“Saddle Up For St. Jude”

A select group of U.S. ranch vacation destinations are standing proud, and uniting in the fight against pediatric cancer and other life-threatening diseases, by donating a percentage of their 2015 bookings to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. Through the “Saddle Up For St. Jude” program, new guest bookings made between March 4 and December 31, 2015, will automatically generate a contribution to this worthy cause.

Saddle Up for St. Jude is a volunteer-based fundraising event to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® through trail rides, horse shows or other equestrian events. In 2015, these unique luxury vacation and working cattle ranches are participating to host Saddle Up events to help St. Jude in this all-important battle of fighting childhood cancer and to save lives of thousands of children around the world.

Ranch guests will experience the vacation of a lifetime while also having the opportunity to mount up to support the lifesaving mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, which is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life threatening diseases. Since opening more than 50 years ago, treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to more than 80 percent and no family ever receives a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food.

Because of donations received through programs like this vacation ranch charity event, St. Jude has the freedom to focus on what matters most- saving kids regardless of their financial situation.

Leading representatives from the Top50 Ranches group have told us why they joined in the 2015 Saddle Up for St. Jude fundraising effort:

Located on 10,500 acres, the Alisal Guest Ranch and Resort, Solvang, CA, is a premier facility involved in Saddle Up For St. Jude. The Jackson family, owners of Alisal Ranch, established the largest philanthropic foundation in Santa Barbara County. Their Jackson Family Foundation rarely supports projects outside of their home county, but when the opportunity came to partner with St. Jude, they enthusiastically joined in by donating five percent of their 2015 bookings. “I can’t think of a better partnership for our foundation that is so deserving of our donations,” said Alisal Ranch General Manager David Lautensack.

At the Bar W Ranch, Whitefish, MT, guests can experience relaxing hospitality in the heart of glacier country. “We believe that families and children are the heart of the Bar W Guest Ranch, so it was just natural to want to donate five percent of each guest’s bookings to such a worthy cause,” said Catherine Gullickson of Bar W Ranch.

Bonanza Creek Ranch, Martinsdale, MT, is an authentic working cattle ranch offering top notch riding and life coaching to guests from all over the world. They will be contributing five percent of their 2015 bookings to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. Helping with the Saddle Up for St. Jude program fits well with their core philosophy which was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s quote, “We must be the change we want to see.”

The Rankin Ranch, Caliente, CA, established in 1863 and located in California’s Tehachapi Mountains, is a historic cattle ranch and vacation destination.  The Rankin family has been raising cattle for over 150 years and is looking forward to celebrating their 50th guest ranch season in 2015. Today the 4th, 5th, and 6th generation Rankins welcome guests from around the world to enjoy a great western getaway on a working cattle ranch.  They were compelled to donate five percent of their room revenue and additional money from any special events from this year to help the children. “St. Jude personally touches our family’s hearts as sixth generation, Walker Rankin, conquered childhood leukemia. We want to support St. Jude’s mission to find a cure and treat children with these devastating diseases,” explained ranch contact Amanda Rankin Barrett.

For information about St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® go to stjude.org. For information on how to host a Saddle Up for St. Jude event, call 1-901-578-1086 or visit www.stjude.org/saddleup.

More information

• About Top 50 Ranches:com is a resource for travelers worldwide, featuring a select collection of ranches that have met CEO Jody Dahl’s high standards. Dahl has established strict criteria of excellence for member ranches in the categories of hospitality, accommodation, activities and riding – all embracing the true rural lifestyle and cowboy culture. For more information go to www.Top50Ranches.com.
• About Equestrian Influence:  Equestrian Influence (EQI) is a new multi-media platform designed around the equestrian lifestyle, both English and Western. EQI currently offers:  on-line editorial features; event coverage; estate property sales listings; home décor with an equestrian flair; athlete sponsorship assistance; public relations and promotion, and equestrian radio programming. For more information about EQI go to equestrianinfluence.com, e-mail media@equestrianinfluence.com or call 888-632-0068and select the “Media Division” extension 1.
• For more information about Alisal Ranch, contact Sherrie FitzGerald at sfitzgerald@alisal.com.
• For more information about Bar W Ranch, contact Catherine Gullickson at catherinegullickson@thebarw.com
• For more information about Bonanza Creek Ranch, contact June Voldseth at bonanzacreekmontana@gmail.com.

For more information about Rankin Ranch, contact Amanda Rankin Barrett at Amanda@rankinranch.com.