Citizens Bank will Match Gifts to Ranch on Giving Tuesday
11/13/2026

What is Giving Tuesday?

After Thanksgiving, #BlackFriday and #CyberMonday each year, we celebrate #GivingTuesday. This special day helps demonstrate that holidays can be about both giving and giving back.

For the past 11 years, we have celebrated Giving Tuesday with Citizens Bank, which will once again be matching gifts on Giving Tuesday.

For every dollar donated to the ASYR on December 1st, Citizens Bank will match your contributions up to $5,000!

Here are some ways YOU can help the ASYR receive the entire $5,000 matching gift from Citizens Bank on Giving Tuesday:

Make an online donation by clicking here.
Drop your donation by any Citizens Bank location. We’ll be celebrating Giving Tuesday with Citizens Bank and White River Now at Citizens Bank Headquarters, located at 655 South Saint Louis Street in Batesville from 9am-5pm Tuesday, December 1st. Drop by and receive a FREE cookie and t-shirt with your donation.
Help us get the word out about Citizens Bank’s $5,000 matching gift! Share this page with a friend by email, text, or social media, and ask them to join you in supporting the Ranch on Giving Tuesday.
Follow @YouthRanches for social media updates on Facebook and Instagram and share our posts with your friends.
Visit our ways to help page or contact Matthew Cleveland at 501-940-3440 or matt@youthranches.com to learn about other ways to give or to make an additional matching gift.

Since 1976, the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches have provided hope and healing for children who, through no fault of their own, need a place to call home. Your gift to the ASYR on Giving Tuesday supports our mission of providing homes for some of Arkansas’s most vulnerable children. To learn more about how you can support the ASYR, contact Matthew Cleveland at 501-940-3440 or email matt@youthranches.com.

As a 501c3 charitable organization that is 100% privately funded, and a 100% free service to children in crisis, Giving Tuesday is such an important day for us at the ASYR. Please join us December 1st for Giving Tuesday, and consider making the Ranch part of your year-end giving plans.

Give a Child the Gift of Hope

Become a Hope Builder with a monthly contribution. For the cost of a fast food meal, you can help change a child’s life.

A contribution for as little as $10 per month can help provide for things like:
• New shoes for our boys and girls
• An allowance for a child
• Caps and gowns for our graduates
• Birthday gifts for our children
• Groceries for our cottages
• Feed for goats, pigs, and other animals on the Ranch
• Salary for our loving houseparents

Become a Hope Builder by committing to a monthly contribution. It’s a simple, secure way to provide consistent support to the ASYR all year long. Click here to support today!

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:

Many thanks to Citizens Bank for providing the matching gift to encourage giving on Giving Tuesday! We are so grateful for their continued support as we strive to build better lives for children who call the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches home.

Thank you to White River Now for being our media partner for Giving Tuesday. Tune in to White River Now’s family of radio stations on December 1st for live broadcasts throughout the day!

31st Annual Arkansas Children’s Award Dinner Honors Laura Landreaux
10/27/2026

Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches celebrated 50 years of serving Arkansas youth at its 31st annual Arkansas Children’s Award Dinner on Monday, raising over $237,000 to support its mission of providing safe, loving homes for children in need. The event honored Entergy Arkansas CEO Laura Landreaux with the 2026 Arkansas Children’s Award in recognition of her longstanding commitment to improving the lives of children and families across the state.

The annual dinner drew more than 450 ASYR supporters on Monday evening, Oct. 26, in the Grand Ballroom at the Little Rock Marriott. Guests enjoyed a reception, dinner, silent and live auctions, and the award presentation. Longtime ASYR supporter and former Arkansas Razorback David Bazzel served as master of ceremonies. Entergy Arkansas served as presenting sponsor, and diamond sponsors included Ray and Deborah Dillon, The Schueck Family Foundation, and Stone Ward.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Arkansas Children’s Award to Landreaux, a Little Rock native whose leadership and community involvement have helped create opportunities for children and families throughout Arkansas. As CEO of Entergy Arkansas, Landreaux leads the company, which invests millions of dollars annually in early childhood education and literacy, efforts to address child hunger and family stability, and youth development programs. Landreaux also serves on the boards of Easterseals Arkansas, the Academies of Central Arkansas, and the Foundation for the Mid South.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Arkansas Children’s Award, but the real heroes are the people who have dedicated the past 50 years to providing safe, loving homes and brighter futures for Arkansas children,” said Laura Landreaux, president and CEO of Entergy Arkansas. “The Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches changes lives every day by giving young people the stability, support and opportunities they deserve. I am proud of Entergy Arkansas’s partnership with the Ranch and grateful to everyone who helps make this important mission possible.”

