“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for”

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
~ Barack Obama

Hello and Happy Monday to Everyone!

If you were part of yesterday’s Horse Talk with Holly from Bice Policy Group, you heard thar quote – “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” I pulled up the rest of the quote to start today’s blog.

We too often do exactly what that quote says – we are all waiting for someone else to come along and do the things we think we cannot do.

I have heard it over the last couple of weeks as I asked all of you how we should proceed with our advocacy for the Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horses and heard it again when I asked for your continued financial support. I am hearing it too as some of the organizations I have asked to help us financially in this leg of our advocacy help us raise the estimated $40,000 needed to get federal protection for this herd.

“I hope you get the help you need.”

“I hope the other organizations can help you.”

“I hope you get enough people to step up and support you in this fight.”

I am keeping up my end of the bargain. Holly and I met with one of our state legislators today. I am communicating with Senator Hoeven’s office and when the press calls, I always make time for them to help keep this issue in front of the public. I took time to design and order a new, updated brochure that will be passed out all summer long in Medora. I have reached out to other organizations and sent them copies of the grant proposal letter that I drafted, asking for their financial support. I am making plans to participate in summer parades and community events to help raise awareness and let people know that WE ARE STILL FIGHTING FOR THE SPIRIT OF THE BADLANDS. I honestly feel like I have been busier than ever since the immediate threat to the TRNP horses has been removed!

I feel a need to say that my husband and I also run a small business in the tourist town of Medora. Things have been getting busy and after this weekend, the summer insanity will finally come to town.

We are all busy. We all have other things that bog us down and demand our attention.

We also all love the TRNP wild horses and the job of saving them should fall on every single one of us.

We had a small surge of donations when I pleaded with all of you last week. And then I received a bunch of the email examples I shared above, wishing me well and hoping that others will step in to help, as the donations once again stopped.

WE ARE THE ONES WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR

I don’t know how else to help everyone realize that. We need to stop looking at anyone else but ourselves to help us in this fight.

I will continue to ask, because we really do need it, if you are able to help donate to help us in the fight for permanent protection for this herd, you can make your tax-deductible donation here: https://secure.everyaction.com/cBmDbRA6cUuzERpShcQOCg2

THANK YOU to everyone who has made any size donation! Every $1 counts and gets us one step closer to our goal!

Grants will take some time to get. We have heard back from 3 of 7 (big and small) original wild horse advocacy organizations that we reached out to a few weeks ago. One sounds like they are willing to work with us to raise funds through their organization specifically for permanent protection for the TRNP wild horses. Two others are meeting with their board to see if they can help and in what capacity. We have not heard a peep from the 4 others ~ yet.

We also had someone well versed in grant writing contact us. They are looking over our proposal letter and once we get their feedback, we have other places to send grant requests to.

We will continue to keep you updated on both our progress as we work toward federal protection and our funding needs.

The other way that quote applies to today’s blog is that yesterday the SAFE Act came up in many of the questions. If you did not listen to the Horse Talk from yesterday with Holly, please take the time to listen. The feedback has all been positive and there was a lot of good information shared. You can listen/watch it here: https://youtu.be/CUR2SGe_JYQ

In case you are not aware, the House submitted their version of the Farm Bill on Friday. The request has been made to add the SAFE Act to the Farm Bill. The House did NOT include it in this version of the bill that was released on Friday.

In asking Holly yesterday, “What can we do?” She explained that as the Farm Bill progresses, the language on the House side CAN always be added. She also said that the Senate has NOT released their version of the Farm Bill yet.

What does that mean?

It means we DO NOT give up! Holly talked a lot yesterday about persistence. We need to stay persistent on this issue.

WE ARE THE ONES WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!

I asked Holly after our call with our ND state legislator about language for emailing our representatives that I could use for a NEW Call to Action. She gave me some suggestions and I have included them in TWO separate one-click Calls to Action. Today, I have FOUR new Calls to Action for you:

The first one is for everyone to contact their US House Representative. You can customize the email on our one-click page. You can also copy and paste it into your own email if you have established a relationship with your representative. You can take this one-click action here: https://secure.everyaction.com/BvEWnYZjVE-knSbxOrh_iA2

The second Call to Action is for you to send an email to your US Senators. The Senate version has not been released. This is why the wording is a little different. You can take this one click action here: https://secure.everyaction.com/rnn_ofETLU-Ja8tNQM5RmQ2

The Third Call to Action is that you do what Holly said and ask your friends and family members to use our one click form or send their own email to their congressional delegates.

The Fourth Call to Action is not a one-click easy task. Take a moment to write a letter to the editor of your state and local newspapers talking about the SAFE Act. Encourage people to contact their members of Congress and ask them to pass the SAFE Act to ban horse slaughter in the US and prohibits the exportation of horses for slaughter. If ONE person reads your letter and acts, that is ONE more voice we have speaking up for our wild horses. Then imagine if 10, 20, 50 or 100 letters to the editor all across the US get printed and from that at least 1 new person per letter joins this fight!

I think it is safe to continue to walk through life KNOWING that we have to continue to educate our state and federal elected officials, the press, and the general public as much as we can.

WE ARE THE ONES WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!!

We can kick and scream, pout and pray for a better outcome for the SAFE Act, or we can be persistent and continue to fight for this important piece of legislation AND for federal protection for our TRNP wild horses.

I am in these fights for the long haul. How about you?