Lotus Haven

01/11/2025

Levi went down to the field yesterday and sent me this video he took hisself! It’s the sweetest. 🥰🥰 This kid is amazing and this is the proof our donkey therapy will work! Please be sure to follow on fb and TikTok and help in anyway you can to get this thing growing!!! Jelly Roll Bunnie Xo

Check out Jill Bevins’s video.

01/10/2025

We are looking for a few people who want to help really grow Lotus Haven this year. We could use volunteers on the farm some fundraising help, and help with growing social and community involvement. Our next fundraiser will be an online auction so also looking for donations of services and items that can go in the auction. We are hoping to raise enough to completely pay off our barn. Please let me know if you are willing to be a part of any of these things. Not everything needs to be done in person meetings there is a couple of us working on things virtually so time restraints are easier.

01/06/2025

Donkey snow day at Lotus Haven.

01/04/2025

Everyone is tucked in with winter coats on and belly’s full! I hate this cold for them!

12/31/2024

Beautiful Luna waiting for dinner! So muddy I pray she doesn’t get an absses.

12/27/2024

So we were in 1st place for tree contest then a charity much larger than us just blew past us! I need about 200 more people to vote! Just click the pic and give it a ❤️ or 👍. Bonus if you share and/or comment on this post done. (This will help with the algorithm so more people see it) THANK YOU!!!

https://www.facebook.com/share/18S2d4AyXT/?mibextid=wwXIfr

12/24/2024

So proud of Jubal! He was a star volunteers for St Agnes Catholic Church Friday night while they did Las Posadas which is a reenactment of the walk of Mary and Joseph. The kids dressed up and over 130 people showed up and walked singing carols in Español. I heard he was a big hit and was a perfect gentleman! I love that he brought joy to so many that night!! Then Saturday he came for meet and greets at on the lake. Contest for that is still one week away. We’re in the running for both prizes but anything can happen still I’ll post links for the free and paid votes. For paid we are $415 behind first which is a $1000 bonus plus we get all donations. For Facebook likes we are about 20 ahead but it changes daily that one is also a cash bonus!

12/21/2024

I’m sure you guys are tired of hearing about lights on the lake trees and Lotus Haven but this litterally the only fundraiser we’ve done in 2024.
There are 2 parts of the contest. One is paid votes. You can buy a vote for as little as $1. ALL this $ goes directly to the nonprofit then there is bonus cash prizes for the top 5. Right now we are about $500 from the first place (which is an additional $1,000 prize) id love for everyone to do a few votes to help us win. Paid votes can be cast here!

https://www.ticketsignup.io/TicketEvent/CommunityTrees/Register?

The 2nd way to win is through FB voting this is free for you to do all you gotta do is click this link and either ❤️ or 👍 our tree. Right now we are in 1st place (an extra $500 to the rescue if we stay there) there are a couple other non-profits that are very close so please keep voting. This part is FREE to vote.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BGR3Cwzo2/?mibextid=WC7FNe

They are seperate prizes so please vote both ways!!!

Also we will have a couple donkeys there tomorrow for meet/greets so make sure you get your tickets!!

12/01/2024

It’s that time of year again! Lights On The Lake Community Trees! Please help us win by CLICKING THE PICTURE the give us a 👍 or a ❤️.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BGR3Cwzo2/?mibextid=WC7FNe

10/16/2024

The hardest part of this rescue business is loss. We hadn't had one in a while and were not expecting it at all but today I came home to Miss Willow who had already crossed the rainbow bridge. Sweet girl.....Emmett seems to be doing ok and still eating but I am sure he's still sad as they have been together for ever! So thankful for my neighbor who runs Green Is Great Lawn Care, LLC. who brought over some equipment and dug a hole and helped me put her to her final resting spot where she will rest with the rest of her herd. We love you Willow!!

