CAZENOVIA — On April 6, The Haven at Skanda farm animal sanctuary and education center was selected as the recipient of 100 Women Who Care CNY’s quarterly philanthropy initiative.
As this quarter’s winner, Skanda will receive a $100 check from every woman who belongs to the organization.
100 Women Who Care CNY is a group of around 100 women who come together for one hour four times a year to network, enjoy refreshments, and pool their money to support a local charity.
Members can nominate up to three local 501(c)3 organizations, which are then selected randomly to present at the group’s next meeting. Representatives of the three selected groups discuss the work of their organizations for five minutes and answer questions from the members present. Following the presentations, each member casts an anonymous vote for the charity they feel would benefit most from a donation. The charity with the most votes receives a $100 donation from each member.
Ellen Beckerman, Skanda’s executive director, was one of the three nonprofit representatives given the opportunity to present at the April meeting.
Located at 4000 Mosley Rd. in Cazenovia, Skanda is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization dedicated to caring for rescued and endangered farm animals, and to offering educational, supportive, and preventative programs to the public.
“We have been admirers of this organization’s work for a while,” said Beckerman. “It was an honor to be able to share Skanda’s work, and of course thrilling to have been chosen to receive their donations.”
During her presentation, Beckerman highlighted Skanda’s multifaceted work with both animals and people of all ages.
According to Beckerman, Skanda takes in the nation’s most severely abused and neglected animals and gives them space to recover and “emerge as who they really are.”
For the last nine years, Skanda has been caring for over 150 rescued farm animals who come to the sanctuary from all over the country through a partnership with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ national rescue teams.
“The animals are able to emerge from trauma and leave it fully in the past, living as exactly who they are in the present moment,” Beckerman said.
She also explained that because the animals are role models for recovery and healing from trauma, Skanda has created a variety of programs that allow the public to experience, learn from, and interact with the animals.
Beckerman also demonstrated Skanda’s dedication to responding to community needs by highlighting its COVID-19 emergency childcare initiative, LGBTQ youth support group, supportive programs for children with trauma, and efforts to welcome Ukrainian families to the farm.
She concluded her presentation with an overview of Skanda’s newest program, which brings groups of kids from Syracuse to the farm through a partnership with the Syracuse Department of Parks and Recreation.
According to Beckerman, Skanda has received about $6,300 from 100 Women Who Care CNY so far, and that total could increase depending on the final number of member donations.
“My understanding is that during COVID, participation was lower than usual, and that this [membership] number is actually one of the higher numbers [they’ve had] over the last few years,” she said.
Skanda plans to use the funds to bring 300 kids from Syracuse to the farm this year and to ensure that the new program in sustainable and ongoing.
According to Beckerman, the first group of Syracuse kids arrived on Thursday, April 14.
To learn more about The Haven at Skanda, visit thehavenatskanda.org.
For more information on 100 Women Who Care CNY, visit 100womencny.com.
