Draft Horse Group needs your help

[Lady_In_Virginia]

Ladies, it's been a LONG time since I've been here.  Been busy learning about farming and living.  And because of that experience, I come to you with a plea for help.  My group, the Virginia Draft Horse & Mule Assoc, is competing in the Pepsi Refresh America Project for a $5000 grant. The goal is to use most of the funds to provide fuel reimbursements to our teamsters that volunteer at agricultural fairs, heritage day events and such.  We do horse-drawn farming demos for many groups but the fuel costs are becoming too much for our volunteers. One 140-mile trip hauling 4 drafts in one trailer and equipment in another recently cost us $120 in fuel.  A small portion of the grant money would go to buy training manuals for our harnessing/driving clinics.  Our elder teamsters love passing on their skills and there are youngsters that want to learn.  We are also seeing an interest in horse-drawn farming by some CSA's.  Could you please help us out with your online votes?  Go to www.refresheverything.com and register to vote.  (You won't get any spam from Pepsi.)  Then search "VDHMA" and our page will come up.  Click on the vote button and watch the little counter at the bottom count down. You get 10 votes to use EVERY DAY.  I also vote for Nicole Shimandle, a teen beekeeper in Ohio, who is working to educate people on colony collapse syndrome as well as provide local farmers with her hives. (There are cancer research groups, wildlife rehabs, animal rescues, schools and other good projects to vote for too!) The contest ends for us at the end of January. We're "stuck" at #16 and need to be in the Top Ten to win a grant.  I would be so grateful if all of you could vote for our group every day & tell your friends as well.  You can also text vote without registerig.  Dial Pepsi at 73774 on your cell phone and send the message "102020" and that logs a vote for VDHMA.  (A small charge may apply if you don't have texting service.)  Our Pepsi Promo Video is on YouTube-www.youtube.com/watch?v=V80tX7RGsUM  (That's my black Percheron in the 2nd slide! She now drives, can pull a plow and harrow and has even been hooked 6-up! She even won 1st place in barrel racing at a 2009 draft horse show!  LOL  We've both learned that small farming is very hard work yet it's a job worth doing.)  Our website is www.vdhma.org.  We would be so grateful for your help.  Thank you.