10/14/2024

Needed to share some pretty cool Lotus Haven news!!! A few weeks ago one of Lex's friends came over so her almost 3y old could meet the donkeys. So far her son is struggling with speech and sees a speech therapist. He is pretty much non-verbal. When he came a few weeks ago he actually said DONKEY!! He has been talking about donkey since. Then Saturday they attended our event and fell in love with our baby, Rainbow. She just told us that all night and day the next day he was saying donkey and rainbow!! You just don't know the healing power of my babies!!! (photo not shared for privacy) Now that our angel donor has gifted us a trailer we are ready to start booking therapeutic visits. What we will be open to booking if you have contacts would be:
Children therapy type settings
Foster children events
speech and/or mental health therapy visits
Nursing Homes
VA hospital
Children's hospitals
Therapeutic children living centers
If you have contacts with people in these type of situations please reach out. Would also be willing to book 'for donation' type events such as a trunk or treat or some sort of fall party, Christmas events. We will be appearing at the Lights on the Lake a couple times again this year as well! Would also be looking for some volunteers who want to be animal handlers at these events.

10/03/2024

Finally I feel like I can share what Lotus Haven has been going through. Since we had court today. This likely will be long...

Last January our wonderful friend/supporter Trish Mills donated a great blessing to us (a Ford f350 truck) it needed a little love but had a newer transmission and rebuilt engine and we just needed something safe and powerful enough to pull animals and do some minor farm chores like get hay and feed etc.

I posted on FB looking for help for a reasonable mechanic and someone reached out to me saying they used to own a diesel shop and could help me out. They went and picked up the truck from Frederick and took it back to their house in Martinsburg to fix it. This was mid January 2024. They 'assessed the truck' and said they could fix it for $2500 in parts. He said he loved what the rescue did and wanted to do the work for free. I offered to pay him some at the end but he didn't seem worried about it.

Long story as short as I can make it there were so many excuses, he was busy, family issues, 4 car accidents, child in hospital, work etc. He was so nice and really seemed to know what he was talking about. I gave him the $2500 for parts upfront cause he couldn't afford to front it. Yet I never saw any progress happening.

Finally I decided enough was enough and I wanted the truck back, which they blocked in so I couldn't get it and I had to get the sheriff involved. It is here I found out that this person has an extensive criminal history in 4 states for doing this exact thing to others. Upon the police picking up the truck and getting it towed it was discovered that there was a new hole in the transmission (leaking everywhere) and seats had now been cut with razor and as well as things like catalytic converter and exhaust has been removed and likely sold as that is the most common things to be stolen and resold off vehicles.

The Sheriff dept pressed criminal felony charges against him for this whole ordeal and I filed a civil suit to get a judgement for what this has cost me/the rescue. He finally has been charged and we had court today. The judge agreed that nothing he said was credible and his stories didn't make sense. The judge issued us a judgement for $8500. I am aware that collecting this is a whole other issue and may not happen but the hope is that once he is convicted criminally (charged but not had court yet for that part) the prosecutor will order restitution in the amount of our judgement.

I just don't understand the world we live in sometimes people having no issue to scam non-profits, churches, children, elderly and have no shame about it. I thought I had good intuition but learning not always the case.

I am telling you guys this not because I want sympathy but because I feel I owe the public information because the $2500 was all donations that we raised from Lights on the Lake and some other private donors and the truck was graciously given to us for a need we had for a long time.

I did finally go and purchase a truck (similar to this one used in working condition) to use for these purchases with a loan and high monthly payments. If I ever get the funds back from this guy they will still go towards paying off the truck and/or purchase of a trailer for the rescue. Hoping to have resolve by spring so we can actually start doing some therapeutic visits.

Praising God for stepping in today and for finally having some progress forward in resolving this issue as it has caused me much stress and heartache this year.

Adding pic of new to me truck just so algorithm will let you see this post. Thank you to each and every person who has listened to me unload about this situation the last few months. Please continue to pray for this situation as there is sure to be more court dates and stuff in the near future for the criminal side of things.

