A Meeting and Tour of Forget Me Not Farm by Nathan and Carole Rathmann
Our program for Thursday, July 13, 2023, was held at Forget Me Not Farm off Highway 12 in Santa Rosa. Carol and Nathan Rathmann were our hosts and tour guides for our tour of the facilities, including the new shed/garage, the animal barn, and the gardens. Nathan Rathmann, Carole’s son, provided an overview of the Farm’s operation even though Thursday was his last day at the Farm. He is leaving to pursue other opportunities in Red Hook, New York.
Forget Me Not Farm nurtures relationships between children, animals, and gardens and has helped thousands of at-risk children and youth to break the cycle of abuse. The Farm puts neglected children, gardens, and animals together to create bonding relationships; by letting children take care of abused animals and vegetable gardens they learn about care, compassion, and empathy. The Farm receives referrals of neglected children from agency-partners. The Farm has been at its current location for 18 years and has been in existence for 30 years!
Nathan, the Director of Operations, joined the Farm in 2005, although he had worked there previously while in high school. Nathan reminded us that our involvement with the Farm started about 2 years ago. It started with Nathan’s presentation to the Club on November 4, 2021, and his offer to provide us with a tour. We have had several work days at the Farm since that time, typically working in the garden. Sunrise member Leroy Carlenzoli, aka The Golden Hammer, helped with the permitting, construction, and contracting for the brand new shed/garage in which the first part of our meeting was held. We also provided a small donation to the Farm last year. The Farm sold many tickets for our 2023 annual fundraising raffle; we kept asking them to sell more and more tickets! The Farm’s persistence in selling tickets for the raffle helped us decide to make the Farm our main grantee for the revenue from the raffle. President Debra presented the Farm with a donation of $17,000 from the raffle’s income!
Our donation of $17,000 is a significant part of the Farm’s annual budget of $425,000. Nathan and Carole are especially happy to receive our “unrestricted” gift, since they can use it for any purpose they believe fosters their mission. They are in the process of expanding their programs, especially their ability to provide therapeutic care to children in the winter.
We had a great time touring the barn, and Nathan and Carole told us the histories of all of the animals. They maintain sheep, goats, small horses, and others, including an Emu!
Many thanks to Nathan and Carole for the wonderful program at the Farm and for doing so much to improve the lives of children in Sonoma County. Forget Me Not Farm is a hidden treasure!
