When planning corporate outings for the purpose of fostering connection and team-building, more companies are seeking out novel experiences that also support a charitable cause. Whether it’s volunteering time, collecting donations, or helping to raise money, there are a variety of ways to help others in need and have a positive impact on the community.
For groups that are either based in Texas or visiting for an event and looking for a fulfilling way to team build and give back, FarmHouse Fresh is a 10-acre farm and animal sanctuary in McKinney that offers tours and pasture parties to corporate groups of all sizes. Since 2016, the sanctuary has helped to save, rehabilitate, and feed thousands of animals in need. It is home to more than 50 special-needs rescue animals including goats, donkeys, sheep, and horses.
“We rescued our very first sanctuary residents, two donkeys named Granny and Shadow, who were located at kill pens and headed for slaughter in 2016,” says Elise Kahn, manager of FarmHouse Fresh’s animal sanctuary. “We currently have 58 full-time sanctuary residents. We focus on ‘cruelty saves’ and medically advanced rescue cases—animals that might not have a chance otherwise. From the very beginning, we have always known we wanted to do something to help animals, as so many of our team members are animal lovers and rescuers.”
In FarmHouse Fresh’s early years, the company gave holiday gifts to their wholesale clients. One year, the farm’s team sent Whoopie cream pies and realized how many thousands of dollars were spent on food, only to be eaten and soon forgotten. They thought about how those funds could have been used to save animals in need, so the next holiday season they hatched a plan to help nearby overflowing animal shelters get more animals adopted.
“We created a huge weeklong event to sponsor the adoption, spay/neuter [services], and vetting at our [community] animal shelter,” says Kahn. “We were able to clear out an entire animal shelter, along with helping many other rescue groups find homes for their animals in need. We made a decision that animal rescue was something we wanted to do on a larger scale, every single day of the year. The FarmHouse Fresh animal sanctuary was born that year. It’s now a haven for horses, donkeys, sheep, and goats. They live beautiful lives at our sanctuary—receiving care, rehabilitation, and lots of massages!”
The farm also is the headquarters for FarmHouse Fresh’s skincare brand, a clean skincare line founded by Shannon McLinden and launched in 2005. The company, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is retailed in spas and resorts across the country, and is used in facial and body treatments by many estheticians. Every product purchased helps to fund the FarmHouse Fresh animal-care efforts with 10% to 15% of all profits donated back to the sanctuary. Customers can even track the batch code on their product jar to learn the stories of the animals directly benefiting from their skincare purchase.
In any given month, purchases of FarmHouse Fresh products help pay for hay, grain, and medical expenses for the animals. Purchases also fund employee time in all day-to-day caregiving which includes feeding, cleaning, and administering medicine. Due to the severe health ailments of rescued animals, the sanctuary is open and functioning nearly 24 hours per day, seven days a week. The property was custom-built and employs a full-time veterinary technician and a live-in groundskeeper. FarmHouse Fresh also has been able to help thousands of animals through affiliate rescue groups in Texas, California, Colorado, Ohio, and more.
“We started offering tours and volunteer events in 2023,” says Kahn. “We had so many people asking to come visit from all areas—[whether they were] spa [professionals], online customers, or donkey lovers. Many times, they would just show up, unannounced, hoping to glimpse at the animals they helped to save by being a customer. From there, we started a volunteer program, which continues to grow steadily.”
FarmHouse Fresh sanctuary tours accommodate groups of any size. Larger groups are split up and rotated through the pastures so that everyone can spend quality time with all the different animals.
“We love to host groups and can essentially accommodate any situation,” says Kahn. “We have had Chase Bank, Caliber Collision, Starbucks, Louis Vuitton, and countless spas and schools come out for corporate tours and volunteer events. We have had groups that want to hold their monthly team meeting here before meeting the animals, some groups want to have contests to see who can clean the most stalls, and other groups want to stay the entire day and coordinate bringing in a catered lunch. The opportunities are endless and we are always open to trying something new.”
The tours consist of seeing the company headquarters, meeting the rescue animals and learning about their stories, meeting the caretakers, seeing the animals’ living quarters, and visiting the FarmHouse Fresh greenhouse, where their microgreens are grown and used in every product. The tours conclude with the opportunity to shop the retail area with a 25% discount while an esthetician is available to answer any skincare and product questions.
“So many people who come for a tour are self-proclaimed ‘farmies’ who have been using our products for years and hearing about the animals they are helping,” says Kahn. “It’s such a special experience when they get to meet and spend time with the animals they have been hearing about and following for years—it’s a powerful, full-circle moment. Plus, you get to hug and kiss a donkey (or 10!)”
Pasture parties are another fun experience for groups, during which they spend several hours helping out at the sanctuary by picking up pastures, tidying stalls, filling hay bags, and cleaning food pans. They also get to meet some of the animal residents, will be gifted a complimentary FarmHouse Fresh T-shirt, and can shop for products in the gift store at a 25% discount.
There are many other ways to support the FarmHouse Fresh sanctuary. Businesses, individuals, and foundations can make donations and become a part of the sanctuary with the purchase of a memorial fence post, stall sign, and other merchandise—after which 100% of proceeds go directly to the expansion of the sanctuary. Skincare product purchases, volunteering, tours, and following the sanctuary on social media by liking, commenting, and sharing their posts also have an impactful effect.
“At FarmHouse Fresh, our brand mission is ‘Rescue for 2,” says Kahn. “We rescue complexions by creating products that use fresh- and farm-grown ingredients that transform skin, and we rescue animals in need. We feel so strongly that part of being a green, sustainably conscious brand is caring for the Earth’s creatures who can’t care for themselves. Simply being a FarmHouse Fresh customer [means] you directly help to save lives.”
