Virtual world ranch donates $22k to REINS

A real life cause has impacted a virtual world, and moved Second Life® players to donate over $137,000 to benefit children around the world with autism, with $22,000 of that going to REINS Therapeutic Riding Center in Fallbrook.

Amaretto Ranch Breedables is a community that is part of Second Life®, an online virtual world in which users can create avatars – creations that can be essentially anything users want them to be – and control them in a virtual world that they can alter to their exact specifications.

A check for $22,913.30 was presented to REINS on Wednesday, June 1 by Amaretto Breedables owners Josie Smith, Jason Jazdzewski and manager Jaime McIntyre.

Amaretto Breedables – based out of Moreno Valley – sold virtual breedable horses that were limited edition from April 25 to April 29 for Autism Awareness Month. The horses were uniquely designed; two horses designed with puzzle pieces to fit the theme for Autism Awareness and the other two were decorated in a May Flowers/Spring Showers theme and were made available for avid collectors and equine enthusiasts in the virtual world of Second Life.

The detailed and interactive horses are popular with hobbyists on Second Life® who enjoy the care and maintenance of the online pets, as well as experimentation with breeding of the pets for creative results and new highly coveted and rare colorations. Each horse sold for L$1,125 lindens, the virtual currency used in Second Life®, which translates to approximately $4.80 each.

Jazdzewski believes that many Second Life® users were impacted by their fundraiser because a large population of users are disabled.

“On Second Life®, you can be anyone, and do anything,” said Jazdzewski. “People who can’t walk in real life can walk, run and fly.”

The idea to raise money to give to programs such as REINS came from an employee of Amaretto Breedables, Lynsey Myers, who has a relative who is autistic.

“The response was amazing,” said McIntyre. “We had so many purchases that first day, Linden Labs [the programming system that helps with purchases on Second Life®] shut us down because they thought we were fraud.”

Linden Labs was not the only company that initially thought that Amaretto Breedables were fraudulent; REINS directors thought the donation was spam.

“About a month ago, we got an email from <Amaretto Breedables>,” said Jennifer Gambrell, the REINS development coordinator. “We weren’t sure if we were going to get a real check.”

But the funds raised by Amaretto Breedables were indeed real.

Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center in Woodinville, Wash., Southern Tier Alternative Therapies, Inc. in New York, Riding for the Disabled Association of Australia (RDAA), Riding for the Disabled Association in the United Kingdome and McKenna Farms in Georgia also received funds for their work with autistic children.

The idea to sell Breedables – electronic pets for Second Life® – came to Smith and Jazdzewski, who are engaged to be married after having met on Second Life® in October 2009. Each purchase from Amaretto Breedables comes with a bundle, which then “grows up” and becomes a horse. Saddles, stables, and other equestrian equipment can then be purchased through the community.

“My mother had a horse,” said Smith, when asked about the reasoning behind the creation of Amaretto Breedables. “We have always loved horses.”

The project, however, was not developed until September 2010. Since then, several special Breedables were created to help raise money for charitable causes.

“We had a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness in October, and raised $69,000. We sold pink and white mustangs,” said Smith. “We also sold horses with beautiful cherry blossoms for Japanese relief, and raised $84,000. This is the biggest amount we have raised.”

Amaretto Breedables is planning on fundraising for Relay for Life in July, and is already working on a new Breedable – dogs for Second Life®.

The Amaretto Breedables team members credit the success of the fundraisers on the community.

“We have one of the greatest communities for any virtual product anywhere on the net. We will keep doing what we are doing and grow with our community,” said Jeannie Inman, Head of Marketing for Amaretto Breedables. “We cannot thank them enough. We look forward to future fundraisers.”

To explore Second Life®, go to http://www.SecondLife.com.