Oklahoma City, Okla. - As evidence of the destruction left by Hurricane Katrina becomes more apparent, the Reining Horse Sports Foundation announced today that it has joined the relief effort and will earmark your donations for the hurricane victims.
To help with RHSF efforts, please make a tax-deductible donation today to help hurricane stricken NRHA members. Hurricane Katrina has ripped apart thousands of lives and left thousands homeless – including animals - in the southeast. In response to this disaster, the RHSF is launching a relief effort to assist those NRHA members in the affected areas.
“The Board of Directors of the Reining Horse Sports Foundation encourages individuals who have been affected by the hurricane to contact the RHSF for help,” said Frank Costantini, board president. “Anyone who would like to make a difference can do so by making a tax-deductible donation to the RHSF.”
The RHSF is a supporting organization for the National Reining Horse Association. “NRHA members affected by the hurricane will be given first consideration,” Costantini said. The NRHA has over 150 members in the affected areas.
“We have always been a close-knit organization,” he said. “Many of us have known each other for years and consider one another family. In its purest sense, this is family helping family.
“We recognize the importance of immediate relief for critical necessities,” Costantini said, “as well as long-term relief. Most of the individuals asking for our help will have horses or other animals. The expenses to care for the animals can be great, whether they are in need of veterinary care, board, feed and/or water. We want to help with those needs as well.”
The RHSF will be a central gathering point for names and contact information of individuals who have horse and/or other animal facilities that people may need for temporary boarding.
Victims of Hurricane Katrina, or those wishing to make donations to the RHSF Hurricane Relief Fund, may contact Tania Warnock at 405.516.7437 or 580.747.6616. People who have facilities where horses or other animals can be boarded temporarily should call the same number or email twarnock@nrha.com.
“We often talk about expanding our horizons,” said Tania Warnock, director of development for the RHSF. “Joining in this relief effort takes that expansion to another level, because the recipients of our assistance may have never thought of the RHSF as a foundation that benefits them. When we are faced with a crisis, there are no boundaries.
“Now it’s just a question of how much assistance we will be able to provide,” Warnock said. “That depends on the generosity of our members, as well as individuals around the world whose hearts go out to the thousands of people whose lives will never be the same.”
