Inspiring Kindness and Compassion towards Animals, Our Planet, and Each Other
Inspiring Kindness and Compassion towards Animals, Our Planet, and Each Other

Much to Celebrate

This weekend we have two reasons to celebrate: The Gentle Barn’s 17th Anniversary and Co-Founder Jay Weiner’s birthday. I think it’s perfect that those two festivities fall on the same weekend because The Gentle Barn would not be what it is today without Jay!

Jay came to The Gentle Barn in its 3rd year of operation as a volunteer. He would come every Friday to help clean the barnyard and assist with animal care. After working in the barnyard, Jay would drive around to different Whole Foods Markets and come back with a van full of fruits and vegetables that we would chop up and feed to the animals. I quickly learned that he was a Vice President of Sales and Marketing and I started asking him for advice. He helped me design a tri-fold brochure, create a more user-friendly website, and plan the first ever Gentle Barn fundraising event. Jay also took a seat on our Board of Directors and started attending monthly meetings to help plan the future of The Gentle Barn.

I was blissfully happy on my little half-an-acre with a handful of animals, hosting groups of children every day and open to guests on Sundays but I also wanted The Gentle Barn’s mission to be bigger, its message to be farther reaching, and its light to shine brighter. I wanted to help more animals and more people. Jay raised awareness and funds for us to move to our larger location in Santa Clarita and to purchase our Sun Chlorella Healing Center. With Jay’s help, we were able to create a thriving Gentle Barn in Tennessee and together we are committed to opening Gentle Barns in every state! I think I would still be in that small backyard today if not for Jay.

After working together side-by-side for a year, Jay and I fell in love and got married. We have three beautiful children and about 200 furry and feathered kids. We have survived many challenges and hardships to get to where we are now. Through it all, he has always been my partner, my sounding board, my best friend, and by my side working to create a bigger, better Gentle Barn for the animals, for the people, and for our Mother Earth. I am so grateful that he was born to be my soul mate and to help me with this great purpose. I love living this life with him and doing this work with him!

Please join us this Sunday, August 28th from 10-2 to celebrate The Gentle Barn’s 17th Anniversary and to make Jay feel special and valued. Come see me in the amphitheater where I’ll be talking about how and why I founded The Gentle Barn. We have so much to celebrate and we hope you join us!

I’ve written all about our love story, how Jay and I first became friends, then fell in love, got engaged and married, and about the rescues we have done together in my book, My Gentle Barn, available anywhere books are sold or on our website www.gentlebarn.org. I would love to share that story with you. And please know how very grateful Jay and I both are for your financial support so we can continue to do this work for many more years to come!

Ellie Laks
Founder, The Gentle Barn

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Upcoming Events

  • Chakra Meditation and Sound Healing (Winter 2024)

    March 2nd 2024 - The Gentle Barn California

    Clear, Balance and Align your 7 main Chakras through guided meditation, chanting, and Integrative sound bath. When your chakras are aligned, the energy moves through you more freely, and you can feel in harmony with all aspects of your physical, emotional and spiritual self.

  • Thermal Horizon - Windsong Retreat (Spring 2024)

    May 4th 2024 - The Gentle Barn California

    Let’s come together as a community as we support The Gentle Barn in their endeavor to enrich the lives of abused animals worldwide. Let’s bring our loving hearts, the spirit of opportunity and fill our cups emotionally, spiritually, and physically as we celebrate unity in community by helping these wonderful support animals.

  • Open Sunday in Missouri

    We are excited to be open to the public again on Sunday, at The Gentle Barn: Missouri.

  • Open Sunday in California

    We are excited to be open to the public again on Sunday, at The Gentle Barn: California.

  • Open Sunday in Tennessee

    We are excited to be open to the public again on Sunday, at The Gentle Barn: Tennessee.