Our feature volunteer exemplifies responsibility and loyalty to the Red Bucket Equine Rescue. She has been the author of The Volunteer Highlight stories since the inception of our Newsletter, unfaltering in her dedication to writing them every single month. This has made her an integral part of the Red Bucket Team.
The volunteers at Red Bucket wear many different hats, and the list is sometimes endless in the various types of work they do for the horses and the organization. Many of the jobs require horsemanship skills or pure physical labor. Two of the most valuable qualities a Red Bucket volunteer can maintain are reliability and dependability. Both are traits Roni Raczkowski has demonstrated on a monthly basis since the inception of the Red Bucket Newsletter, now more than three years old.
Flashback to around four years ago when Roni discovered Red Bucket Equine Rescue quite by chance. She was a feature writer at the time for The Best Friends Animal Sanctuary virtual newsletter, and her assignment was to write about a horse rescue. Not sure where to start in the city of Huntington Beach, she had heard that there was an equestrian stable in the vicinity. Making the decision to visit, her goal was to tour the grounds there, ask appropriate questions and take pictures of the horses at the facility. To her surprise, the Red Bucket Equine Rescue was just in its beginning stages and had recently rescued what would become the first eight horses of many. As serendipity would have it, not only had she stumbled onto the perfect site for her story, but Susan Peirce was also on hand that day. Roni and Susan formed an instant bond and after writing the article for The Best Friends Sanctuary, Roni found herself being drawn to these amazing and wonderful horses, and to the mission of Red Bucket to save and rehabilitate them, restore their trust in humankind, and find safe, loving and permanent adoptive homes.
Though Roni knew very little about horses, as an animal lover she jumped right into volunteering with the daily chores of grooming horses and mucking stalls. In those days with so few horses at Red Bucket, training for these jobs was much more informal yet still very far removed from her professional world of Real Estate. Once our chief volunteer officer, Anna Eddy, established our Newsletter, Roni took on the work of writing The Volunteer Highlight every month. As of present day, she has never missed a beat in writing her articles. She is articulate and enjoys learning about the people she interviews. According to Susan, “She cares deeply for people and animals and is one of the most positive and pleasant people I have ever met…Roni has a huge servant’s heart!”
Roni enjoys introducing people that can come together and make a positive difference. She was the liaison between Susan Peirce and Lou Parker of KTLA News. Newscaster Parker has since done a few feature news pieces on the Red Bucket Equine Rescue giving it some much needed public exposure on their television broadcasts since meeting Peirce. “I enjoy networking and using this skill to connect people together to help a good cause like Red Bucket Equine Rescue.”
Professionally, Roni Raczkowski is a successful Real Estate Agent with the boutique real estate firm Teles Properties located in Newport Beach. In January of 2012, Red Bucket was given three months to relocate to a new home for the 65 horses under our care at that time. Roni was instrumental in finding our wonderful new equine facility located in Chino Hills on English Road. She knew exactly what Susan was looking for and helped construct the package that led to the purchase of the current property. Roni explains, “I would go to the ends of the earth for Susan in my effort to find the best location for the Ranch the Horses Own.” With the assistance of the Orange County Register and several news broadcasts, Red Bucket was successful in getting their story to the public. The facility in Chino Hills is a calm and serene place where Roni observes, “The horses now seem very content and happy in their peaceful surroundings.”
Roni provides another generous benefit to the organization. When a Red Bucket volunteer refers a friend for the sale or purchase of a home, once escrow closes on the property, she donates twenty-five percent of her commission straight to Red Bucket. “I like to give back to causes that are important to me,” explains Roni. We at Red Bucket are grateful for her giving heart.
“It is an honor and a privilege to have a volunteer who is beautiful both on the inside and on the outside working diligently at positive public exposure for our horses,” exclaims Susan Peirce. Roni is a generous and kind-hearted volunteer. We are grateful she has chosen to use her exceptional writing skills and her expertise in networking to the advantage of our organization. She has truly made a difference at Red Bucket because of her love of both animals and people.