We joined Farm Sanctuary initially as monthly recurring members. Having spent the last 30 years in the nonprofit sector, I am keenly aware of what good communication is. Farm Sanctuary provides relevant, informative updates that are always donor-centric and always tie the message back to the mission. The animal ambassadors deepen our love for the mission.

We stayed at a cottage named after Hilda at the Watkins Glen sanctuary. We travel quite a bit and to say it was one of the highlights of our lives is not hyperbole. What a joy to meet the staff and volunteers, the animal residents and to soak in the energy of that special place.

We look forward to the impact reports, the stunning printed newsletter (Yes, it is lovely to hold something so beautifully produced in one’s hand) and the invitations to events. We are thrilled to return to Watkins Glen this October for another stay in a cottage.

Gene’s book Farm Sanctuary changed my life overnight. It’s the reason I went vegan! With the Christian view I have of the world, it is apparent that we are not being good stewards to the animals. I know that Farm Sanctuary has a reach far and wide with the wonderful things they are doing through legislation and education. Of course, the Sanctuary itself plays a tremendous role in showing visitors the rescued animals are all worthy of love. I love gifting an animal sponsorship for a birthday or graduation.

We are members of Farm Sanctuary’s Friends of Hilda Club because we believe that all animals are beautiful, and are entitled to giving and receiving love. All should be able to live free and be loved, just like those who are living at Farm Sanctuary.

My feelings for helpless animals abused by humans reached a crescendo during my first visit to Acton around 2015. When I had a chance to spend time with the animals of the Farm Sanctuary, I couldn’t help but be moved to support the urgent rescue of all of the animals still living in terrible and inhumane conditions. I decided then to support the rescue and care for farm animals at the sanctuary through joining Farm Sanctuary’s Hilda Club. It was a life changing visit.

Since I was a young girl, I have felt a kinship with any and all animals I encountered. Not just cats, dogs, ducks, guinea pigs and the rest of the menageries that my siblings and I reveled in as children, but also, cows, goats, horses, sheep, chickens, and the wild creatures we encountered growing up in many different parts of the United States. There was something honorable, dignified, utterly present, and thus luminous in virtually every animal I observed. As I grew older, I became concerned to bring the respect and love I felt for animals into my daily life in all the ways that I could. So when I discovered Farm Sanctuary on an animal website called The Dodo, I was immediately hooked and wanted to know more about this organization. The more I learned, the more impressed I became with Farm Sanctuary. I am delighted — perhaps “heartened” is a better word — to support this organization and all that it both stands for and does on behalf of farm animals. Yes, it has saved thousands of animals from the brutality and violence of factory farming. This is vital. But Farm Sanctuary also does other essential work, helping educate countless men, women, and children about the fate of the animals we eat, skin, and exploit for research, working to improve the conditions of farm animals through the legislative process, and connecting hundreds of people, scores of sanctuaries and thousands of animals in a kind of modern “Underground Railroad,” intended to bring safety and liberation to these good creatures. And the people of Farm Sanctuary do this with grace, humor, kindness, and expertise. For these reasons, I am deeply gratified to be a member of Hilda’s Club.

I don’t remember precisely when I learned of Farm Sanctuary, except that it was quite a few years ago, and I’ve been following their heartwarming stories ever since. From a cow and her calf who miraculously escaped slaughter to a pair of goats who fled from a live market in NY to a runt pig left to die, who was saved and brought to Farm Sanctuary, I’ve found my faith in humanity renewed with each animal given a chance at a life free of fear and suffering.

Every time any animal is rescued from cruelty and death, it is a victory for all that is good in human nature.

I’ve sometimes imagined a world, far in the future to be sure, when children would gasp in horror and disbelief when told how, once upon a time, the body parts of dead animals were packaged and sold to shoppers who then cooked and consumed them. I dream of a time when such a practice would be viewed as a nightmare from the distant past, rather than the norm that it is today.

Years ago, I visited Farm Sanctuary in Orland, CA, and found such joy in meeting all the healthy, well-cared for pigs, goats, cows, chickens, ducks and other farm animals who were free to wander in pastures, swim in a lake, or roll in the dirt without fear that humans would harm them. I was overwhelmed with the love and respect shown to these brave animals, many of whom endured torturous conditions before being rescued. Farm Sanctuary shows us what is possible when people begin to understand that the lives of animals and humans are intertwined, that their suffering is ours, too.

Farm Sanctuary redeems my faith in my own species. Here farm animals are treated with the love, respect, and care that all animals everywhere deserve. This is an oasis of love and kindness.

My life has been made immeasurably better for my involvement with them.

As Hilda Club members, it is a privilege to sustain Gene’s vision and support Farm Sanctuary’s mission of pursuing bold solutions to end animal agriculture and foster just and compassionate vegan living.