Alanna Kelly

On the day of the annual holiday fundraiser, the founder of a local farm woke up to find it had been robbed.

Heather Henderson, founder of Arion Therapeutic Farm, said she found the lock on the office door pried open Sunday morning.

“I walked inside and saw a pry bar on the ground and the drawer we locked the cash in open.”

Henderson said about $400 was stolen.

“It was loose coin we keep for our events,” she said. “All the fees help our animals so it is very disappointing to find that, especially on the day we are trying to make money.”

“Now we are down a few hundred dollars before we even start our event.”

As smiling children and families arrived at the farm, Henderson attempted to stay positive and turn the day around.

“We needed it… you know,” she said. “We’ve had a hard month, we’ve lost a few animals.”

The 8th Annual Winter Wonderland fundraiser is the farm's biggest event of the year and all the money helps in the running of the site.

Henderson said the event is free so all families can come enjoy the day and get to meet Santa.

The farm is an educational and supportive site offering a variety of amenities and hands on farm activities.

“Our horses and animals continue to cost, regardless of how many people come and pay for programming or come as a visitor,” said Henderson. “Those fees are still not enough to support our massive overheads, which are mainly feeding our animals.”

The office is located about two acres into the 12 acre property.

“We don’t have cameras, we can’t afford the security system, so I guess we’ll resort to taking things home at night.”

A GoFundMe account has been created to help the farm.

Henderson said she will be contacting police to report the break-in, but hopes it was worth it to the person who stole the cash.

“If that person is out there and hears this I hope it was put to good use. If they see fit to return it, that would be wonderful.”