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December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

  • 1.  December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 2 days ago

    As we wrap up 2025 and look ahead to a new year, it's a natural moment to pause and reflect on the progress we've made, both the milestones we planned for and the unexpected victories that showed up along the way.

    Back at the beginning of January 2025, many of you shared your goals for the year in our 2025 Goals Giveaway thread. Community members shared goals aimed at growing your foster network, strengthening community partnerships, expanding pet support services, improving shelter medicine protocols, or building a healthier team culture.

    Now, almost twelve months later, we'd love to hear:

    What's one win (big or small) you're proud of from this past year?

    Your win could be:
    • Something you achieved from your January goals
    • A goal that evolved into something better
    • A new partnership, improved process, or reduced barrier
    • A small shift that made a big difference
    • A story of a pet or family you'll never forget

    Whether you hit your goals, adapted them, or discovered new priorities along the way, your progress is worth celebrating. These reflections help all of us learn, grow, and recognize the impact this community makes every day.

    Share your win on this thread in December 2025 or January 2026 and you'll be entered in a giveaway to receive $1,000 in unrestricted funds for your organization to use in whatever way will make the biggest difference.

    We're so glad you're part of this community, and we can't wait to celebrate your 2025 wins, no matter how big, small, or unexpected they turned out to be. Here's to ending the year on a high note and carrying that energy into 2026!

    #Maddie'sFund30Years


    #FundraisingandDevelopment
    #OrganizationalManagement
    #PeopleManagement(includingVolunteerIntegration)

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    Maddie's Pet Forum Admin
    Maddie's Fund
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  • 2.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 2 days ago

    What a great question. This past year has been a rollercoaster ride for us. In the last quarter of 2024 our sanctuary was hit hard by three hurricanes, Milton, Debby and Helene. We were still repairing from Ian two years prior. Our main goal in January was to make the property 100% usable again and to allow for educational tours. 2025 started out as one of those one step forward two steps back situations. With 80% of our perimeter fence down, unusable pastures, roof leaks in our small animal and feed buildings, coupled with a rise in requests for help and the medical needs of some of our older residents we were starting to feel like thinks would never turn around. To top it off we had to put our Critter Connection animal outreach education program on hold for a few months while we spent time on repairs.  A few months ago we saw the light at the end of the tunnel when we were awarded a grant to cover the cost of replacing/installing the perimeter fence, replacing the secondary safety fences and topping off our pathway. We have been trying for grants all year for this purpose with no luck. We are so excited because this will allow us to open up again for private tours and most importantly give the horses, cow, donkey and goats more space again. A huge weight has been lifted with this grant. On the small win side of things we have started attending events again with our animal outreach bus. We are only visiting one school, business or event each month for now but word is spreading and we are getting a lot of requests. 



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    Lisa Burn
    Co-founder/VP
    Farmhouse Animal & Nature Sanctuary
    Myakka City, FL
    https://farmhousesanctuary.org
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  • 3.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 2 days ago

    Birdie crunched the numbers (very seriously, with her paws)…

    and she discovered that helping 252 community cats last year prevented 1,596 surprise kittens from popping into the world. 😹📉 💞🐾

    That's what I'm most proud of this year.



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    Deana Seigler
    President
    Friends of Rescue Animals
    Rowlett TX
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  • 4.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 2 days ago

    A small shift that made. big difference
    - We are able to open up boarding which will help us continue our rescue mission and further our community programs! 



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    Kallie Laity
    Owner
    Kitty Kisses Rescue of Reno
    NV
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  • 5.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 2 days ago

    I think one of the biggest things we have done is get a lot of our long time residents adopted. These animals kept getting overlooked, but as a team we worked hard to find the right people for each animal to help them find their forever homes. We are also the only rescue in our city to deal with cruelty cases and even though we had a lot more this year which is heartbreaking, we were able to collect a lot of evidence from each animal case to give all these animals a voice and many went on to find safe, forever homes.



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    Stefanie Schmidt
    Animal Welfare Specialist
    Hearts Alive Village
    NV
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  • 6.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 2 days ago

    On the personal side, I was able to install kennel mounted water bowls for all of our cat kennels this summer. Previously our bowl options were either a plethora of different sized bowls that sit on the base towel and constantly were knocked over or food or litter was constantly getting knocked into it, or we had wire brackets you could set certain bowls into but when there wasn't one of those bowls available (or a particularly frustrated cat was in the kennel) cats were getting stuck in the brackets. The new bowls cost over $8000 to get enough for all of our stray and isolation kennels and took me months to split it up on my card and get them installed. But now every cat has better access to clean drinking water that can't get knocked over.

