers for LIFT ME UP! Thank you, Maggie!
Thanks to two of our Board members, Lisa Gercenstein and Ann Jameson assisting with the lessons. It is great to have individuals with "hands on" experience helping to make the decisions for LIFT ME UP!

Special thanks to Ann for the Water Cooler!!
What a welcomed addition, especially during the hot weather!

Mark continues to be our master carpenter with many skills and much knowledge! He has completed so many helpful projects, such as the helmet shelving, tidying up the office area, constructing the volunteer sign-in/out shelf, adding door latches for two sheds, constructed additional steps for the mounting block and building a saddle rack between the sheds. If all that wasn't enough, he manufactured a holder for the LIFT ME UP! mailbox and designed an over-the-fence stabilizer for a hula hoop so the riders can throw balls through it! He also gave the new lift its special place in the administration shed so the battery unit can be hung and the Sure Hands holder can be stored on a high shelf, out of the way. Thank you, Mark, for all your unique and special additions for LIFT ME UP!