Carly Reads 4 Horses: April 2012

Carly's Bat Mitzvah Project

My name is Carly Jennings and I am 11 years old. In 2 years, I will become a Bat Mitzvah. Most of you don’t know what a Bat Mitzvah is, so I will explain it to you. A Bat Mitzvah is the Jewish way of turning into an adult. I will then be responsible for doing mitzvot (good deeds) on my own. There are many things that I need to do in preparation for my Bat Mitzvah. I need to learn to read and speak Hebrew, and I have been studying since I was 8 years old. I need to learn Trope in order to chant my Torah portion. Trope are musical notes which tell me how to chant the Hebrew as I read it. And then I have to memorize my Torah portion so I can read it. In addition to my studies, I need to complete a service project.

While thinking about my service project, I read an article about a girl who made a deal with her dad that if she could read 500 books, she could get a dog. It took her 5 years, and in 4th grade, she completed her 500th book and got her dog. I thought this was so great because I love to read and I love animals. I decided that my service project could be a variation on her deal with her dad. So I am going to read 200 books over the next 2 years and each of these books will be at least 200 pages - that's an average of 2 books a week for a total of at least 41,600 pages in 2 years! I know this is a huge goal but I am confident that I can reach it. I will be tracking my progress on this site with the names of the books I have read and the total number of pages.

I am asking you to sponsor me for each book that I read and I will be donating all of the money I raise to South Florida SPCA Horse Rescue because they help horses that are in danger of dying. I chose this organization because I love to horse back ride and I love horses. The South Florida SPCA Horse Rescue was founded in 1992 and is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and adoption of abused, neglected and abandoned horses. They have horses in rehab and are helping them. I've posted some photos below of some of the horses they have helped, one is unusually thin for a horse, one has a kick mark on it where it's owners had kicked it, and one is pregnant. I feel bad for these horses because they have been abused so badly that they broke free from their stables so they could take care of themselves. SPCA helps them. SPCA is also trying to get President Obama to pass a law to prevent horses from being slaughtered. My goal is to raise $5,000 dollars for the South Florida SPCA Horse Rescue organization. Please sponsor me and help me reach my goal.