The Axel's Free Spirit Project!

The Axel's Free Spirit Project is taking a hard launch in 2024!

This is it! After four years of dreaming and planning it is time to finally put our dreams into action! We are taking a deep dive into the homestead life and are hoping you'd take this path with us. Axel's Free Spirit aka The Funny Farm is getting a major upgrade!

When Axel was diagnosed with Metachromatic Leukodystrophy in 2020 we knew we HAD to make a difference in this world, for Axel, to create his LEGACY and make a huge footprint in this chaotic world so his name will continue to be heard for years to come and we can turn this horrible tragedy into something beautiful. Not just for ourselves, but for our whole community.

Axel's FAVORITE thing to do is be outside with his animals surrounded by all the people who love him, and it is finally time to be able to make that happen 24/7 for him. We want his life to be the most magical and comforting experience for the time we have with him.

We have found the most perfect and serene property for our family to make all of our dreams happen with just a little bit of work. We have plans to install ramps, lifts, an accessible path throughout the property so Ax can take comfortable strolls to see all his animals, an all seasons room so he can still be "outside" during the cold midwest winters but in the coziness of a heated room! Ax will be able to have his bedroom upstairs with the rest of the family and his "dayroom" downstairs so he can be right in the middle of the day to day chaos (his favorite), as well as a totally accessible bathroom- that means no more baths on the kitchen table! And so much more we want to do to for our boys!

We are incredibly excited to share our entire process of moving, rehabbing and creating our inclusive home and animal sanctuary with everyone who has been supporting us the last 4+ years!

Instead of hosting our annual MLD Benefit and Awareness Event this year we will be asking for HANDS ON HELP to rehab our home and property so hopefully we can host our 2025 MLD Awareness Event in the comfort of our own farm.

Our dream down the line is to create a totally accessible animal sanctuary for special needs animals and disabled children. We are putting all of our efforts into opening our home and farm to be able to save animals that may otherwise be turned away because of their own special needs and create a warm and inclusive environment for all kinds of kids and adults to be able to come out and and just feel joy and happiness.

If you are able to offer help in any way it would be GREATLY appreciated! We are looking for people to donate time or business connects so we can make the safety updates necessary so we can open our home to the community.

We will be creating a signup for anyone who is able to help with labor or provide LOCAL business connections we could use! As well as a wishlist and place for donations if you wish to contribute.

We love you all and thank you SO much for standing #AxelStrong with us for now and for always! We are so excited to share this POSITIVE side of our journey!

Funny Farm Wishlist

Volunteer Signup

-Riordan Family