Making friends with Whidbey farm animals

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Fete with farm animals in support of a Clinton sanctuary later this week.

Ballydídean Farm Sanctuary is holding its sixth annual fundraiser this Friday, June 19. Guests can hop in a photo booth with some of the sanctuary’s outgoing ambassador animals, enjoy a vegan dinner and a free bar, participate in a silent auction and more; tickets are $100.

An open house is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the sanctuary on French Road followed by a farm banquet beginning at 6 p.m. at Cascadia Meadows on Maxwelton Road.

Sanctuary owners Ansel and Sarah Santosa, high school sweethearts originally from Minneapolis, emphasized that the evening will be one of celebration.

“It is a fundraiser, but it is also a face-to-face check-in about what we’ve done with the funds we’ve already gotten,” Sarah said. “And a party.”

Since its founding in 2018, the sanctuary has taken in cows, chickens, pigs, goats, ducks and sheep to live out the remainder of their days on Ballydídean’s idyllic 15-acre property. Many of these animals were surrendered by their previous owners, and in some cases, would be killed if not for the sanctuary.

With the prevalence of farming on Whidbey, the Santosas said demand is consistently high for Ballydídean’s services and increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the sanctuary cannot receive every animal in need of a new home. Numerous farm sanctuaries exist “up and down the West Coast” which Ballydídean tries to send these other animals to, Sarah explained.

“We turn down more animals than we take. We turn them down every week,” she added. “And we try to network them. We almost never just give a flat no.”

Funding the sanctuary is a community effort, as Ballydídean is sustained largely by donations; the Santosas find that demonstrated belief in their work “heartwarming.”

Tours of the sanctuary are offered and can bring in revenue, but are arguably more important to Ballydídean’s mission of bringing people face-to-face with farm animals they typically only encounter on their dinner plates. Ballydídean has received grants for its educational efforts and sustainability, but the Santosas find the sanctuary is ill-suited for many of the grants which would actually fund day-to-day operations.

As a result, the annual fundraiser is a significant source of revenue. In past years, it has funded up to 10% of the sanctuary’s annual budget. It also routinely attracts many people who are new to the sanctuary, Sarah Santosa said. So, it is important to the Santosas that the fundraiser puts the community’s investment in the spotlight.

Sarah Santosa explained that they think about the fundraiser like a stakeholder meeting, where the community is invited to see how their money is being used and what more it could do.

The Santosas stumbled into their sanctuary journey earlier than intended, but it worked out for the best. Both are vegan now, and heed the motto “exposure equals empathy.” The closer they can bring farm animals and people, the better.

“That’s really the goal, is to help people make friends with animals they haven’t been friends with before,” Ansel Santosa said. “And the animals deserve adoration and friendship too, you know?”

Tickets are 75% of the way sold as of last week. Purchase yours at members.ballydidean.farm/2026.