Pahrump woman offers foal to help Columbine

Holly Kurtz

Monday, Sept. 27, 1999 | 11:24 a.m.

Offering to donate a baby foal conceived April 20, a Pahrump woman was one of many to step forward with gifts to the Spirit of Columbine Tribute Center in Golden, Colo.

Judith Barnett, who said she was devastated by the April 20 tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., decided to name the foal Columbine and donate it to the school, hoping it could bring peace to people by grazing nearby. The foal will be born to her mare Fannie.

"Horses are a beautiful thing," Barnett said. "I thought, 'Wouldn't it be nice if that horse looks at all those people.' I wanted her to be a mascot."

No one has accepted Barnett's donation yet. The mare is worth about $1,500.

Other unusual offerings to the center include 4,000 window decals from Enterprise, Ala., and a string of 1,000 origami cranes sent from students at a high school in Japan. The string is one of 20 sent since the shootings.

A woman offered to clean the victims' homes. A number of massage therapists offered to rub students' shoulders.

Sandi Mariano from Buffalo, N.Y., invited anyone that needs to get away to her home. It's not much, Mariano said, but there are four bedrooms and the sandy shores of nearby Lake Erie.

Most of the people who made donations are similar to Mariano and Barnett -- not famous, not rich, just wanting to help.

In Pahrump, Barnett said she hopes her empathy will get to the people of Columbine High, even if her foal does not.

"We're just little people here in Pahrump," she said. "We're not nothing. We're just concerned."