MANATEE — Seven years ago, Erin Papke read an article her mother showed her in the Bradenton Herald about the Sarasota Manatee Association of Riding Therapy needing volunteers.
Papke investigated the program, which provides children and adults with special needs an opportunity to exercise their bodies, minds and spirits through a therapeutic horseback riding and carriage driving program.
“I immediately fell in love with the program, the staff and the students,” Papke said Tuesday.
Papke, a weekly volunteer and part of the barn staff, will be taking part in the annual tack sale set for 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Tractor Supply Company, 4404 State Road 64 E., Bradenton.
The sale offers donated saddles, bridles, blankets and more to the public with proceeds benefitting SMART.
In the past, the sale has been held in the Panther Ridge area, but the plan was to move it closer to town to take advantage of the sales rush after Thanksgiving. Many of the customers who shop at Tractor Supply Company have horses, Papke said.
Janet Parks, program director for SMART, said the money will be used for student scholarships, the care of the horses and the upkeep of program facility on County Road 675.
SMART has 15 horses in the program that are used to annually serve more than 200 special needs persons, Parks said.
But just as when Papke became a volunteer, more helping hands are needed.
“Right now we hardly have enough volunteers to run the program and serve the students we have,” Papke said.
The waiting list to enter the program is about a year long, Parks said.
In the past, the tack sale has also been an avenue for potential volunteers to find out about SMART and get involved.
SMART runs its program September through the first week of June. In the summer, the program trailers its horses twice a week to Dream Oaks Camp, which serves children with illnesses or special needs, Parks said.
For more information about SMART, call 746-1493.
James A. Jones Jr., East Manatee Editor, can be contacted at 745-7021.
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