A therapeutic riding ranch in Agua Dulce that helps kids and young adults overcome their disabilities intends to raise $50,000 in the next 21 days through its annual “Carousel Wishes and Valentines Kisses” campaign.

Carousel Ranch held an open house Saturday, allowing community members to see the ranch and Western town where a storefront will be installed along with a a new classroom area.

“There is a gap between what we can raise at special events, with grants and things like that, and what it really costs to run this program and also grow this program,” Executive Director Denise Redmond said.

For every dollar the charitable organization makes this month up to a total of $25,000, board members Wayne and Dianne Crawford have pledged to match it.

“We definitely want to hit that goal and achieve the Crawfords’ match and maybe even beyond that,” said Redmond. “We are out there raising money in a variety of ways, traditional and nontraditional.”

The ranch is continuing to grow its resources with a new vocational program opening up this summer, funded mostly through a $100,000 grant from Supervisor Mike Antonovich’s office.

The new program will adapt the current program to fit older students. There are currently five clients in Carousel Ranch’s ready-to-work program, which helps them prepare to enter the workforce.

They will learn how to punch a time card, how to conduct themselves in interview and ring up customers in the new used-tack store.

“I think by this time next year, we are going to have a program that we can be really proud of,” Redmond said.