Announcements

In November 2021, then 8-year-old Naomi Abrams sent a Christmas card to our staff, all the way from Snohomish, WA:
Dear Green Chimneys, How’s Cricket doing? I have sponsored Cricket before and I want to again. Please can I get some more pictures?
Of course, we obliged. Such a special handwritten request certainly deserved an in-kind response! Naomi received a Green Chimneys Sponsorship Card printed with Cricket’s photo and details about the important role this special mini horse plays at our Farm & Wildlife Center.
In July, Naomi’s family contacted us, this time, requesting to visit. Naomi and her brother, parents, cousins, and aunts and uncles all wanted to tour our campus in Brewster, NY. The Abrams family are long-time supporters of Green Chimneys, and while some had visited in the past, it had been many years and their children, including Naomi, had never been here.
On the day of their tour, Naomi arrived in a shirt printed with horses; an intentional choice that she made sure we knew. She eagerly reminded us that she wanted to see Cricket, and we eventually made our way to the horse barn, where Cricket was relaxing with mom Maya. Farm & Wildlife Center Director Michael Kaufmann let Cricket out of her stall, and Naomi lit up with joy as she finally got to meet her sponsored animal friend.
Our students benefit greatly from the educational and therapeutic animal-assisted activities, but anyone can derive a moment of wonder in the presence of an animal. The human-animal connection can be so many things: comforting, inspiring, grounding, or just plain fun.
May Naomi’s passion be an inspiration to many.
When you sponsor an animal at the Sam and Myra Ross Farm & Wildlife Center, you become a partner in caring for the more than 300 animals, birds of prey, and injured wildlife that call our campus home. Their daily care and maintenance are a critical part of the farm’s annual budget (including food, veterinary care, shelter, grooming, etc.). Your support helps with these expenses. This holiday season, Sponsor an Animal for yourself or give a sponsorship as a gift
With the completion of an elaborate new habitat built by Green Chimneys’ woodshop students, the Farm Science classroom was able to welcome Brownie into her new home. Brownie previously lived alone in her cage in the farm and wildlife office, but guinea pigs do best in larger environments. The new habitat allows her to live in a herd as she would in the wild, with many places to hide and ways to practice her skills. Brownie has always been a social creature, and she has taken over the guinea pig herd but is a very peaceful leader.