    I also recently got some small 30in curtains, tension rods, and some stick on curtain rod hooks, and now we have the option to add additional visual barriers in our adoption space for some of our more fearful kitties. It has really helped them be more confident in exploring and utilizing the whole space available to them and coming out of their shell.

    As a whole shelter, one of our biggest wins this year was opening our animal medical department back up, allowing us to soon open up our low cost spay and neuter center again. About 2 and a half years ago a pipe burst and our entire medical department was flooded and the foundation ruined. Along with some staffing shortages we had to officially close down our low cost spay and neuter clinic so that we could continue to operate and prefer surgeries on the animals coming into the shelter, much the dismay of the public who many thought, despite our very clear communication about the situation, that we were just lazy and didn't want to provide for the community. After years of discussions with insurance, builders, our medical team, and months of construction, our medical department is officially back up and running. We haven't reopened our spay and neuter clinic back up quite yet but we hopefully will be soon for a few months and then that building is also going to be getting renovated if everything goes to plan!



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    Laurel Wilton
    Feline Welfare Supervisor
    Nebraska Humane Society
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  • 7.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 2 days ago

    I think for PAWS one of the biggest successes of the year was adopting out Taylor, our longest resident of nearly 2 years to her forever home. It was even in the news! Bing Videos Dog named after Taylor Swift gets adopted after almost 2 years – NBC 7 San Diego



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    Mali Hinesley
    Fund Development
    PAWS of Coronado
    Coronado CA
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  • 8.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 2 days ago

    I think our biggest win at "LAB" (Ludar Animal Behavior) is holding fast to our anti/de-colonial values during a time of immense fascism taking over the country. We are continuing to stay open as an organization and community movement with all odds stacked against us. Our free pantry has been restocked regularly. We have been trying to get funding for almost 5 years now to little success but we at least got one small Maddie's Fund grant to keep us open. 



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    Melinda Trueblood-Stimpson
    Founder; scientist
    Ludar Animal Behavior
    OH
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  • 9.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted yesterday

    I had a lot of big wins this year! Started my financial aid nonprofit last November to help pets with chronic illnesses, so this year - went through an entire year of operations, received our first foundation grants, had successful fundraising events, and learned more how we can better help pets and their people next year. Here's to 2026!



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    Sarah Fuqua
    Director
    The Bobo Fund
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  • 10.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 12 hours ago

    Sarah, wow, what is your secret? that is amazing! We are starting our third year. We support 4 no kill shelters and the county shelter. First year we were able to give away $11,500 and this past Oct we gave away, $18,500. Hoping to beat that in our 3rd year.



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    Carol Bridges
    President
    Winding River Paws for a Cause
    NC
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  • 11.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted yesterday

    We gave sanctuary to a 'special needs' dog named Oreo on Aril 20th, Easter Sunday. She had been diagnoised as being paralysed in her rear legs.  After working withher using our therapeutic nutrtion and holistuc care, she has REGAINED feeling in both of her rear legs. We expect to get her walking again.

    Oreo, our special needs dog.

    Another nutritional miracle.



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    Leslie Moran
    Executive Director
    Emerald Ark
    NV
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  • 12.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted yesterday
      |   view attached

    Thank you for this question that encourages us to reflect and take pride in what we do!

    I'm really proud of how this year, we pivoted our grant focus from primarily supporting rescues to more of a 50/50 split between supporting rescues AND advocacy and aid organizations. We are still very devoted to helping save shelter pitties from euthanasia, but this year we also heavily supported the equally important work of keeping owned pets with their families and keeping them healthy. It's crucial to address the root causes of the shelter crisis as well as the symptoms. I'm proud to say we helped sponsor over 150 low cost or free spay/neuter surgeries through our partners Emancipet, My Pit Bull Is Family, A Purposeful Rescue, The Pittie Project, and Positive Tails. We also helped Pet Unity Project keep pets with their families and provide resources like microchips to the community in Prince George's County, MD, where they just succeeded in repealing a 30-year pit bull ban!

    In addition to funding these efforts, I got to attend several events hands on and check families in, put cones on dogs, and do whatever I could to help on the ground. As a grantmaking organization, the moments we get to see our impact IRL and meet amazing people and pets is the absolute best.

