AUTM's "Put a Face On It" Video Grant
Spotlight on Operation Hat TrickTM
At the beginning of this year, our office applied for and received a small grant offered by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) called the Put a Face on It Video Program. The funds from the award could be used to create a short video that would help enhance awareness of the value of university-based innovations by showcasing the people who have directly benefited from them. We knew right away that we wanted to dedicate our video to UNH’s first nonprofit startup organization, Operation Hat Trick (OHT).
About OHT
OHT was conceived and established by Dot Sheehan, Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Relations at UNH. Dot created OHT (named with regards to UNH’s rich tradition in hockey) with the goal of providing caps to wounded service members by using proceeds of sales on apparel branded with the OHT trademark. In 2012, OHT was launched as a spinout nonprofit company with the new goal of using the revenue from the sale of OHT branded caps and apparel to help fund organizations that support the recovery of wounded service members and veterans. Since its inception, OHT has sold over 150,000 caps, proceeds of which are donated to organizations that fulfill OHT’s mission. In FY14, OHT donated over $100,000 to such organizations.
Though OHT’s story is impressive and inspiring on its own, the grant required that the main focus of the video be on the individuals who directly benefit from university innovations. For OHT, that includes veterans and service members and the OHT funded programs that help support them. Dot suggested that we profile Ironstone Farm.
About Ironstone Farm
Ironstone Farm, located in Andover, Massachusetts, is a working farm environment that employs horses to provide beneficial therapy for people with a wide range of physical, emotional, and cognitive disabilities. The farm’s professional staff of more than 25 licensed instructors and therapists work with an average of 37 program horses and 220 weekly volunteers to serve 450 to 500 children and adults each week, year round. One of Ironstone Farm’s newest therapy programs is the Equine Retreat for Veterans, which receives funding from OHT. The Equine Retreat is a two-day program developed to help veterans reintegrate and better adjust to their non-combat lives using an experimental therapy called Equine Facilitated Mental Health (EFMH).
Filming for the video took place at Ironstone Farm on a beautiful spring day in May. We interviewed the program administrators about the success of the retreat and how the funds from OHT have helped to keep the program running strong. We were also incredibly fortunate to be able to interview one of the veterans who had recently gone through the retreat. He described his experience working with and riding the horses, and opened up about how the program has helped him to better relate the people around him.
View the Video
The video is now complete and we are excited to share OHT’s and Ironstone Farm’s story. We are thankful to AUTM for the opportunity to raise awareness of a fantastic organization that was developed here at UNH, and the life-changing benefits that can come out of university-born innovation. The finished video can be viewed on AUTM’s YouTube page along with all the other videos created by universities through the Put a Face on It Video Program.
Chelsey DiGiuseppe, Marketing Manager
UNHInnovation
