Gifts of love

 The Gentle Barn hosts children from South Central Los Angeles who literally have nothing.  They are often from broken homes, don’t have clothes that fit them, don’t have warm clothes in the winter, and definitely don’t have the luxuries that we often take for granted.
These kids have to grow up fast and learn to live without so much.  We wanted to do something for them to lighten their load and make them feel special.  So, several years ago when we were offered 250 toys left behind in a warehouse, we knew exactly what to do with them.  We loaded up the toys in the back of The Gentle Barn pick-up truck and drove them down to the projects on Christmas Eve.  With a police escort, we went from door to door handing out gifts to the children and hope to the parents.  The smiles from the kids and the tears of gratitude from the grown-ups were all the encouragement we needed to make this an annual event.
Every year since that time, we partner with The Los Angeles Pals Program to do something nice for more and more families.  Last year we gave out books, shoes, backpacks filled with school supplies, clothes, food, and toys to 1,000 children!
This year we want to do even more! To help us give so much love to families who have so little, please go to our registry at http://bit.ly/1LMhSpG.
The Gentle Barn is home to hundreds of animals rescued from abuse and neglect, and host to at-risk, inner city, and special needs children.  We are open to the public every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. so you can hug a cow, cuddle a turkey, give a pig a tummy rub, and hear their stories of resilience.
To get tickets and for more information, go to www.gentlebarn.org.