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Local girl group donates to All God’s Children

By Anne Carmicheal

For the Jessamine Journal

Wingswept Walk Trots, a group of local girls ages 9 to 14, recently packed and donated “sweet cases” to those in need at All God’s Children, a local non-profit which cares for children and parenting teens.

Amber Moon has been riding horses for fifteen years, had her daughter, Ashlyn Deaton, horses soon became a passion for her as well. When Deaton asked to take riding lessons at age seven, Moon signed her up with Stephanie Brannan at Wingswept Farm.

Located at 1529 Elkhorn Road in Nicholasville, the farm is a full-service American Saddlebred facility owned by Chris and Stephanie Brannan. Stephanie instructs students of all levels in both riding and driving. She is also the coach of the University of Kentucky’s Intercollegiate Saddleseat Team and a member of the American Saddle Horse Association (ASHA).

Moon said through the facility she saw a way for the girls to expand their friendship outside the stables and into the community. She founded a group for girls ages 9 to 14 that would donate a portion of their time to local charities, called Wingswept Walk Trots. The group is not only dedicated to their equine pursuits, but also to community service in Jessamine County.

A recent project the girls decided upon was to pack what they called ‘sweet cases’ (duffle bags) to donate to All God’s Children, a local not-for-profit organization that has provided comprehensive care for children and parenting teens since 1999.

“We raised $550 in just four hours to purchase 20 duffel bags and fill them with blankets, toothbrushes, stuffed bears, coloring books and other little items that might comfort a foster child as they transition to a foster home,” Moon said.

In addition to housing pregnant and teen mothers and their infants, All God’s Children also has a foster care program that helps to find suitable foster parents and homes for children who cannot for one reason or another return to their own families. The next project the girls have set their sights on is to raise $1,000 by Oct. 31 to be donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, founded by actor Danny Thomas in 1962 to research and find cures for and treat childhood cancers.

“This was something we could provide them that the state can’t,” Moon said. “Often these children arrive at the foster home with everything they own in a plastic trash bag. They don’t have anything of a personal nature that belongs just to them. Last week, we were able to provide a little bit of a personal touch and sense of ownership to those foster children.”

For more information about Wingswept Walk Trots group email amoon05241991@gmail.com