10/02/2024

Adorable 12h pony looking for his next cowboy/cowgirl.
My little guy, Trigger needs a new cowboy because his is getting too big for him. Trigger is a 14y (vet aged) 12h pony. He is not a deadhead beginner pony. He doesn't enjoy ring work (but will do it) so he won't make a great lesson pony and is a bit forward for lead line walking. He really wants his own little cowboy/cowgirl who isn't a total beginner but who wants to learn to cowboy a pony and be completely safe while doing it. He is a good boy who wants to move, he gets bored easy. I personally think he would be great for some kid to wants to work cattle along side their parents as I think he could control some cows and he has been in fields with them so I am sure he has done this on his own lol. He has been fox hunted (1st line) and has a blast! He will W/T/C all day long and your kid will feel like a real cowboy! If he thinks your kid is falling he'll stop and wait for him to reposition himself.
He has been in a couple low level 4h shows and was unphased by the commotion there so I think he could handle that as well. You could probably rope off him with a little work, he really is not phased by much. He has been ridden western and English and doesn't mind either. He enjoys trail riding but does want to be in front and is forward moving again not a full beginner pony (he keeps up with my TWH no problem). But if your little cowboy/girl has outgrown a mini and you want next level for them to really grow their cowboy/girl skills but stay safe while doing it this might be the guy for you.
Trigger is UTD on shots and Coggins. He loads a trailer and rides easy. He will stand in crossties and pick up his feet. He is super adorable, one blue eye, one brown. He is currently in a mixed herd of mares and geldings along with minis, donkeys, sheep and pigs. He will cross water and bridges, dog and small animal friendly. He is outside 24/7 and an easy keeper with no grain needed. He is sound and in fantastic health. No biting, bucking or kicking or bolting. He is not buddy or barn sour. We love him dearly but my son is getting too big for him we need something bigger but we are out of space, and this guy needs a job.
Reach out for more pictures or videos happy to share!
Located in Martinsburg WV

08/15/2024

Shout out to Mountaineer Meat Smokers for donating scraps for the 🐷. They were in heaven!!

08/03/2024

We have a couple of wonderful fuzzy butts ready for adoption.

- 1 Jenny & 1 John (gelded donkey) both about 12/13y mini donkeys. Friendly. Currently housed with horses. UTD on vaccines. Must go together as they are a bonded pair.

- 13 y old mini pony about 9 hands. Loves children isn’t broke to ride but has had a couple driving lessons and appears willing and eager to learn. She will take a kid for leadline riding and adores being loved on by kids. UTD on vaccines.

We are a 5013c non-profit located in Martinsburg. Adoption application and contract required. Reach out for more questions.

06/30/2024

A dear sweet friend of the rescue asked me for a link to help with vaccines and teeth that are highly needed so I created this link and wanted to share incase anyone else felt led to help. I still can't fully share the story because we are awaiting a few things to happen before police can press criminal charges but over $2500 was stolen from the rescue putting us in a bad spot and with non-profit your rarely in a good spot. And we just had a large vet bill last week for a sick animal (over $500). I will share the story once the police do their thing. In the meantime if anyone wants to help out with shots/teeth or if anyone has a good idea of a quick/easy fundraiser (does that exist ?) that they want to help with please let me know!! I generally just cover the gaps but we have some major personal stuff going on right now too and I am struggling to do so.

If you can't give that's fine please pray for God to bless us with enough to cover these expenses and for God to step into a couple situations that are making this nonprofit thing kick my butt. Every $ Counts. GiveButter doesn't take any part of your donation but does give you a receipt which you can use for your taxes as a deduction.

https://givebutter.com/xEVBho

06/29/2024

Running Lotus Haven has helped me meet so many wonderful people and one of those is because of photographers! I love so many different photographers in my life. About a week ago a new one reached out to me asking if she could do some bo***ir photos with Dragonfly and she would make a donation to the rescue for using him. We are really struggling with the funds for shots since I have had some personal stuff going on and someone stole $ from the rescue and pics with pets didn't happen so I eagerly agreed to get help in any way possible. Last night she came and did a demo. Dragonfly is a true angel for sure!! AND these came out great! Go to her FB Boheme Bridal & Bo***ir and watch for the link to book the sessions if you're interested in doing a western shoot or western/bo***ir. She is having a professional hair and makeup artist on scene these are going to be EPIC! If you book please pm me and let me know! This is happening just 2 weeks away! Here are just a couple of the demo shots Misty Higgins has shared with me so far.