While Black Friday and Cyber Monday are focused on purchasing, Giving Tuesday is meant to be the opposite — a day to give to the causes people treasure most.
It’s a day that the Front Street Animal Shelter relies on to raise funds to support its programs, and last week, the shelter had its most successful Giving Tuesday ever, raising nearly $70,000 from online and offline donations.
This year, the shelter specifically asked for help to support outreach work for the community.
“Our shelter has made tremendous progress,” said Phillip Zimmerman, Front Street’s manager. “For example, year to date, we’ve hit our highest save rate for dogs in history at 94%. However, we’ve realized that there are many animal welfare concerns outside our shelter walls that need to be addressed as well.”
In the campaign, the shelter stated that there is a tremendous lack of resources for vaccines, low cost or free spay/neuter, medical care, and other services, and that this shortfall is a big contributor to overpopulation in shelters.
The shelter hopes to address the problems at the source, with funds to be used for services including:
- Providing free vaccines and microchips through community clinics, which prevents animals from getting sick and helps them get home if they ever come to a shelter.
- Funding spay and neuter surgeries for feral cats to prevent unwanted litters of kittens.
- Helping animals receive medical care.
- Supporting the work of the shelter’s Homeless Outreach and Assistance Program (HOAP), which supports pets of the homeless and their owners to make it easier to find permanent housing.
- Providing free pet food at weekly food banks for families who have difficulty feeding their pets, which prevents the need to surrender to shelters.
“We are incredibly grateful to all the donors who make these programs possible,” Zimmerman said. “While we receive a budget from the city, it isn’t enough to provide the above and beyond care that so many animals, both inside and outside the shelter, need to thrive. Our donors create a bright future for these animals, and bring great happiness to the people who love them as well.”