Willow Bs Rescue Farm

For the first three years of her life, Lyra lived confined at a laboratory breeding facility. Her body was repeatedly used to produce puppies for experimentation. She had never known the simple freedoms every animal deserves.

In 2026, Willow B’s founder, Rose Donato, traveled from Florida to Wisconsin and participated in the rescue effort surrounding Ridglan Farms, one of the nation’s largest breeders of beagles for research. Rose brought Lyra home to Florida as Willow B’s first rescue. Ridglan Farms has since permanently ended its beagle breeding and research operations, and more than 2,000 beagles have been removed from the facility.

Today, Lyra is safe. She is loved. She finally gets to be a dog.

Lyra is the living connection between Rose’s 33 years of animal advocacy and the sanctuary mission she founded. Willow was the reason. Lyra is the beginning. Her transformation turns one rescue into a ripple of compassion that saves animals, helps people heal and inspires a more humane world.

Why This Matters

Animals escaping breeding, experimentation, neglect, abandonment and exploitation need safe places where they can recover and live with dignity. At the same time, people throughout our community are struggling with chronic stress, loneliness, declining physical health and a loss of meaningful connection.

Florida Department of Health data show that 68.5% of adults in Hillsborough County are overweight or obese. Among local youth ages 11 through 17, 29.6% reported feeling sad or hopeless for two or more consecutive weeks and withdrawing from their usual activities.

Behind every statistic is a person searching for a healthier path, a safe connection or a reason to feel hopeful again. Physical and emotional well-being are deeply connected. Stress, isolation and disconnection can make healthy choices feel harder, while movement, nourishing food, time in nature, purpose and compassionate relationships can help people create stronger, healthier lives.

Willow B’s recognizes that animal welfare, human wellness and the health of our planet are inseparable. When people learn to care for animals, nourish their bodies, grow food, move with purpose and reconnect with nature, compassion becomes something they carry back into their families and communities.

Who Carries This Mission Forward

Willow B’s Rescue Farm was founded in 2025 by Rose Donato, an animal advocate for more than 33 years and a health and wellness professional for 17 years. Her life’s work joins two commitments: protecting animals from exploitation and helping people become healthier, stronger and more compassionate.

Rose has helped people improve their fitness, embrace plant-based nutrition, rebuild confidence and create lasting change. Her participation in the Ridglan Farms rescue effort shows that Willow B’s grew from direct action, lived experience and a willingness to go wherever animals needed help.

A five-member board and mission-aligned partners guide and strengthen the organization. Lisa Kennedy of Divine Harmony Yoga brings experience in yoga, meditation and sound healing. Chef Shari brings raw vegan culinary education. Green Table on Tour connects plant-based food with compassionate community outreach. Together, the team combines animal advocacy, nonprofit leadership, wellness, humane education and plant-based living.

Every gift made through Every.org is granted to Willow B’s Rescue Farm, a Florida 501(c)(3) public charity classified under Section 509(a)(2), and stewarded through its nonprofit governance to advance its charitable mission.

Our Vision

In our vision, Willow B’s Rescue Farm spans at least eight acres and serves Hillsborough County and surrounding communities as a permanent sanctuary for animals and a place of healing, learning and connection for people.

Rescued animals live safely, peacefully and with dignity. Each animal is respected as an individual, allowed to form trusted relationships and given the freedom to experience comfort, security and love.

People enter a welcoming environment where they can move, breathe, learn, grow and reconnect with themselves, animals, nature and one another. The sanctuary offers educational programs, restorative day retreats and small-group experiences that make compassion something people can feel, practice and carry into their everyday lives.

Our Programs

Willow B’s Rescue Farm brings animal rescue, humane education, wellness and environmental responsibility together through:

• Animal rescue and lifelong refuge for animals affected by breeding, experimentation, neglect, abandonment and exploitation.

