10/18/2026
Non-profits often strive to create policies, procedures, protocols to define what they do.
At BECKY’S GIFT, we quickly discovered how limiting that can be. We have all of those things; some with flexibility, others not. But early on our lesson was this: for every horse, every human, the circumstances are entirely different. While some stories may sound similar; they aren’t. All require a “case by case” approach.
Awhile back, a certain case had us feeling stuck. At first glance, it appeared to push hard against our policies. But did it? Was it a bylaw violation- or was the struggle about our own personal biases?
It was tempting to keep it simple and quickly say no to the assistance request. We didn’t. Where would that leave the horse and family in urgent need of help?
Over the course of the day, we came back to it numerous times. Dissected our concerns into 2 piles: policy and personal. The personal pile far outweighed any possible blurring of policy. Still, we were unsure.
Then, there it was. Kathy Lang (Becky’s mom) said these words: “When in doubt, we err on the side of kindness.” All doubt vanished. There was our answer. And it was staring us in the face all along. (pic: Our guiding light, Becky)
