Northern Ontario family opens farm full of animals to public

Family farm a place of fun and education Iroquois Falls family has been running a farm and holding private tours as a way to cover costs and give the community a unique experience

Timmins — A family in Iroquois Falls has been running a farm and has been holding private tours as a way to cover the costs and give the community a unique experience.

The Giroux family considers it a form of therapy and education.

They started collecting animals in Dec. 2019 as a way to help mother Kim cope as she battles various health conditions.

It eventually grew into a farm of over 200 animals and now they've opened the Crazy Acres Fun Farm up to the public for private tours.

Kim said she enjoys hearing visitors delight about interacting with the animals.

"I really love hearing about the elderly people that have connected with their family after not connecting in such a long time. Children, to see the children enjoying it with the parents. To watch the parents enjoying it with their children, it's heartwarming," said Kim Bradley-Giroux.

Kim relies on help from her daughters, Emma and Sara, husband, Paul, and volunteers to keep it all going.

It is run as a non-profit and Kim wants it to stay that way to keep the farm fun and not confined to business.

CTV News spoke to one family who drove up from Timmins to experience it for the first time.

"The place is actually pretty damn cute. Everything is loose, so it's kind of neat to walk around. There's little tour guides. You can pretty much pet anything, like this little pig," said Christian Cadieux.

In addition to a being a place for family fun, Kim has a wealth of ideas for Crazy Acres Fun Farm and believes it can be a source of education, socializing and, like it has for her, a form of therapy.

"We've been approached by people that have autistic children, they can benefit from being here. We've been approached by people that have elderly parents, they can benefit. We've been approached by people who are terminally ill and their dream has been to ride a horse," said Bradley-Giroux.

Kim's next addition to the farm is a horse-riding program run by a volunteer trainer and she also wants to create a social group for teens. Her daughters eventually want to set up an animal rescue as they learn to care for their animals.

What started as a hobby, the Giroux family hopes it can grow into a hub run by the community for the community.