Ark Rescue

09/12/2026

🐷💪 ARK VOLUNTEER WEEKEND — SEPTEMBER 19 & 20! 💪🐷

We’ve officially secured the dumpster through the end of September, and next weekend we’re asking our Ark family to come help us give the property a much-needed reset. ❤️

Our goal is simple: help us make Ark look clean, cared for, and beautiful again.

We’ll be starting at 10:00 AM, after morning feeding, and focusing on:

• Filling the dumpster with trash and unwanted debris
• Cleaning up around the property
• Gathering large limbs and yard debris into organized piles
• Mowing the backyard
• Bush hogging the property if we can find someone with the equipment
• Organizing and straightening up areas that need some attention

🚜 WE COULD REALLY USE SOME EQUIPMENT HELP!
Our tractor is currently down, so if anyone has a tractor with a bush hog and would be willing to donate some time, we would be incredibly grateful. We could also really use someone willing to help mow the backyard.

If you have cleanup tools you’re willing to bring — rakes, loppers, wheelbarrows, trailers, chainsaws, etc. — please let us know ahead of time so we can coordinate.

🧤 Please bring work gloves, wear closed-toe shoes or boots, bring plenty of water, and wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. Kids are welcome but should remain with an adult since there will be debris and equipment around.

You do not have to stay all day. Even an hour or two can make a huge difference.

This weekend isn’t about making everything perfect. It’s about coming together, making visible progress, and helping Ark feel like Ark again. ❤️

Can’t physically volunteer but still want to help? Donations toward cleanup supplies, tractor repair, and property upkeep are always appreciated.

So… who’s coming to get dirty with us September 19 & 20?! 🐷🐴🦃💪

📱 Questions, volunteering, or bringing equipment? Text Lindsey at 386-688-9804. Text messaging is much easier for me than phone calls, especially during busy sanctuary days.

Ark Rescue at Brightside Acres Sanctuary

09/10/2026

I’m going to keep being as honest with you guys as I was in my last post.

I need help. And I need it now.

The amount of stress I’m carrying right now is taking a toll on me physically. On top of everything else, both of my knees are injured, which has seriously limited how much walking, lifting and hauling I can do around this property.

And right now, time is not on my side.

I have a dumpster here, but I can only afford to keep it through this weekend. We have a very small window to get as much cleaned up and hauled out as possible.

Jarred has been an incredible help and has been working his ass off beside me. Ches has taken on helping with feeding, which I’m grateful for because it frees us up to tackle other things.

But the truth is, we need more hands.

There is simply too much property, too much cleanup and too little time for us to do this alone.

So Ark family, I’m asking you to rally behind me.

If you’re local, please come help us this weekend.

Come for an hour. Come for two. You don’t have to stay all day. If you can carry a trash bag, pick things up, haul something to the dumpster, rake, organize, clean—I can use you.

I’ve spent a lot of years being the person who says, “I’ve got it.”

Right now?

I don’t got it.

I need my village.

I need people willing to get dirty, sweat with us, laugh with us, probably question some of our life choices 😂 and help me get this place back on its feet.

I meant what I said before.

I’m rebuilding. But I can’t rebuild this part alone.

Who can come help me this weekend? ❤️

09/10/2026

Shelley Emerick

I’ve gone back and forth about how much of this I should share. But if you support Ark, I believe you deserve honesty about what has been happening behind the scenes.

This isn’t a pity post. It isn’t a smear campaign. It’s simply the truth.

The last year has taken more out of me than I know how to explain.

My marriage ended. And the truth is, I was the one who made the decision to end it.

David’s drinking had become a serious problem, and with it came financial decisions that I didn’t fully understand the extent of until much later. By the time I realized how much damage had been done, I was pretty much financially ruined. My credit had been destroyed, there were financial messes I was left trying to untangle, and eventually those choices began reaching into the world of Ark.

That was the line I could not allow to be crossed.

I thought David was my forever. And when you’ve built a life with someone, that’s a love that doesn’t just go away because the marriage ends.

This isn’t about tearing him down or publicly listing his mistakes. It’s about being honest about why I made one of the hardest decisions of my life.

I chose Ark.

And I didn’t make that choice feeling strong.

I was terrified. I was heartbroken. I questioned myself. This was my second failed marriage. Was I the problem? Why wasn’t I good enough? How did the life I thought I was going to have fall apart like this?

