Valentines Day: Children Get To Smooch Rescued Farm Animals At Duxbury Sanctuary Farm Fundraiser

More than 80 parents and children shared sweet moments with rescued farm animals Sunday during a fundraiser for the Duxbury Homeschool Cooperative.

At the newly opened JEM Learning, which currently has 24 students, the children met donkeys, rabbits, horses, pigs and other animals.

Applejack the donkey gets a kiss from McKinley Jones, 3, of Pembroke, in the kissing booth.

The school educates students in kindergarten through eighth grade through hands-on, nature-based experiences, such as caring for and reading about animals in the 18-acre preserve where the school is located.

“Many [animals] are difficult to keep, so they stay with us. It's great to have kids who love them and get all the attention they deserve,” Megan King, owner of JEM Equestrian, told The Boston Globe.

The dog Yadlovets approaches the donkey.

The funding will help pay for JEM Learning's recently purchased greenhouse, the Globe reports. The building needs to be finished before it can be used as a classroom where students learn horticulture and grow their own plants.

"We don't talk a lot about school visits," says Ellen Arces, co-founder of JEM Learning. "We offer yoga once a week, music once a week, a foreign language, and then we do a microburst class ... so it all adds up."