This year’s dinner also marked a special milestone for the Ranch as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. Founded in 1976 by the Sheriffs of Arkansas, the organization has provided a safe home and comprehensive support for more than 2,300 children who have experienced abuse, neglect or family instability.

“For 50 years, the Ranch has been a place where children can find stability, build confidence and look toward a brighter future,” said Nancy Fulton, CEO of Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches. “This dinner is a wonderful reminder of how many people believe in that mission and want to be part of it. Every person who supports the Ranch plays a role in changing a child’s life, and we are grateful to have a community that continues to show up for us year after year.”

The Ranch is 100 percent privately funded, and with generous support from the community, it supplies all the needs associated with raising a child, from finding loving houseparents to providing safe shelter, medical care, healthy food, clothing, and educational expenses. You can support the Ranch as it continues to serve Arkansas children with a tax-deductible donation by clicking here.

Check out more photos from the Arkansas Children’s Award Dinner on our Facebook Page

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

MANY THANKS! to our generous sponsors for helping us honor Laura Landreaux for her generous spirit and her work building brighter futures for Arkansas Children, including the boys and girls who call the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches, “home.”

ASYR Board President Ray Dillon Profiled in Arkansas Democrat Gazette
10/19/2026

The following article appeared in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette High Profile Section on Sunday, October 18, 2026. Click here to read it via their website.

Serving Youth Ranch Perfect ‘Job’ for Retiree Ray Dillon

By Helaine Williams

Before retirement, Ray Dillon served as president and CEO of Deltic Timber Corp., where he oversaw management of the company’s 500,000-plus acres of timberland, its two sawmills, fiberboard plant and real estate development efforts.

And post-retirement? Dillon prefers to stay busy, especially when it comes to charitable efforts.

“I wake up every day looking for somebody to help,” he says. “I don’t know who that is, but everybody needs help.”

One blessed recipient of Dillon’s help: Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches. He’s president of the board of the Ranches (also referred to as just “the Ranch”) which is celebrating 50 years of providing a place not just of shelter but safety, stability, love and care — a chance to just be a child — for children who’d previously been deprived of these.

“I work with a lot of organizations, but I work with them because I learn from working with those organizations,” Dillon says. “In all the organizations that I work with, there’s a purpose for being there, and I try to take that purpose and teach others what that means by example. Not just telling them — by doing.”

Founded by county sheriffs in Arkansas in 1976, and starting with two boys housed in a mobile home, Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches’ main headquarters sits on 600 acres near Batesville and, under the leadership of CEO Nancy Fulton, gives new life to children and young people who have been abused, neglected, abandoned.

Up to eight ranchers, as occupants are called, live for free in five foster houses run by houseparents and help to raise cows, pigs, goats chickens and ponies. So far, 2,300 ranchers have thus benefited since the youth ranches’ founding.

“At the ranch, children no longer wonder where their next meals will come from, whether they will attend school the next day, or if they are safe from abusive family members,” its website says.

And that’s what matters most to Dillon … not his position with the organization. “I’m just an instrument to help the ranch,” he says.

“Think about this. We’ve got 40 children that we are responsible for housing, raising, educating and mentoring, and we fund all of that privately. Now the most recent number is it takes about $350,000 to raise a child. So if you take those 40 children, and you just say times-$300,000, that’s the expectation of this organization. And the way I characterized it to someone — I was on an airplane telling him about the ranch — I said, ‘I’ve got a lot of people depending on me,’ and that’s the way I feel about it.”

All 75 Arkansas county sheriffs signed the incorporation papers for the organization. Nowadays, nine sheriffs sit on the board and some help with fundraising. Via the Arkansas Sheriffs Association, every sheriff in this state has a chance to be part of the Ranch,” Dillon says.

BECOMING A ‘HAND’

Dillon’s own “ranch hand” instrumentation began with an invitation to attend the annual Arkansas Children’s Award Dinner, a benefit for Arkansas Sheriff’s Youth Ranches. Dillon attended the dinner and learned about the organization’s programs. “And I understood it was Gov. (Mike) Beebe’s, I’ll call it ‘favorite’ charity, because he chaired that dinner for 29 years.”

