PARKER, Colo. -- To Amy Ryals, nothing is sweeter than the sound of a horse eating hay.

“Ask any horse owner, and that ranks right at the top,” said Ryals with a smile.

So when this Parker ad exec, horse woman and mother of three read a Craigslist ad about a family struggling to afford feed, she thought of how she would feel.

"I thought someone should really do something about that. And that someone turned out to be me," she said.

Two months ago, she founded a nonprofit organization called The Hay Bank.

She and a team of intrepid volunteers help horse owners who’ve fallen on hard times with 20 free bales of hay.

"These are good people. They just need a little help," said Ryals.

Lakewood resident Laura Edwards was one of those people.

"We found ourselves unemployed recently," said Edwards.

She said she and her husband were talking about giving up their beloved quarter horse, Ellie, when they heard about The Hay Bank.

"It took a lot of pressure off us maybe having to tell our kids, ‘We have to look at finding Ellie a home because we can't afford to feed her this month,’" said Edwards.

Since The Hay Bank started, generous horse lovers have donated 100 bales here and there, but last weekend, the organization hit the jackpot.

"It's amazing. It's a miracle," said Ryals.

She said a rancher near Steamboat Springs wants to donate up to 10,000 bales of hay.

"That is an unbelievable amount of hay. And we can put it in the hands of people that need it so badly," said Ryals.

Now, she said she just has to figure out how to transport it and store it.

But to her, nothing sounds sweeter.

"Some things you do because there is something driving you, telling you this is your calling,” she said. ”And this is my calling."

The Hay Bank has three storage locations but needs more.

Ryals is also trying to find a trucking company to help haul all that hay from the mountains.