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Valentine’s Day: Children get to smooch rescued farm animals at Duxbury sanctuary farm fundraiser

The fundraiser benefitted JEM Learning, a new homeschooling cooperative in Duxbury.

Over 70 rescued farm animals welcomed visitors to share the love at a kissing booth set up for Valentine’s Day at the JEM Learning Farm Sunday morning. Evelyn Bradley, 6, of Weymouth, gives Rio a kiss at the horse kissing booth. John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe

By Susannah Sudborough

1 minute to read

More than 80 parents and children shared sweet moments with rescued farm animals Sunday at a kissing booth fundraiser for a homeschooling cooperative in Duxbury.

Children met with donkeys, bunnies, horses, pigs, and other animals at the newly-opened JEM Learning, which currently enrolls 24 students.

Donkey Applejack gets a kiss from McKinley Jones, 3, of Pembroke, at a kissing booth. – John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe

The school teaches students in kindergarten through eighth grade using hands-on nature-based experiences, such as caring for and reading to the animals on the 18-acre sanctuary farm where the school is located.

“It’s hard to place a lot of [the animals], so they kind of just live out their life with us. It’s great that the kids come and love them and get all the attention that they deserve,” Meghan King, owner of JEM Equestrian, told The Boston Globe.

Juniper the dog gets close to a donkey. – John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe

The fundraiser will help JEM Learning pay for a greenhouse it recently purchased, the Globe reported. The structure needs work before students can use it as a classroom where they will learn about horticulture and grow plants themselves.

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“We don’t charge a lot of money…to go to school,” Ellen Arcese, cofounder of JEM Learning, said. “We offer yoga once a week, music once a week, a foreign language, and then we have microburst classes…so all those extras kind of add up.”

Crew Flodin, 1, of Scituate, contemplates getting closer to Tilly the pig. – John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe

Children as young as a year old made friends with the animals at JEM Equestrian Sunday, the Globe reported.

“Obviously, when you have a horse reaching over to have a snack or cuddle with you, it’s intimidating,” Arcese told the newspaper. “But they all did great.”

Isabella Moesaa, 12, of Duxbury, stays away from Luna at the horse kissing booth. – John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe

Any families who are disappointed to have missed the fun on Sunday will get another chance to snuggle with furry friends at its second kissing booth on Tuesday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Sloan Flodin, 3, of Scituate, hugs a bunny. – John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe

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