Dillon went on to attend more functions and become a member of the ranch’s board of directors. He, too, chaired the dinner and in 2016, became a Children’s Award recipient himself. The list of past recipients read like a Who’s Who in Arkansas philanthropy: Rush Harding, Dorothy Morris, Sissy Jones, Marge Schueck, former Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Pat Walker, the Tyson family.

The next Children’s Award dinner is coming up Oct. 26 at the Little Rock Marriott. This year’s dinner honors Laura R. Landreaux, president and CEO of Entergy Arkansas.

Children’s Award recipients generally have a history of involvement with charitable organizations that focus on at-risk youth, or youth activities meant to “teach and train — whether it’s sports or whether it’s some type of after-school program where they’re learning about some technology or something like that,” Dillon says. “It’s someone that has … been involved in supporting youth development throughout this state. Entergy has invested funds in youth across the state; Landreaux in particular serves on the Easterseals Arkansas board, among others.

“We raise about 10% of our operating funds from that dinner, so that dinner is very important to us, and it’s important that that we hit our targets.”

INSPIRED BY SCRIPTURE

Dillon’s primary motivation for becoming involved with the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches — whose residents come from referrals from the state Department of Human Services; through other referrals; and private placements — can be found in Scripture.

“So what did the good Lord tell us to do?” he asks, before answering his own question. “Take care of widows and orphans.

“I’ve been churched all my life, and here’s an opportunity to serve, doing what He expects. And it’s hard in this life if you’ve got two good parents, it’s harder if you don’t have any parents. So these are children that have no one to help them except the Youth Ranch. We become their parents — the houseparents do, but none of that happens without the funding and the resources. Literally, we raise them, we school them, we clothe them and we take care of them. That’s what the Ranch does.”

Dillon’s farming background also makes him a natural for involvement with the youth ranches.

“I was a farm boy, and I (told) people my entire career, I’ve never worked with anyone that grew up in a farming environment … that was not successful. And here’s why: You’re taught to work, and there’s a lot of it. You get to do a lot of it, so you learn how to be accountable and you learn how to be responsible. So the Ranch is called the Ranch for a reason … We’ve got a farming element to it, and these children are exposed to animals, and they are exposed to taking care of animals.

“Here’s the secret … . The first thing they really love is the animal that they’re caring for. It’s not necessarily a pet, but it really kind of becomes a pet. But that animal loves them first, and then they learn what love’s all about.” The young ranchers even show the animals at fairs.

This puts them on the path to “healing and learning,” Dillon continues.

“Every dinner, we have a rancher … tell their story,” he says. “And all you have to do is hear one story, and you’ve just about heard them all because it’s parents that weren’t responsible; it’s parents that were involved with alcohol or drugs or something else, but they were doing everything but raising their children. They were not providing for their children, and most of the time they’re abusing their children in some way, or the boyfriends or the girlfriends that’s running through the house is abusing them, so that’s the environment they’ve grown up in.”

Dillon echoes the famed motto of Boys Town founder Father Edward J. Flanagan — “There are no bad boys” — when he emphasizes that “children that show up to the ranch are not bad children; they just come from bad circumstances.”

“Now, there are children that have, I’ll call it, ‘issues,’ but they need treatment. (And) most of our ranchers are not those type children. They just need a home and somebody to help them.”

As of this summer, ranch capacity grew. Phillip and Verna Raney of Ozark made a generous donation that led to the construction of of Raney Hall, which opened June 13.

SUCCESS STORY

Ranchers typically range from age 6 to 17; if they’re part of a sibling group, they’ll take younger ranchers in order to keep siblings together. Nowadays they are encouraged to stay until the age of 21 and learn a trade. Some go to college (with scholarship location help from ranch officials); some to the military.

“We try to help them figure out, ‘How am I going to make a living?’” Dillon says.

They might well make a living akin to the one made by one of the original ranchers, who spoke at the 50th anniversary celebration April 18. He works for Price Waterhouse as a consultant, traveling the world and helping set up business solutions for the poultry industry.

“And his story was, ‘I wouldn’t be successful today without the Ranch,’” Dillon says.

