When a child named Craig wrote a letter to Santa in 1976, he could not have known that his request for a visit would lead to gifts for thousands of fellow kids in need.

Craig’s letter, which read in part “Mom said you got lost last year … we really missed you, especially my little sisters,” may not have reached the North Pole, but it did make it to Seattle restaurant owner Dick “Buck” Francisco, a retired Marine with a generous spirit.

Francisco created the Forgotten Children’s Fund in honor of Craig and kids like him — kids for whom Christmas meant sadness more often than glee.

In addition to the Fund, which continues to grant Christmas cheer to over 2,900 kids and 800 families across the state, Francisco developed the M-Bar-C Ranch on Whidbey Island which would become a 52-acre Wild West oasis for kids and families in need.

The ranch’s numerous volunteers, 17 donated equine partners and various Western-themed buildings offer visitors solace from financial, mental, emotional or physical struggles.

“The best thing for the inside of a kid is the outside of a horse” was the philosophy of the ranch’s original owners, a group of urban Seattle-area families, including Francisco, who wanted their children to experience rural recreation outside the bustling city limits.

The philosophy was paramount in Francisco’s decision to dedicate the ranch to special needs and disadvantaged children after his own had reached adulthood. It remains a guiding principle today.

Visitors entering the ranch may feel as if they’ve been transported to a different time, one devoid of day-to-day struggles and filled instead with friendly cowgirls and cowboys eager to enable each child “to be the most kid they can be” with horse rides, tractor rides, crafts, a costume room, “cowboy lunch” and other Western-themed activities, all of which are free.

From Friday, Sept. 19 to Sunday, Sept. 21, the ranch will be holding its annual Barn Sale Fundraiser in partnership with the South Whidbey Lions Club.

Proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards the M-Bar-C Ranch programs such as the Day of Western Fun, South Whidbey Lions Club scholarships and hearing and sight programs and the Forgotten Children’s Fund. This year’s event will also include Barnyard Bingo at 9:30 a.m. Friday. Tickets for bingo cost $5 in advance.

Dale Kerslake, ranch volunteer and program coordinator, explained that fundraisers such as the Barn Sale are essential to the all-volunteer-operated ranch and added that most of the funds raised for the ranch will go toward their Day of Western Fun program.

“We’ll use [funds raised] to continue to do what we do which is putting smiles on the faces of some pretty special kids,” said Kerslake.

According to Kerslake, the ranch hosts between 1,500 to 2,000 kids each summer as well as numerous parent to parent support groups.

“Our goal is to let them forget whatever it is they are facing, whether it is childhood cancer or autism, and just allow them to have a day of fun and be a kid,” Kerslake said. “The parents get such a charge out of it because they see their child who may be severely disabled and in a wheelchair with a feeding tube, or whatever might be going on in their life, get on a horse and the parents are out here taking pictures. … It’s an incredible, wonderful thing to see.”

Kerslake said that, for her and other volunteers, the most rewarding aspect of the work is witnessing a moment of triumph and joy in a child’s life. She recalled a moment in the spring in which an autistic child, who was initially afraid to get near the horse, let alone go for a ride, overcame his fear. The boy’s father, Kerslake recalled, coaxed his son onto the loading deck. At first, the boy sat there and stared.

“Finally, he reached out and started stroking the horse and we just saw this little bit of a smile start,” Kerslake recalled. “The horse just gave a big sigh and put his head on the little boy’s knee. The boy took the horse’s head in both his hands and kissed the horse.”

According to Kerslake, the boy’s father snapped several photos in disbelief.

“Horses are sometimes magic like that,” Kerslake said. “They form a connection with these children that we don’t understand. They know this child is something special.”

For more information about the M-Bar-C Ranch and Forgotten Children’s Fund visit m-bar-c.org/.