Sometimes, your 'aha' moments can come from very unusual, and sometimes trying circumstances.  

That moment for Sharon Shuttleworth came after rescuing two newborn twin goats from almost certain death during the polar vortex in February. 

The twin kids were born during the bitterly cold weather but they were believed to be safe and warm with their mother.  However, the next day when they were checked on it was found their mom had died during the night and, without her to keep them warm, the babies were not doing well and were in serious jeopardy of freezing to death.

That's where Sharon and her husband Wayne come into the picture.  The goats were taken to the stable where the Shuttleworth's keep their horse.  Both Sharon and Wayne come from a farming background and are well aware of the risks the little goats, now named Lola and Gary faced as their future appeared bleak.

The Shuttleworth's chose to take Lola because she was in much more dire condition.   "She was tinier and weaker and she was really, really cold,," explains Sharon. "I actually didn't think she was going to make it and I just didn't want her to die in a cold stall on her own."

Sharon and Wayne brought Lola to their home on February 3rd, but Lola's troubles weren't over.  For several days she made slow progress but on February 8th she developed pneumonia and began to go downhill quickly.  Sharon took her to the vet and, with the miracle of modern veterinary medicine, Lola's condition improved.  That night Lola began to vocalize, hold her head up and, as Sharon puts it was, "getting a little sassy."

Quickly, Lola developed into a going concern, jumping on the furniture in the Shuttleworth house and showing "goat-itude."  "We literally can't take a step away from her without her yelling at us and following us," Sharon says."We bought her some toys to keep her occupied."

Lola was returned to a stable last week, much to the delight of Lola and Sharon and Wayne and the relief of their house.

During Lola's recovery from her ordeal, Sharon, who describes herself as a 'Facebook fanatic' began posting about the little goat.  She did not anticipate the response of people who were simply delighted to open the social media site every day to find out how she was doing.  Sharon read some of those comments to explain how the idea for the Lola Project came to be.

"It's the Facebook content I've been waiting my whole life for....She's the reason I go on Facebook every day....Thank you for starting my day off on the right foot....You've done a very good deed and entertained us through these cold COVID days...This ongoing Lola story brings so many smiles, thank you for sharing."

However, it was Sharon's favourite comment and so many others about how Lola had helped people with their mental health during the pandemic that really inspired her.  

"This little darling has done so much for mental health in so many people, thank you just seems to be inadequate."

Sharon read the messages and also noticed that she and Wayne had not laughed so much in a very long time as when Lola came into their lives.  She got the idea to help others with Lola the Little Goat.  She reached out to the Airdrie Mental Health Unit who happily directed her to the Airdrie Health Foundation, the group funding their projects.

"Why don't we start a little charity project  for the Airdrie Health Foundation 'cause it goes to Urgent Care and whatever else is badly needed in the community."  Thus, the Lola Project was born.

Sharon recruited some of her friends from the Studio 52 art group to do artwork of Lola that could then be put onto merchandise to be sold to raise money for the foundation.  They were all in and the project has started taking pre-orders for the merchandise as well as a children's book on the little goat that will be illustrated with the artwork, as well as Lola-esque greeting cards to bring a smile to people's faces.

The Lola Project gets underway today with merchandise to be sold until April 15th with net proceeds being donated to the Health Foundation.

Sharon says she's been talking to other Airdrie businesses and the possibilities of the project are endless.  The goal of the Lola Project is to raise a minimum of $1,000 for mental health in the city.  Sharon says she saw a recent news report which indicated the mental health score for Alberta was very low, showing many people are hurting during the pandemic.

"That's why we thought, with the comfort and joy that she's given us, if we can help mental health services in Airdrie in any way we could.  People are really suffering, adults, kids, seniors.  We just thought mental health might be the best focus for her because of how her fans have reacted and what she's done for our mental health."

You can find The Lola Project Facebook page HERE.