“That’s how important the Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch is. That’s why I do what I do, and my main job as chairman of the board is to make sure the Ranch is still taking care of children 50 years from the day. That was part of my comments at the 50th anniversary (celebration). Our job is to make sure we’re still serving children 50 years from today, and that takes responsible management, OK? It takes finding the right houseparents, and it takes — I’ll call it the oversight — to make sure that we protect the resources we have.”

Thirty-first annual Arkansas Children’s Award Dinner honoring Laura Landreaux, 6 p.m. reception and silent auction; 7 p.m. dinner, live auction and program, Oct. 26, Grand Ballroom, Little Rock Marriott Hotel, 3 Statehouse Plaza, Little Rock. Tickets: $250. Visit youthranches.com.

Written by Helaine Williams, hwilliams@adgnewsroom.com

Helaine R. Williams is the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Sunday Style editor, where her wit-and-wisdom column, Let’s Talk, can be found. She also lends her feature writing and photography skills to the High Profile section and, on occasion, other style sections. Her journalism career with the newspaper spans more than four decades.

Former Rancher who felt like a “throw-away kid,” reflects on a life of service
09/17/2026

A Rocky Start

When Sean Crim arrived at the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches in 1986, his life had already been marked by uncertainty and change.

Sean came to Arkansas as a teenager after spending much of his childhood on the move. Following his father’s dismissal from the military, the family traveled across the country, living in communes as far away as California. As Sean struggled with the instability in his life, he began experiencing behavioral problems at school and was eventually placed in a home for troubled children in Magness.

What was intended to be a 90-day placement lasted more than a year. When it was finally time for him to go home, Sean’s family was nowhere to be found. They had moved out of state, leaving no forwarding address or even a phone number.

With no family in the area, Sean was placed in several foster homes before the Sharp County Sheriff was able to get him to the Ranch.

Finding Stability

At the Ranch, Sean found something that had often been missing from his young life: structure and stability.

He attended Batesville High School, where he played saxophone in the band, sang in the choir, worked on the literary magazine, and joined the Computer Club. He developed strong friendships both at school and at the Ranch.

Sean also remembers the stigma that sometimes came with being a “Ranch kid.” Some people assumed the Ranchers were troublemakers.

However, Sean and other Ranchers knew their stories were more complicated than that. Sean recalls feeling like a “throw-away kid.” After all, his parents, who were supposed to protect and care for him had left him.

At the Ranch, however, Sean was part of a community.

A Rancher replenishes wood for the house furnace

Life there included plenty of responsibility. At Keith Hall, the boys restocked wood for the furnace each evening. They cared for cattle, horses, and goats, sometimes helping with an animal giving birth in the middle of a rainy night. Summers meant baling hay and stacking square bales onto trailers.

Sean also remembers serving with the Bethesda Volunteer Fire Department and learned how to fight wildfires that sometimes occurred on the farm.

There was fun, too. Sean remembers school trips, Ranch activities, the annual Country Christmas Craft Fair with cinnamon rolls made by the maintenance supervisor. He also helped build the Ranch’s Chapel and another Ranch home.

These everyday, real-life experiences helped teach responsibility, teamwork, and perseverance.

As a high school senior, Sean participated in a pilot transitional living program. Residents prepared their own meals, did their laundry, and practiced skills they would need to live independently.

Sean even bought his first car while at the Ranch. It had a manual transmission, so another Rancher taught him how to drive it.

Finding His Own Path Through Service

Sean graduated from Batesville High School in 1989 and enrolled at Arkansas State University. After three semesters of college, and missing the Ranch’s structured environment, Sean decide he needed to make a change, so he joined the Army.

That decision led to a 21-year career as an Army combat medic, including service in Iraq and Kuwait during Desert Storm.

After retiring from the military, Sean worked several warehouse jobs in central Arkansas before finding his way back to Batesville.

Five years ago, Sean began working as a teller at First Community Bank. Since then, he has been promoted to the Branch Manager at their Southside location.

Today, Sean continues serving others outside of his career in banking. He is a live-in caregiver for a family friend and helps maintain the facilities at an apartment complex serving people with disabilities. He attends St. Mary’s Catholic Church, and he is the father of a son and daughter and grandfather of four granddaughters.

Looking Back

Sean Crim, Branch Manager
First Community Bank

Sean doesn’t pretend that every memory of his childhood or his time at the Ranch is a happy one. Coming of age in foster care is difficult, no matter how supportive your foster home is.

