It has been a busy beginning to the year for the San Diego Animal Sanctuary & Farm in Alpine. On Jan. 17, the Sanctuary hosted a day with executives from Rady Children’s Hospital.
“They had a ‘Rady Leader Celebration, Service and Lunch,’” said SDASF Executive Director Anges Barrelet. “Twenty-five members of the Rady team came to help at the farm. They cleaned our horse enclosure, the barnyard coops, fed the tortoises, fed and cleaned the bird area, and spent time in our beautiful garden with Joey, our master grower, helping him harvest organic vegetables. It is always such a joy when visitors come not only to interact with the animals but to help us with the work that is required daily to keep the farm operating. We love, and our so proud to provide a venue where they can experience the beauty of nature and help our animals.”
Barrelet said just like much of the San Diego community, the Sanctuary was “pummeled” with seven inches of rain during the Jan. 22 storm.
“Some of our shelters were already in need of repair and the effects of the storm made that need even more of a priority with the damage created,” she said. “Our water reservoir filled up in just two days, pipes on the farm were unearthed and holes appeared in the ground throughout the farm. On top of the damage from the storm, the extreme weather has resulted in much less guest visiting the Sanctuary, which has had a huge impact on the finances we rely on weekly to operate. We reached out to our online community and were able to gather some funds to begin repair of two shelters in Poncho and Star’s enclosure. Our Scottish Belted Galloway mini cows, and the mini horse enclosure. We are so grateful to have been able to conduct these repairs, but there are still many that need to be addressed.”
Barrelet said at the Farm, the winter vegetables are growing beautifully. The garden has a large selection in season right now with a large selection of greens, vegetables, squashes, seeds, herbs, and fruits.
“The garden is full of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and lettuce,” she said. “Joey, our master gardener, planted new fruit trees throughout the farm and we are really excited to be able to sell fruit throughout the year. Each week, we deliver fresh veggies from the garden to Santee. These deliveries have been growing in popularity. You can come directly to the farm to purchase our organic produce, but if you are located further away and want to pick up delicious vegetables in Santee, text us to make an order at (619) 320-4942. Each Monday we send an updated list, and you can pick them up at the farm, or in Santee between 4:30-5:30 p.m. If you have any suggestions of new delivery locations for our home-grown produce, please let us know by text or email us at info@childrensnatureretreat.com.”
Barrelet said that between a low attendance winter season, the addition of new animals, and the continuing storms, the Sanctuary is always incurring costs to operate.
She said along with monthly expenses, it is always dealing with unexpected expenses such as veterinarian visits and unplanned restorations to the enclosures.
The Sanctuary has its annual fundraiser, Disco Ball, coming up on March 8 at the Bahia Resort Hotel at 998 W Mission Bay Drive in San Diego. Barrelet said it was originally planned for December 2023, but they had to postpone it due to lack of ticket sales and March 8 is the only date the facility can accommodate the fundraiser. The fundraiser includes a hosted cocktail reception, a three-course dinner, live and silent auction, and dancing.
“This fundraiser is critical for our ongoing operations at the Sanctuary and Farm,” she said. “This is the only date that we can hold this event. Regardless of whether we sell enough tickets to the event, it will cost us $25,000.”
For more information on the March 8 Annual fundraiser, visit www.sandiegoanimalsanctuaryandfarm.org.
