Hope Doyle, a fourth-grader at Dennis Chavez Elementary School, decided to have her friends donate money to Walkin' N Circles Equine Rescue and Rehabilitation Ranch instead of buying her presents for her 10th birthday. Hope, who hopes to have a horse someday, raised $230 for the nonprofit horse rescue organization. (Richard Pipes/Journal)
With her 10th birthday approaching, Hope Doyle was in a quandary.
Her parents had given her the option of receiving gifts for her birthday or donating an equivalent dollar amount to a charity of her choosing.
Her love of horses, however, quickly ended the debate.
“I asked the people who came to my birthday party to bring however much money they would have spent on a gift, and to give it to Walkin’ N Circles,” Hope said during a recent visit to the Edgewood-based horse rescue ranch.
“Horses are her passion,” said Hope’s mother, Tiffany Doyle. “I don’t know where that came from, but I was surprised when she decided that instead of getting gifts she wanted to raise donations.”
Hope and her friends raised $230 for the ranch.
“She’s already said she wants to do this again for her next birthday,” her mother said.
Hope, a fourth-grader at Dennis Chavez Elementary School in Albuquerque, said she hopes to own a horse someday.
“I don’t think my backyard has enough room for a horse, but I’d love to have a horse someday,” Hope said. “Maybe one from Walkin’ N Circles.”
“Her donation means as much to us as a $2,000 or a $20,000 donation,” said ranch manager Charles Graham. “It just warms your heart to realize there are children and families out there who are so generous and so interested in what we’re doing at Walkin’ N Circles.”
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