Boston, MA: Every dollar Massachusetts spends on conservation returns $4 and supports jobs for hundreds of thousands of people, a study released Wednesday by The Trust for Public Land shows. View full report.

“These results showed conservation is an excellent investment and they are consistent with a dozen similar studies we have conducted across the nation in the past four years,” said Jessica Sargent, senior economist with The Trust for Public Land and author of the report. “Over and over again, from Maine to Arizona, we see that spending money on conservation protects jobs and shows a good return on investment,” she said.

At a recent Windrush Farm outing, six Tri-Town youths, ranging from grades 7-10, joined youth from St. Ann’s of Methuen to learn about each other and their different communities.

Tri-Town Council Youth Council supported the Youth at Risk summer day camp at Windrush Farm this past July 10th.  Members of the TTC Youth Council joined St. Ann’s Youth of Methuen for lunch, conversation and fun at Windrush Farm in effort to break down barriers and meet teens from other communities.  Six youth from ranging from 7th through 10th grades joined youth from St. Ann’s to learn about each other and their different communities.  They also focused on health and tips for healthy eating.

Together they picked kale, Boston red lettuce, peas, green peppers, and cucumbers from the garden; washed and prepared their salad wraps using a hummus spread and adding tomatoes.  Their healthy lunch was enjoyed with great conversation about being stewards of our earth and health.

Later in the day, the group shared information about their respective communities, music, movies; even what an ideal teen hangout place would include (popcorn machine and music with comfy seating).  The youth – ‘city’ teens and ‘country’ teens compared lives and experiences, and at the end of the day found they had more in common than differences.

To complete the afternoon, TTC Youth brought materials to make friendship bracelets and together to remember the day and new friend made.

Read more: http://www.wickedlocal.com/boxford/newsnow/x1383329669/Tri-Town-Council-youth-leadership-groups-meet-at-Windrush-Farm#ixzz2bThCAKiR

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Lutheran Charities is spreading hope, one paw at a time.

By Bryan McGonigle

<<Watch the VIDEO

When you think of a church spreading hope and compassion, you may think of missionaries and pastors extending words of faith. But for Lutheran Charities, the perfect gift from God in time of trauma is often the perfect gift from God.

On Thursday afternoon, the Lutheran Charities K-9 Comfort Dogs visited Windrush Farm in North Andover to introduce two of their many dogs — Shami and Isaiah — for a meet-and-greet with local kids and their families.

The dogs travel to nursing homes, hospitals and other places to help people heal emotionally, spiritually and even physically.

“It’s a proven fact that your blood pressure lowers when you’re petting a dog, so lot of the dogs visit nursing homes and hospitals and also people who are dealing with a lot of stress and a lot of trauma in their lives,” said Toni Bazon, a member of Lutheran Charities who travels with and cares for the dogs.

Launched five years ago by Lutheran Charities in Illinois, the organization has about 60 dogs, trained almost as service dogs. But unlike service dogs, who wear vests that say “Please Don’t Pet Me” (petting someone’s service dog can distract the dog from its duty and endanger the person they are helping), the Comfort Dogs wear vests that say, “Please Pet Me.”

“The children that we’ve seen that work with these dogs or that sit with these dogs, after they’ve had a stressful situation, maybe they’re not talking, kind of holding things in, well they’ll sit down with these dogs and they’ll start petting them and then after a little while they’ll start becoming comfortable and start becoming more trusting, and they’ll start to talk, start to share,” Bazon said.

The dogs have toured the country offering comfort in the most difficult situations. They went to Newtown, Conn., after the Sandy Hook tragedy to help the kids there heal. They came to Boston after the Boston Marathon bombings to put smiles on the faces of the injured. They’ve appeared in countless newspapers, magazines and TV news segments, and they even made an appearance on “Good Morning America.”

To learn more about the K-9 Comfort Dogs or donate to the program, visit their website.

You can follow the organization on Facebook as well. And the dogs even have their own Facebook pages, too. Here is Shami’s, and here is Isaiah’s.

Related Topics: K-9 Comfort Dogs and Lutheran Charities

WINDRUSH FARM EVENT SHOWCASES PERKINS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND SPAULDING REHABILITATION HOSPITAL

Windrush Farm was proud to honor Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and Perkins School for the Blind on Thursday, May 9.  The event took place at the Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough, LLC offices at One Post Office Square in Boston.

Nearly forty guests attended the reception that included hors d’oeuvres and beverages and an award presentation to Spaulding Rehabilitation and Perkins School for the Blind in honor of their partnership with the farm.  Windrush Farm board member, Amy Mandragouras and her firm, Nelson Mullins sponsored the event with wine provided by Kappy’s Liquors.

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The Spaulding Rehabilitation Network is a recognized leader in rehabilitative medicine in Eastern Massachusetts, in the United States, and across the globe offering world-class inpatient and outpatient care.  Spaulding started at Windrush Farm in 2011 as part of their adaptive sports program giving patients a chance to get out of the hospital, socialize with each other, learn new things, and experience the healing power of horses.

“Spaulding Rehab presents the Windrush instructors with an exciting opportunity to collaborate with their therapists to provide therapeutic riding activities that support the therapy goals of their clients while providing a fun, recreational experience,” shares Windrush program director, Jenna Nowosacki.

Sheila Radziewicz, a motivational speaker and participant at Windrush Farm through Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital knows what it’s like to overcome adversity.  “Growing up with a disability, when you go to do an activity you get a certain response that is not necessarily positive. And when I was connecting with Windrush Farm I didn’t get that.  It’s an amazing feeling to be able to go into an environment and get completely equal treatment just like everybody else in the room. And that doesn’t always happen for individuals who have disabilities. And this has been that,” as she explained at the event.

Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, provides education and services for children and adults around the world who are blind, deafblind or visually impaired.  In the spring of 1984, three teachers and eight students form the Perkins School for the Blind Lower school program began a now, twenty-nine year partnership at Windrush Farm.

“From a teaching standpoint, we can clearly see the overlap between what the students are working on in their school setting and what happens at the farm,” explains Perkin’s teacher Rocky Tomascoff. “The same physical, cognitive, and emotional skill areas are being addressed but just within a different environment.”

At Windrush Farm the goal is to help people with a broad range and combination of disabilities to excel. Partnering with the horse, Windrush’s programs are designed to encourage, challenge and motivate their clients.

Executive Director, Amanda Hogan says the horses do amazing things for individuals with disabilities. “Our belief is that we are all capable of more than we think.  We want to challenge everybody, both physically and emotionally, to do more than they think they can,” says Hogan.

For nearly 50 years, Windrush Farm has been helping tens of thousands of clients realize this. “Both Perkins School for the Blind and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital are prime examples of this,” says Hogan. “We’re delighted to celebrate our partnership.”