Terri and Devon Kane Lend Helping Hands at Vinceremos

Terri and Devon Kane, passionate about their work with Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center, are busy preparing for the non-profit’s Annual Dinner and Benefit Auction at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida, Friday night Feb. 2.

The mother/daughter team, who own Diamante Farms in Wellington, dig in and help where needed to make the event a success, since more than half of the Vinceremos annual operating budget of nearly $1.4 million traditionally comes from the auction and party.

Terri Kane, who is the secretary of the organization’s Board of Directors, participates in their weekly board meetings, works on the auction and helps judge the Special Olympics. Her daughter, Grand Prix dressage rider Devon Kane, got her mother involved with Vinceremos after Devon was asked to chair the newly-created Young Professionals Committee, and the two are deeply entrenched in their work and the cause.

“I do it because I have seen the difference in a child who couldn’t walk and, within six months, she was walking just from riding a horse,” Terri said. “Some of the autistic kids start communicating with the animals and then they eventually start communicating with people. There was one little girl who spoke to no one. Then, she started talking to the horse and, eventually, she started talking to people and to her parents. You can also see the difference it makes in the parents when they see there is something their child does and enjoys doing. I love seeing the difference horses can make in people’s lives and the power of seeing those miracles.”

Tuny Page, chairman of the Board of Directors and interim CEO of Vinceremos, is thankful for the Kanes’ help.

“The key thing here is that their hands have touched most things in this organization,” Tuny said. “When Devon started doing this she was maybe 22 and now she is setting an example for young professionals. Devon is giving them a roadmap for how to be a responsible, young, up-and-coming professional.

“Devon is not in any way, shape or form afraid of hard work,” she continued. “There she is in the Grand Prix ring, and there she is in the parent pick-up line picking up her son from school, and there she is helping at Vinceremos. Terri and Devon epitomize good citizens in our community. To me, they are just paragons of how being responsible members of a community works.”As chair of the Young Professionals Committee, Devon plays a key role in organizing the Vinceremos Buck Off, a team event in which the weekly winners of a mechanical bull riding contest compete in the final Buck Off. A fun part of the annual auction party, the final Buck Off features the top four Buck Off teams riding the bull for a rodeo-type finish. A sit-down dinner, line dancing and an auction with items including four Summit Club VIP/Hospitality tickets for the first week of the 2018 World Equestrian Games, a training session with Olympic athletes Laura Kraut and Nick Skelton, and a South African safari at the Serondella Lodge in the Thorny Bush Game Preserve are just some of the items up for grabs.

But, there is a serious side to an evening of boot-scootin’ fun – the Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center in Loxahatchee Groves. The mission of Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center is to expand and enrich the lives, bodies and spirits of children and adults with physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities through the benefits of therapeutic horseback riding and other equine assisted activities, while serving the therapeutic riding profession through training and education.

Ever cognizant of their blessings, the Kanes put their hearts into helping Vinceremos.

“Devon and I have healthy children,” Terri Kane said. “We help for these parents who don’t.”

If you would like to be a be a part of the Western chic Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center Annual Dinner and Auction, log onto vinceremos.org and follow the links to purchase your tickets or donate to the event.