By Lily Raff / The Bulletin
Published: June 22. 2009 4:00AM PSTDoug Evans, left, and Juan Mendoza load bales of hay into Mendoza’s truck. Evans, a small-animal veterinarian, founded a nonprofit called Grassroots of Central Oregon with his wife, Meghan, last year. They collect donations of hay and then distribute it to horse owners in need.
To contact Grassroots of Central Oregon, e-mail grassroots@bendbroadband.com or call 541-408-6079.
Meghan Evans’ idea for a nonprofit was simple: Find horse owners with a surplus of hay and connect them with others who are struggling to pay for feed.
So last fall she and her husband, Doug, a small-animal veterinarian, founded Grassroots of Central Oregon, a food bank for horses.
One family donated the use of its barn for storage. The Evanses relied on word of mouth and a few news stories to drum up hay donors and recipients.
Now the nonprofit is one of a handful in the region scrambling to meet growing demands for feed during a time when fewer people have the money to help.
According to Evans, a gloomy economy is a mixed bag for nonprofits like Grassroots. It creates high demand, which offers the group an opportunity to expand. But it also limits the incoming donations that are required to help needy horse owners, and in some cases it causes nonprofits to compete for resources.
Evans is reminded of this paradox every time she reads about a case where horses are seized by law enforcement officials who cite the owners for neglect. In March, authorities seized 75 malnourished horses from a ranch near Burns.
“We read about these large-scale seizures of 50 to 100 horses,” she says. “And we don’t have the ability at this point to give out hay in those situations because we don’t have enough. Right now we’re just helping families that have one, two (or) three horses.”
An average horse eats about 20 pounds of hay per day. In very cold weather, the same horse could eat 40 pounds of hay per day.
One ton of high-quality hay costs more than $200 in Central Oregon right now. Evans’ group helps a few different families each month, usually giving them a one-month supply of hay.
Hay is one the many costs of horse ownership, which also include grain, vitamin and mineral supplements, farrier bills and veterinary care.
Eventually, Evans hopes her nonprofit will be big enough to provide feed for local horse rescue organizations. For now, though, the group simply aims to get more donations and dole them out to more families.
“Most of the people we’re helping have lost their jobs,” she explains. “This isn’t always enough to help them keep their horses, but sometimes it is.”
Diane Davis runs a small rescue group called Hooves and Halos in Redmond. She says free hay would be a huge boost to rescue groups that are struggling to keep up with costs.
“Hay prices haven’t gone down, and the need for rescues to take horses ... keeps going up and up. It’s really insane,” she says.
Davis estimates that financial donations to her nonprofit are one-eighth of what they were two years ago.
“Sometimes people get free hay, and they still end up giving up their horses,” she says. “So it would be nice if the (donated) hay went to the rescues that are getting the horses anyway.”
Several local rescue groups recently joined a new statewide effort spearheaded by the Oregon Horse Welfare Council. The council has formed a horse foster program to prevent horses from further overwhelming rescue operations or having to be euthanized. The council has also arranged a state hay bank similar to Grassroots of Central Oregon.
Managers of local nonprofits are hesitant to talk about it, but say they worry about competing with one another for donations.
Joan Steelhammer is president of Equine Outreach, a large rescue operation in Bend. With almost 100 horses, Steelhammer says her nonprofit goes through more than one ton of hay each day. Every donation helps, although managing her stash is a big job.
“I can’t suddenly switch feeds on my horses; they’ll (get) colic or diarrhea. So if I get a small amount of (donated) hay and I can mix it in with my other feeds, I try to do that,” she says.
“Sometimes a person calls to (surrender) their horses and if my facility is full, I’ll say, ‘If I get you some hay, can you keep them in place for a month until I get some room?’” Steelhammer continues. “None of my hay ever goes to waste.”
Organizers say they get most hay donations from other horse owners who have a surplus or who feel generous enough to buy a little extra.
“I know they have to make a living too, but it would be wonderful if every farmer would just give up a ton, once a year,” Davis suggests.
Meghan Evans, of Grassroots, agrees.
“We wish the farmers would donate, especially now because people are starting to cut and put up new hay for the season, and a lot of times there’s leftover hay that could be donated from last season.”
Lily Raff can be reached at 541-617-7836 or at lraff@bendbulletin.com.
Published Daily in Bend Oregon by Western Communications, Inc. © 2009