I chose Ark broken.

But while my world was falling apart, my babies still depended on me every single day, 24/7.

Most of them had already been given up on by the world once.

I wasn’t going to give up on them too.

I had no choice but to be resilient. Every morning somebody still needed breakfast. Medications still had to be given. Vet appointments still happened. Hooves still needed trimming. Bills still came.

Their lives didn’t stop because mine had fallen apart.

And somewhere in all of that, I realized something I never expected.

For all these years, I thought I was saving them.

But they were saving me too.

They gave me a reason to get up when I was broken. They gave me purpose when I felt lost. When I had no idea what my life was supposed to look like anymore, they still needed me to show up.

They needed me just as much as I needed them.

Today, I’m still cleaning up the financial damage. I’m still rebuilding.

And I’m tired.

My body is tired.
My mind is tired.
My heart is tired.
My soul is tired.

But please don’t confuse tired with defeated.

The animals are safe. They are fed. They are loved. They are receiving the care they need, and I will continue making sure of that.

But I also have to acknowledge something I haven’t been very good at admitting:

I cannot rebuild all of this by myself.

For years, whenever Ark needed something, my answer was, “I’ll figure it out.”

And I did. Over and over again.

But there comes a point when “I’ll figure it out” stops being resilience and becomes survival. And I don’t want Ark’s future to depend on how much one person can sacrifice before there’s nothing left to give.

That is why I’m telling you all of this now.

Now more than ever, I need my Ark family.

I’m cleaning up what was left behind. I’m repairing financial damage. I’m rebuilding our home. I’m putting the pieces back together and moving Ark forward—all while making sure the animals never have to carry the weight of what happened behind the scenes.

I’m not asking anyone to rescue me.

I’m asking you to rally behind me.

Help me clean up.
Help me rebuild.
Help me move forward.
Help me give Ark the fresh start it deserves.

These animals are my babies. Any good mom puts the wellbeing of her children ahead of everything else when she has to.

That is what I did.

And I will never regret it.

What happened is behind us. Now we rebuild.

I’m ready.

I’m ready to clean this place up.
I’m ready to repair what was damaged.
I’m ready to move forward.
And I’m ready to make this next chapter of Ark something we can all be proud of.

But this next chapter is going to take more than me.

Ark family, I need you now more than ever.

Let’s rebuild this place together.

Who’s in? ❤️

09/10/2026

I’ve gone back and forth about how much of this I should share. But if you support Ark, I believe you deserve honesty about what has been happening behind the scenes.

This isn’t a pity post. It isn’t a smear campaign. It’s simply the truth.

The last year has taken more out of me than I know how to explain.

My marriage ended. And the truth is, I was the one who made the decision to end it.

David’s drinking had become a serious problem, and with it came financial decisions that I didn’t fully understand the extent of until much later. By the time I realized how much damage had been done, I was pretty much financially ruined. My credit had been destroyed, there were financial messes I was left trying to untangle, and eventually those choices began reaching into the world of Ark.

That was the line I could not allow to be crossed.

I thought David was my forever. And when you’ve built a life with someone, that’s a love that doesn’t just go away because the marriage ends.

This isn’t about tearing him down or publicly listing his mistakes. It’s about being honest about why I made one of the hardest decisions of my life.

I chose Ark.

And I didn’t make that choice feeling strong.

I was terrified. I was heartbroken. I questioned myself. This was my second failed marriage. Was I the problem? Why wasn’t I good enough? How did the life I thought I was going to have fall apart like this?

I chose Ark broken.

But while my world was falling apart, my babies still depended on me every single day, 24/7.

Most of them had already been given up on by the world once.

I wasn’t going to give up on them too.

I had no choice but to be resilient. Every morning somebody still needed breakfast. Medications still had to be given. Vet appointments still happened. Hooves still needed trimming. Bills still came.

Their lives didn’t stop because mine had fallen apart.

And somewhere in all of that, I realized something I never expected.

For all these years, I thought I was saving them.

But they were saving me too.

They gave me a reason to get up when I was broken. They gave me purpose when I felt lost. When I had no idea what my life was supposed to look like anymore, they still needed me to show up.

They needed me just as much as I needed them.

Today, I’m still cleaning up the financial damage. I’m still rebuilding.

And I’m tired.

My body is tired.
My mind is tired.
My heart is tired.
My soul is tired.

But please don’t confuse tired with defeated.

