At Heritage Grove Middle School, Lesli Louck’s seventh grade group-building team expressed an interest in helping a local non-profit organization.
The group of approximately 20 students chose the Illinois Horse Rescue of Will County because they wanted to help animals in some way. They held two fundraisers at school during lunch. One was a spare change drive on Jan. 18, and the other was a bake sale on Feb. 1. Together, they raised a total of more than $100 and donated the entire amount towards the food, medical supplies and rehabilitation of the animals in the rescue’s care.
Hearing about their efforts, founder of the Illinois Horse Rescue, Tony Pecho, decided to show them his gratitude in a way only a horse rescue can.
On April 11, the group of kids was expecting a presentation about the rescue to be given in their class by one of the Illinois Horse Rescue volunteers. What they didn’t know is that Pecho and a few volunteers had driven to Plainfield with a trailer full of adorable little animals to surprise the kids.
After the indoor presentation by rescue volunteer Fatina Sayegh, the group was lead out in front of the school thinking they were going to help bring in classroom materials.
When they saw the Illinois Horse Rescue truck and trailer parked in their school driveway, they figured out what was happening and a murmur of giggles and excitement spread through the group.
Pecho thanked them for their generous gift and then proceeded to take a small entourage of animals out of the trailer. For the next 30 minutes, the lucky seventh-graders took a break from their school day hanging out in the light rain petting Shaggy and Cookie, two miniature horses, feeding two baby Nubian goats, cuddling Flopsie, a big black bunny, and chasing Gizmo, a very tiny and charismatic pygmy goat.
The staff, volunteers and animals at the Illinois Horse Rescue of Will County truly appreciate the kindness and effort this great group of kids shared with their organization.