On February 3, 2021 two little goats were born on an Alberta farm and orphaned shortly after birth. Soon after, the little orphans found new homes near Airdrie, Alberta. We were one of the homes, and we took the tinier weakest baby, Lola.

   She very quickly filled our days with laughter and love, and I started a Facebook page for her to share our fun experience with my friends. We soon had a following of over 500 people and they started telling us that she was brightening their days and that they looked forward to her posts each morning. We knew she was helping us, but we had no idea of the effect she was having on others until comments started appearing on her posts. 

   Three comments in particular stood out:
"She gives me a reason to get out of bed.", 
"Her posts are the first thing I look for every morning.", and

"This little Darling has done so much for mental health in so many people ...Thank you just seems to be inadequate at this time."

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 These comments and others got Wayne and I wondering if we could do something with Lola to help our community even more because Covid lockdowns were having such a negative effect on people's mental health. We formed The Lola Project with the hope that we could raise $1000 for mental health care through the Airdrie Health Foundation. My friends in our Studio 52 art group jumped on board and we created pieces of Lola art for greeting cards, Christmas cards, and drinkware.  I sourced local businesses in Airdrie for as much of the merchandise production as I could and they responded in whatever way they were able to: by donating their time, giving us huge discounts, donating the products, and creating merchandise specifically for the project.

 The Lola Project ran from March 1 - November 30, 2021. It raised over $5000 for the Airdrie Health Foundation, specifically helping new mothers who had lost their familial and social support groups because of Covid lockdowns.

It was an honour to help our community and our lives are richer because of Lola and Sad Gary! Every day with the little goats was a GOOD day!
 

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