But Sean has many good memories and learned important lessons from the people who helped him along the way. Being surrounded by other young people facing similar circumstances also helped him realize he wasn’t alone.

Four decades after arriving at the Ranch as a teenager facing an uncertain future, Sean has built a life centered on service, responsibility, family, and community.

Sean’s story reflects the mission of the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches. Children do not choose the circumstances that bring them to the Ranch. But with a safe home, a stable community, the guidance of loving houseparents, and plenty of opportunities to learn, they can begin building their own future.

Sean’s advice today is simple: “You just have to make the best of it.”

Raney Hall Is Officially Open
06/22/2026

Our new residential home, Raney Hall, officially opened on Saturday, June 13! This home was built thanks to a generous donation by Phillip and Verna Raney of Ozark, Arkansas. They, along with several family members, were present for the dedication and ribbon-cutting on a beautiful, sunny morning.

Board of Trustees President Ray Dillon welcomed guests and reflected on the significance of the occasion. “Since 1976, the Ranch has been a place of hope and healing. And it’s been a place to call home to more than 2,300 boys and girls from every corner of the state. And with the addition of Raney Hall, that means we will be able to serve even more over the course of the next 50 years.”

Raney Hall is more than just a new building. As Nancy Fulton, Ranch CEO, said, “With this extraordinarily generous gift, the Raney family is leaving an incredible legacy of love. Generations of children will grow up in this home surrounded by care, encouragement, and the opportunity to thrive. For many of them, it will be the first place they have ever felt truly safe and supported, and that is a true blessing.”

The ribbon-cutting was coordinated by Amanda Roberts and the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors, who stretched the ceremonial red ribbon for the Raney family to cut, marking the home’s official opening. Following the ceremony, Ranchers, houseparents, and staff welcomed visitors inside to tour the fully furnished home, which will soon be filled with children awaiting a new beginning. You can view photos from the event on our Facebook page.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Raney family, the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce, Arkansas sheriffs, board members, community friends, and supporters who gathered to celebrate this important moment in the Ranch’s life. The vision of the Ranch, launched 50 years ago, continues today because of the generosity of our supporters!

As an organization that is 100% privately funded, and a 100% free service to children in crisis, all donations are greatly appreciated. Please consider supporting our mission to help us provide safe, loving homes for Arkansas children for the next 50 years!

Click here to make an online gift today
Mail your gift to: Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches PO Box 3964 Batesville, AR 72503
Or click here to learn about other ways you can support

Join Us for the Raney Hall Ribbon Cutting, June 13
05/15/2026

Join us at the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches for a Ribbon Cutting and Open House for our newest home, Raney Hall—Saturday, June 13 at 11am.

Raney Hall is named in recognition of the Raney family of Ozark, Arkansas, whose extraordinarily generous gift funded the construction of a new home that will provide safe, loving homes for children at the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches.

We are so grateful to the Raney family for making this dream home a reality for the Ranch, and we look forward to celebrating this important milestone with some of our closest friends.

WHAT: Raney Hall Ribbon Cutting and Open House
WHEN: Saturday, June 13, 2026 at 11am
WHERE: Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches, Raney Hall, 6 Emmertz Lane, Batesville, AR 72501
WHO: ASYR Board and Staff, the Raney family, Arkansas Sheriffs, Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce, local officials, community members, and Ranch supporters—YOU!
RSVP: Click this link to RSVP online: https://forms.gle/fvUyi9hdW1dNd8gr9

A short dedication ceremony with the Raney family will be held on the front porch of Raney Hall, and the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce will host the official ribbon cutting. An open house and lunch will follow.

Please allow plenty of time to travel out to the Ranch, which is located west of Batesville near the community of Bethesda.

Help us welcome our new Ranchers and houseparents with a housewarming gift of cleaning supplies or nonperishable food items to stock our pantry and help welcome our new houseparents. Or you can make a one-time or monthly donation to support Raney Hall’s ongoing needs by clicking here.

We are grateful to everyone who has supported ASYR for the last 50 years as we have provided safe, loving homes for Arkansas children. And we are excited that Raney Hall will soon be a place for many more children to call home for the next 50 years, and beyond.

For questions about this event or to learn more about ways to support ASYR, contact Matthew Cleveland at matt@youthranches.com or 501-940-3440.