• Gentle, animal-led wellness experiences such as cow connection, painting beside rescued pigs, mindful walks and yoga near the animals. Every interaction is guided by the animal’s comfort, choice and dignity.

• Sound healing, meditation and yoga experiences that encourage relaxation, emotional balance and meaningful connection.

• Fitness and movement programs, including outdoor exercise and body boot-camp-style classes, that help participants build strength, confidence and healthier habits in an uplifting environment.

• Restorative day retreats combining movement, meditation, plant-based food, nature and compassionate experiences with rescued animals.

• Teaching gardens where participants learn how to grow vegetables, herbs and other plant foods, even if they have never gardened before.

• Plant-based cooking and nutrition classes that turn freshly grown ingredients into practical, nourishing meals people can prepare at home.

• Humane education for children and families that develops empathy, teaches animal respect and helps young people understand that animals are living beings worthy of kindness and protection.

• Compassionate Careers, a youth education program introducing students to meaningful careers that help animals, people and the environment.

• Supportive wellness experiences for veterans and other people navigating PTSD, grief, anxiety, chronic stress, loneliness or the challenges of addiction recovery.

• Inclusive opportunities for seniors, volunteers and families to experience purpose, community and connection through animals, gardens and compassionate service.

• Environmental education through plant-based living, food-growing skills, composting, pollinator habitat and responsible land stewardship.

Together, these experiences support mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being while creating greater respect for animals and the Earth. Willow B’s gives people practical tools, supportive experiences and a place where they feel connected to something meaningful.

The Willow Effect

At the heart of Willow B’s Rescue Farm is a special movement called The Willow Effect.

The Willow Effect is the belief that one act of compassion inspires another. One animal is rescued. One heart is changed. That person inspires someone else to care, another life is touched and the ripple continues.

Lyra’s life is proof of that possibility. Her rescue did more than save one beagle. It strengthened a mission to create permanent safety for other animals and to help people recognize the healing power of kindness.

How Your Gift Creates Change

Every contribution brings this living vision forward and creates a place where compassion becomes visible, measurable and lasting.

Your support advances:

• Responsible property development, sanctuary infrastructure, safe shelters and animal-care areas.

• Rescue, intake, rehabilitation and lifelong care.

• Teaching gardens and environmentally responsible land stewardship.

• Humane education, fitness, meditation, nutrition and community wellness programs.

• Food, supplies, preventive care and treatment through qualified outside veterinary professionals.

Willow B’s welcomes. Our Long-Term Commitment

Willow B’s follows a carefully phased plan designed to protect the animals, serve the community and create lasting financial stability. Our sustainability model combines individual donations, recurring supporters, foundation grants, ethical corporate partnerships, in-kind contributions, volunteers, fundraising initiatives and mission-aligned educational and wellness programs.

We measure success through both numbers and lived experience.

Animal-welfare progress includes documented observations of behavior, comfort, trust, social engagement and quality of life. Individual care plans help us recognize reduced fear, greater confidence and each animal’s unique progress.

Community impact includes attendance, volunteer hours, educational reach and the number of people completing wellness, gardening, nutrition and humane-education programs. Participant surveys measure changes in stress, connection, confidence, knowledge and motivation to practice healthier and more compassionate choices.

Personal stories, testimonials and follow-up feedback capture the changes that numbers alone cannot express. Donors can follow the sanctuary’s progress and see the animals, people and programs their generosity supports.

Become Part of the Legacy

Your gift is already part of this story. It is the safe shelter surrounding a frightened animal for the first time. It is the child learning that compassion is strength. It is the veteran finding a peaceful moment beside a rescued animal. It is the garden that teaches a family how to grow and prepare nourishing food. It is the person who enters feeling disconnected and leaves carrying hope.

Through your generosity, animals experience safety, people rediscover connection and our community grows healthier and more compassionate.

Together, we create a place where animals heal, people do too, and one act of compassion becomes a legacy powerful enough to change countless lives.