Spirit of Hope Farm began in March of 2006, the realization of a life-long dream for Jen Winchester and a new-found passion for her husband, Jess. The couple regard their human family, horses and this farm to be gifts from God. It is their greatest desire to share their love of horses in a spirit of stewardship and thankfulness to the Lord for their abundant gifts.
Spirit of Hope Farm is a licensed shelter for horses that have been seized by the state because of significant neglect and/or abuse. Jen and Jess then invest lots of time, training, love (and yes, money) into rehabilitating them and then work to find them new homes where they will continue to be loved and properly cared for. This farm is not a "non-profit" in the legal sense. However, the Winchesters do not do this work to make money but rather to help as many horses as possible recover from substantial abuse and neglect. In fact, 99% of this farm's operating costs are covered by the Winchesters, which takes the term "non-profit" to new levels!
When asked why they continue to spend so much of their own time and financial resources keeping their shelter going, Jen often cites the story about the little boy and the starfish... A man was walking along a deserted beach at sunset. As he walked he could see a young boy in the distance, as he drew nearer he noticed that the boy kept bending down, picking something up and throwing it into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things into the ocean.
As the man approached even closer, he was able to see that the boy was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time he was throwing them back into the water.
The man asked the boy what he was doing, the boy replied,"I am throwing these washed up starfish back into the ocean, or else they will die through lack of oxygen. "But", said the man, "You can't possibly save them all, there are thousands on this beach, and this must be happening on hundreds of beaches along the coast. You can't possibly make a difference." The boy smiled, bent down and picked up another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied.
"I made a huge difference to that one!"
