June 4, 2008 - Dakota
Simon, 13, pets an old, thin horse at the
Shannon Foundations farm.
( Teresa Prince/P-D) |
FRANKLIN COUNTY--As horses neighed and roosters
crowed, Dakota Simon leaned over a fence at a farm for
abused or unwanted animals and fed a homemade biscuit to
a grateful hound called White Dog.
"I love animals and I just think they need help, like
us," said Dakota, 13, one of a group of autistic
youngsters who made a project of raising money to help
creatures like White Dog — blind, deaf and rescued from
a puppy mill.
The youngsters baked dog biscuits as a project at
school, Giant Steps of St. Louis, which specializes in
children and adolescents with an autism spectrum
disorder.
On Wednesday, the students visited the non-profit
Shannon Foundation farm in rural Franklin County, to
deliver biscuits and a check for $520 they earned
selling them.
Children with disabilities are more typically on the
receiving end of community service work, said Betty
Berger, the school's director. The biscuit project put
kids such as Dakota on the giving end.
"Every student had a job," Berger said as she walked
through the wooded rolling hills of the farm with the
students. "Some kids made fliers and others posted them.
Some kids baked the dog biscuits. Some took orders and
sold the biscuits. They learned about money and counting
and all about the animals."
The field trip included the opportunity to pet and feed
dogs and a donkey, and to watch an aged red horse named
Old Daisy get her hooves trimmed.
"Daisy came to us and was nearly starved to death,"
explained Rhonda Stephens, founder of the Shannon
Foundation. Stephens lives on the 100-acre farm, tending
the animals with the help of volunteers.
The animals typically have been rescued from abuse, are
too old or ill for adoption, or belonged to people
unable to care for them.
The menagerie includes about 100 horses, goats,
pot-bellied pigs, emus, llamas, foxes, dogs, cats, deer
and rabbits. Many are friendly enough to come right up
to the visitors.
Stephens said the Shannon Foundation is not accepting
new animals right now and urgently needs money for
repairs and care of the animals it has.
"Donations are down terribly with the economy the way it
is, and it's extremely rough for us," she said.
The foundation can be reached at 636-629-4800 or online
at theshannonfoundation.org.
mgillerman@post-dispatch.com | 314-725-6758