50 Years of Home at Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches
04/27/2026

On Saturday, April 18, current and former Ranchers, houseparents, and board members, as well as sheriffs and supporters from across Arkansas and beyond gathered to celebrate 50 years of home at the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches.

We had a short program looking back on our past 50 years featuring the daughter of founding sheriff Mike Grady, Mischelle Thiels, past board president Phyllis Worley, current board member Larry Stone, Independence County Sheriff Shawn Stephens, and Rancher #1 Roger Wright.

After the program, everyone enjoyed a catfish lunch on the grounds with all the fixin’s, 50th birthday cupcakes, and cotton candy and shaved ice for the kids (and kids at heart!).

Check out this short recap video of our 50th Anniversary Celebration:

You can watch all of the speeches from this very special event on our YouTube page here.

We finished the day with open houses so everyone could visit with current Ranchers and houseparents in their homes. The kids were so excited to show off their homes! You can view photos from the event on our Facebook page here.

Our 50th Anniversary celebration was a meaningful time to reflect with gratitude—honoring the sheriffs whose vision launched the Ranch, the children whose lives have been changed, the dedicated staff who serve them, and supporters like you who make it all possible.

THANK YOU! for 50 life-changing years of home at the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches.

Be on the lookout for a new ribbon cutting date for Raney Hall very soon!

As an organization that is 100% privately funded, and a 100% free service to children in crisis, all donations are greatly appreciated.

Please consider supporting our mission to help us provide safe, loving homes for Arkansas children for the next 50 years!

Click here to make an online gift today
Mail your gift to:
Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches
PO Box 3964
Batesville, AR 72503
Or click here to learn about other ways you can support

There’s still time to make a difference in 2025!
12/29/2025

As we look back at our 49th year at the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches, we are grateful for YOU! Here are some ways you helped us accomplish BIG things in 2025.

In May, we gathered with some of our closest friends and supporters and celebrated a ribbon cutting for our newest home, Beebe Hall! After years of planning, fundraising, and a year of building, this new home was a long time in the making and a welcome sight to behold.

And because the need for this new home was so great, Beebe Hall welcomed a whole housefull of new Ranchers within weeks.

And because the need for additional beds continues to be great, in September, we announced an extraordinary gift by the Raney family of Ozark, Arkansas, who donated the funds to build ANOTHER new home at the Ranch!

This generous donation will help ASYR continue providing hope, healing, and a place for Arkansas children in crisis to call home for generations to come.

In September, construction began quickly on Raney Hall to fulfill the Raney Family’s wish to see the home built in their lifetime. Construction has moved steadily since, and as of today, we are “in the dry!”

As we embark on 2026, ASYR’s 50th year of service, we are excited to celebrate our 50th Anniversary with the opening of the new Raney Hall!

Be on the lookout for news of a ribbon cutting, special events, and other fun surprises in the new year as we celebrate Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches’ 50th Anniversary all year long!

But none of this work would be possible without the ongoing support of our mission from friends like YOU.

Because ASYR is 100% privately funded and a 100% free service to children in crisis, we rely on charitable gifts to provide safe, loving homes–and so much more–for our children throughout the year.

It is not too late to make a difference before 2025 ends. I hope you will consider a year-end gift as an investment in these young lives and the future of our communities.

Here are some ways you can make a difference:

Click here to make an online gift today
Mail your gift postmarked by December 31 to:
Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches
PO Box 3964
Batesville, AR 72503
Or click here to learn about other ways you can support

In addition to giving online or by mail, there is still time to contact your financial advisor to make a gift of stock or the required minimum distribution from your IRA before December 31st (ASYR’s EIN is 71-0471266). Feel free to contact Matthew Cleveland at (501) 940-3440 or matt@youthranches.com if we can assist you with a gift.

With a year-end gift, you can help us finish 2025 strong and put the Ranch on a firm footing to serve even more children in 2026.

As a 501c3 nonprofit organization, all gifts made to ASYR are tax deductible within the extent of the law, and we are grateful for every gift, no matter the size.

From all of us at the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches, we hope you had a very merry Christmas, and we wish you peace and blessings in the New Year.

Help Make Christmas Merry and Bright for our Ranchers
12/10/2025

You can help make Christmas merry & bright for our Ranch boys and girls this year!

