WHO WE ARE
Full Circle Farm Sanctuary was established in 2010 and provides a safe and loving forever home to formerly farmed, discarded, abused, and neglected animals. They come to the sanctuary to heal, retire and to live out their natural lives as freely as possible. The sanctuary is a peaceful environment where residents are safe to grow old. We are proud of the aging population of FCFS, honored to have cared for them for so many years and will continue to stand by them through any challenges of old age. They deserve to be fought for. We educate, advocate, and help the residents tell their stories so they can be seen as someone, and not something.
The work of FCFS is in effort for all animals, but particularly farmed animals, to be seen as individuals, deserving of care, respect, and consideration. The FCFS residents are the lucky ones. They represent the billions of lives currently in the animal agriculture system, destined to become food or products.
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We acknowledge that the best way to alleviate animal suffering, sustain the environment, prevent world hunger, and improve human health, is to embrace the vegan lifestyle. We invite you to join the FCFS mission.
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Advocating for each resident and those they represent means being fully present and focused on them. Each resident species has their own unique way of communicating and while it sounds different than how humans communicate, it is no less valid.
We Hear Them, We See Them!
Each resident and who they represent indeed has their own unique powerful voice and experience. We simply help them tell their story. At FCFS we don’t stand above the residents and their species, we stand beside them.
Along with respecting their unique voice, we respect them as the individuals they are, and their boundaries. We want nothing from the residents. They are not here for us, we are here for them. We don’t ask the residents to give us anything in return for their safety. The only request is for them to live as much on their terms as possible. Whether a resident chooses to interact with us or not, we love and respect them all the same.
Each resident is unique with a distinct personality and each has a name, friends, and family. When we rescue a new animal, showing them respect is just as important to us as getting them to safety. If a rescue doesn't have a name, the team immediately gives them one, marking the beginning of their journey of autonomy. We see this as an act of respect and dignity. If a rescue comes with a name, we acknowledge that they are likely used to it and are experiencing enough change, so they keep their name. We don’t want to change who they are, we want to nurture their individuality.
We acknowledge that we help reach a wider audience on behalf of each resident by telling their stories through Full Circle Farm Sanctuary’s 15 year history of education and advocacy programs, including long standing Free Guest Day Tours, Volunteer Opportunities, Social Media Platforms, Bolin’s Blog, the FCFS Newsletter, the FCFS website, Community Outreach and more.
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The FCFS team is small, dedicated, and deeply passionate. Aside from the devoted and highly skilled Animal Care team tending to the daily needs of the residents, there are no other paid staff of the sanctuary. Anything falling outside of animal care is managed by the three professionally skilled volunteer board members, balancing their full time careers with their responsibility to the sanctuary. Each has been involved with FCFS for 8-10 years.
There is no face of FCFS and there is no executive director. The board works as a collective drawing on experience, history with the organization, and professional skills to push the FCFS mission forward. Quality is never compromised - lack of payment does not equal lack of effort. This operating model is unique among sanctuaries. We are proud of what we are able to accomplish with the passion and collaboration of the FCFS team and the budgetary boundaries of the organization.
Having a working volunteer board ensures all donations are going directly to the care of the residents and the organization which is their home, instead of being allocated to high administrative salaries. This allows us to further the mission of rescue, change, and education.
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Despite the long period of service, the board along with the staff are still guests at the sanctuary. Words matter. We are very intentional with language, avoiding the use of “our sanctuary” or “our residents”. The residents are free and belong to no one. We are simply their caretakers and here to serve the organization. The sanctuary is not ours, it belongs to the residents, it’s their home, and remains open as a result of individual donations. While we need humans to care for the residents and manage FCFS, humans are not the focus. The residents will always be the stars of the sanctuary! All the work of FCFS is on their behalf and those they represent.
FCFS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is solely sustained by individual public donations. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for allowing us to continue working on behalf of animals and to up hold the lifelong commitment to the FCFS residents.​​
To learn about the three founding residents who set in motion what would become the Full Circle Farm Sanctuary of today, please visit Their Legacy page. To learn more about the current residents of FCFS, please visit the Residents page. For vegan information and resources, please visit the Vegan Info page.