The animals are safe. They are fed. They are loved. They are receiving the care they need, and I will continue making sure of that.

But I also have to acknowledge something I haven’t been very good at admitting:

I cannot rebuild all of this by myself.

For years, whenever Ark needed something, my answer was, “I’ll figure it out.”

And I did. Over and over again.

But there comes a point when “I’ll figure it out” stops being resilience and becomes survival. And I don’t want Ark’s future to depend on how much one person can sacrifice before there’s nothing left to give.

That is why I’m telling you all of this now.

Now more than ever, I need my Ark family.

I’m cleaning up what was left behind. I’m repairing financial damage. I’m rebuilding our home. I’m putting the pieces back together and moving Ark forward—all while making sure the animals never have to carry the weight of what happened behind the scenes.

I’m not asking anyone to rescue me.

I’m asking you to rally behind me.

Help me clean up.
Help me rebuild.
Help me move forward.
Help me give Ark the fresh start it deserves.

These animals are my babies. Any good mom puts the wellbeing of her children ahead of everything else when she has to.

That is what I did.

And I will never regret it.

What happened is behind us. Now we rebuild.

I’m ready.

I’m ready to clean this place up.
I’m ready to repair what was damaged.
I’m ready to move forward.
And I’m ready to make this next chapter of Ark something we can all be proud of.

But this next chapter is going to take more than me.

Ark family, I need you now more than ever.

Let’s rebuild this place together.

Who’s in? ❤️

09/09/2026

🚨 ARK ARMY — WE NEED A LITTLE HELP! 🚨

I’m going to be completely transparent. This has been one of those weeks where everything seems to hit at once.

We got the electric bill and our other necessary expenses handled, and we already have money set aside for our farriers who are coming to trim several of our pigs’ hooves. ❤️

The animals’ care is covered — please don’t worry about that.

But after taking care of everything that needed to be taken care of, there simply isn’t anything left to replenish our feed supply, and we’re down to about one day of feed.

So we’re asking our Ark Army to help us raise $500 ASAP. That will fill the feed bins and purchase almost a full week of feed, getting us through until more funds come in next week.

If you can throw in $5, $10, $20 or anything at all, every bit adds up. And shares are just as appreciated!

🐷🐴🐐🦃🐓 FEED GOAL: $500

CashApp: $ArkRescueFL
Venmo: ArkRescueFL
PayPal: GracieLou2017

Together, Love Fills Every Belly. ❤️

08/26/2026

🚨 WE COULD REALLY USE SOME HELP RIGHT NOW. 🚨

We want to be completely transparent about where Ark Rescue is right now.

We are in the middle of a major transition, and unfortunately that transition has brought some unexpected expenses with it. Add in this relentless Florida heat, and our current electric bill is $963.

At the same time, feed and hay still have to be bought.

Our last donation post raised $50, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone who donated and shared. But the reality is that right now, we need more help.

Without additional donations, we are getting very close to having to decide which gets paid first — the $963 electric bill or feed and hay.

It is all hands on deck around here. Jarred and Ches are helping, and all of us are working hard every single day to keep Ark Rescue running through this transition and this brutal Florida heat.

The heat is taking its toll. A few days ago, I ended up in the hospital with heat exhaustion after pushing myself too hard trying to keep up. But the work doesn’t stop — and neither will we.

The animals still need to be fed. Water still needs to be filled. Pens still need to be cleaned. Medications still need to be given. Their needs come first every single day.

Our animals are safe, fed, loved and cared for. That is not changing.

What we’re facing right now is a temporary financial squeeze created by a major transition, unexpected expenses and an unusually high electric bill — not a lack of commitment or ability to care for our animals.

We know where we’re going. We’re putting in the work to get there, and we WILL get Ark Rescue where it needs to be.

We just need some help getting over this hump.

If you can spare $5, $10, $20 or anything at all, every dollar helps us put this transition behind us without taking resources away from the animals.

🙏 CashApp: $ArkRescueFL
🙏 Venmo: ArkRescueFL
🙏 PayPal: GracieLou2017
🙏 Zelle: 386-688-9804

If you can’t donate, please share. A share can be just as valuable by putting this in front of someone who can.

We’ve made it through hard seasons before. We’ll make it through this one too. We just need our village beside us while we get over the hump. ❤️🐷🐴🐐

“A righteous man cares for the needs of his animals.” — Proverbs 12:10

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