Christmas can be the most wonderful time of year and, at the same time, the most painful time for some our Ranch boys and girls. It may be hard to imagine, but for some of our Ranchers, this year will be the first time they ever receive a single Christmas gift. They will be overjoyed!

For others, the holidays are a time when they miss their family of origin, even if they experienced abuse and neglect in those homes. Emotions can swing wildly this time of year.

But one thing is for sure, each Christmas at the Ranch is a very special time for ALL our boys and girls. With the support of friends like you, the Ranch is not only able to provide Christmas presents for all of our Ranchers, but we are also able to provide our children with the very best gift of all—a safe, healthy, and loving place to call home for the holidays.

While Christmas may be the most wonderful time of the year, it is also our most expensive time of the year! We are not only paying for all needs associated with raising five houses full of kids, but we also want to provide as many gifts as we can from our kids’ wish lists to make Christmas memories that will last a lifetime. Would you consider making a special year-end gift to help meet our needs during the Christmas season?

Here are some ways YOU can make Christmas merry and bright for our Ranchers:

You can donate new Christmas presents. You can drop off new Christmas presents for ages 6-20 or even have them shipped to: Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches, 100 Saint Vincent Place, Batesville, AR 72501.
Make an online donation, and let us do the shopping for you! $250 can sponsor a child, $50 will buy a large gift, $10 will buy stocking stuffers. Click here to make your gift online.
Make a special honor or memorial gift. You can send a Christmas greeting to that person on your list who has everything via email or provide their address, and the Ranch will mail them a Christmas card acknowledging your gift! Click here to make an honor or memorial gift online.
Buy a family gift for one of our cottages. We can always use new kitchenware, board games, new video games, and new books for all ages! Click here for a link to our current needs list. Items can be dropped off at our Batesville campus, or shop online and have it shipped to 100 Saint Vincent Place, Batesville, AR 72501.
Our greatest need this time of year is general operating support. Please consider an end-of-year or a monthly gift to support our mission. You can give online here, call 870-793-6841 ext 315, or mail your gift to PO Box 3964, Batesville, AR 72503. All gifts are greatly appreciated and tax-deductible!

With your help, we can make this a Christmas our boys and girls will remember for the rest of their lives!

Become a Hope Builder with a monthly gift.

Commit to a monthly contribution. It’s a simple, secure way to provide consistent support to the ASYR. Click here to support today! For the cost of a fast food meal, you can help change a child’s life. For a contribution for as little as $10 per month can help provide for things like:

• New shoes for our boys and girls
• Christmas and Birthday gifts for our children
• Feed for goats, chickens or other animals on the Ranch
• Salary for our loving houseparents
• An allowance for a child
• Utilities for our cottages

Citizens Bank to Match Donations to Ranch Giving Tuesday
11/18/2025

What is Giving Tuesday?

After Thanksgiving, #BlackFriday and #CyberMonday each year, we celebrate #GivingTuesday. This special day helps demonstrate that holidays can be about both giving and giving back.

This year, Citizens Bank will once again be matching gifts to the Ranch on Giving Tuesday. For every dollar donated to the ASYR on December 2nd, Citizens Bank will match contributions up to the first $5,000!

Here are some ways YOU can help ASYR receive the entire $5,000 matching gift from Citizens Bank on Giving Tuesday:

Make an online donation by clicking here.
Drop your donation by any Citizens Bank location. We’ll be celebrating Giving Tuesday with Citizens Bank and White River Now at Citizens Bank Headquarters, located at 655 South Saint Louis Street in Batesville from 9am-5pm Tuesday, December 2nd. Join us for a hotdog at lunchtime, or drop your gift by any convenient Citizens Bank location.
Help us get the word out about Citizens Bank’s $5,000 matching gift! Share this page with a friend by email, text, or social media, and ask them to join you in supporting the Ranch on Giving Tuesday.
Follow @YouthRanches for social media updates on Facebook and Instagram and share our posts with your friends.
Visit our ways to help page or contact Matthew Cleveland at 501-940-3440 or matt@youthranches.com to learn about other ways to give or to make an additional matching gift.

As a 501c3 charitable organization that is 100% privately funded, and a 100% free service to children in crisis, Giving Tuesday is such an important day for us at the ASYR. Please join us December 2nd for Giving Tuesday, and consider making the Ranch part of your year-end giving plans.