Horse Illustrated Magazine

We all know how gorgeous horses are, but have you stopped to appreciate how cute donkeys are lately? If you haven’t, here’s your chance.

Cute, right? This little creature lives at the Donegal Donkey Sanctuary in Donegal Co., Ireland. The sanctuary, which officially opened in 2007, was created by Sandra and Danny Curran when they took in “a poor donkey that was found tied to a scrapped car in the bog [and then] found themselves taking in more and more donkeys that had no other home to go to,” IrishCentral reports.

The donkeys that live at the sanctuary often have been abused, neglected or can no longer be taken care of by their previous owners. With the number of donkeys at the sanctuary growing exponentially, the organization is looking to move to bigger grounds. To do so, Donegal Donkey Sanctuary needs to raise $1,102,700 (€1,000,000).

How are they doing it? Through its “Dear Donkey” fundraiser.

The Dear Donkey fundraiser focuses on dreams – as in one’s hopes and goals. For Quiney, a donkey at the sanctuary, the idea of becoming a Budweiser Clydesdale appealed to him immensely. The sanctuary couldn’t actually turn him into one, but it did help him realize his dream by paying tribute to the 2004 Budweiser commercial and allowing Quiney to star, of course. Check it out:

Dear Donkey Video from Gavin McDaid on Vimeo.

And now that Donegal Donkey Sanctuary has made Quiney’s dream come true, they’re reaching out to you to make your dreams come true too.

By donating to the Dear Donkey campaign and writing a letter explaining what you would do with the prize money, you could win half of what the campaign earns. Need help paying bills? Do you have a baby on the way? Are you trying to pay for a wedding or a much-needed vacation? Whatever it is you would do with the money, all you need to do is donate and write a letter.

According to the Donegal Donkey Sanctuary website, “You need to write a letter to ‘Dear Donkey’ asking us to make your dream come true. There are two ways to get that letter to us. It can be done online here on our website or by traditional post and sent to us at the sanctuary… All letters will be considered and winners will be selected by Donegal Donkey Sanctuary representatives… For just €5 (about $7) per letter we hope to be able to make your dreams come true and secure a home for these vulnerable animals. Write as many letters as you like! It will increase your chances of winning.”

For more information and to enter, visit the
Donegal Donkey Sanctuary website.