Melissa Magaliff
Melissa sponsors Ophelia the chicken.
Thirteen-year-old Melissa Magaliff first learned about WFAS when she stopped by our table at the Clearwater Folk Festival. She was there on a mission: to find an organization she could believe in and make a donation. Not only did she choose us but she was there with more than piggy bank change — her donation was over $200, all gifts from friends and family for her Bat Mitzvah. Rather than buying the coolest new tech gadget, Melissa chose to use the money to support our work for farm animals. The actual amount was $236, which Melissa told us has a special significance: 36 is the Hebrew number that stands for life. Melissa recognizes that all the animals at our farm are given the chance to live out their life.
Melissa and her family visited the farm a few weeks later for our June Jamboree, and an in-depth tour of the farm and meeting our animals has helped Melissa to make a personal decision. “I have decided to become a vegetarian and it is working out great for me,” she wrote in a follow-up email. “It is a little hard but most things are when you start out. I think that our conversation and the tour really woke me up to what needs to be done in our world today and how I can make a difference.”
At the Clearwater table, Melissa got to meet one of our sweetest chickens named Ophelia. Ophelia came to us via a strange rescue where she was placed in a firetruck in New York City. When the firemen & women came into work, they found poor little confused Ophelia waiting for help. Luckily she was brought to a shelter which then brought her to the farm. After Melissa heard about our sponsorship program, she decided to use her allowance to do an additional gift of a monthly sponsorship of Ophelia.
Melissa’s home has become a sanctuary to 1 cat, 2 geckos, a hamster … and a little brother.
