Newly created Chihuahua Foundation raises $8K to benefit children
Many people live with the desire to help and serve those in need, even if they themselves do not have many resources. From this same sentiment, the Chihuahua Foundation was born as a nonprofit organization in the form of a golf club with a mission to serve small causes in need of funds in Puerto Rico.
Recently, the organization held its first golf tournament with 122 players at Palmas Athletic Club, through which they raised $8,000 destined for Sight to See a Horse, a multidisciplinary group of specialists in human development and functional diversity that provide equine therapy. The raised funds will cover 155 therapies.
“In 2020, the golf courses were some of the first spaces that opened to the public due to COVID-19 safety measures. To combat social isolation among friends in a safe space, we began to go to the golf course and hold tournaments as a group, which we named Chihuahua Golf Club,” said Alejandro Meléndez, who chairs the organization, which was officially founded in 2022.
“The group began with the participation of 12 players and reached up to 60 players in its early stages. We identified it as a great opportunity to be able to contribute to small causes, giving a purpose to an activity that we were already carrying out, and that is how the Chihuahua Foundation emerged,” he said.
To continue playing golf with a purpose, the Chihuahua Foundation selected Sight to See a Horse to impact patients with the funds raised.
As president, Meléndez assured that he has been able to see up close how effective equine therapy is and how it can help children with limited resources. At the heart of one of the success stories is a three-year-old girl with spasticity, speech and language difficulties, physical problems, hip rotation, and locomotion.
With only three sessions per month, the equine therapy reduced 75% of spasticity and 70% of involuntary movements, and the child was able to walk with assistance and improve her speech, allowing her to use more words in her vocabulary, he explained.
“I’m very excited because the work of the Chihuahua Foundation will help fulfill the dreams of many parents and children. It fills me with happiness to be able to call a family that had canceled their appointments due to lack of funds and tell them that they can continue taking their child to therapy,” said Kenia Rosado, director and equine therapist at Sight to See a Horse.
“When I founded Sight to See a Horse with Yasmín, administrator and speech therapist, it was a dream for us that became a hope for many parents with children who have needs that have to be addressed,” said Rosado.
The Chihuahua Foundation intends to carry out several initiatives during the year to continue raising funds. In addition, the organization aims to integrate other activities so that all family members are involved, and so their work serves as an example to instill service to others in their children, organizers stated.