    Below is Titan, my gentle giant buddy from our clinic with My Pit Bull Is Family at Access Vet Care in MN!



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    Katy Herman
    President
    The Hansel Foundation
    IL
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  • 13.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted yesterday

    2025 was a big year for our young organization! We celebrated our first adoption in January 2025. We also have been more active in events and developing our own fundraisers.  This is an essential launch year for us and we are excited for the next chapter of growth years. We look forward to celebrating everyone else's wins!



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    Melissa Martie
    Founder & Director
    Rescue330
    Akron, Ohio
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  • 14.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 10 hours ago

    Our Home for the Holidays campaign is in full swing.  Our big win this year: First time since we started 6 years ago, a ferret was the first pet adopted!  Our campaign is for Colorado homeless pets 3 years or older or those with special needs, working with rescue and shelters across Colorado.  From Thanksgiving to Christmas, our goal is 200 pets into loving homes.   The real win is when we get over 200 this year!



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    Davyd Smith
    No Kill Colorado
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  • 15.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 8 hours ago

    This year we have been excited to have received the funding to renovate our kennels making them even better then before. We were also able to add a second play yard and improve the previous one. We received a donation of some amazing toys for our dogs that absolutely love and enjoy them. The best part #thankstomaddie we were able to afford more vetting and being able to give more care that is needed. To end the year at our last adoption event we had the majority of our dogs adopted into their forever homes! This has been a wonderful year and hopefully 2026 we are able to do even more!



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    Pamela Gilcrease
    Advocate/Volunteer
    Grant Parish Animal Care and Control
    LA
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  • 16.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 3 hours ago

    Hi fellow animal-lover friends,

    2025 was a wild ride for all of us, but our tiny (yet mighty) animal shelter and spay/neuter clinic was able to rise to the occasion in many ways. 

    Despite having our shelter team work in very difficult surroundings, including working from portable buildings (including using a port-a-potty in the Pacific Northwest for more than a year(!!!), caring for our dogs and cats in majorly modified spaces while our new shelter building is being completed, we were able to meet whatever challenges met us with grace. In the last several years, we raised over $4.4 million through grassroots efforts and are extremely proud of what that means for our community and the services we will be able to provide for many years to come.

    When we learned about the impending SNAP benefit cuts, we acted fast: we launched a countywide pet food and supply distribution system. With the help of our amazing community, we stocked our local food bank warehouse with essentials - food, litter, supplies, toys, and treats - so pantries across the county could help families care for their pets. At the same time, we created mini pet pantries in local pet-related businesses for anyone who might not visit a food bank but still needs support. Each mini pantry includes a microchip scanner for lost pets and basic pet care resources.

    It's one of the accomplishments we're most proud of, making sure pets stay fed, cared for, and with the people who love them. I'm so glad to be part of such a kind and caring community, both locally, and within Maddie's Fund.

    🫶Keep up the good work, everyone. Not everyone is made for this work and the animals and people you serve are lucky to have you on their side!



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    Jessica Barber
    Social Impact Specialist
    Homeward Bound Pets Humane Society
    OR
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  • 17.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 3 hours ago

    Our kennel attendant took over our Volunteer Program a little under a year ago, and to date has grown our regular volunteer base from about 5 to 30! We have even more volunteers on record, but many come during specific times of the year or as their schedule allows. She has also developed and grown our Enrichment Program, improving the daily life of animals in our shelter. 

    Also, I accepted an Instructor position at our local community college for the Veterinary Assistant Program. Not only do I get to teach and train the next wave of assistants, they also complete their clinical hours at our shelter, which helps them learn tasks, but also helps reduce workload on staff!



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    Tabitha Briggs
    Shelter Manager
    Person County Animal Services
    NC
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  • 18.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 3 hours ago

    Our rescue did a re-brand this year. We are under a new name, and I am the new Executive Director. I am incredibly proud of the progress we've made in the three short months since our re-brand, but one thing I am most excited about is our new community program! We recently repaired a relationship with a local spay and neuter clinic, and in January we are doing our first low-cost S/N transport clinic! I am beyond excited to help the community with something that can often be a financial hurdle for pet owners--not to mention that this is a small step that works towards the local overpopulation problem within out cat community. 



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    Olivia Wertz
    Executive Director
    Catty Corner
    PA
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  • 19.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 3 hours ago

    Our foundation opened our emergency grant programs in June of this year and so far we have awarded $3,900 to economically disadvantaged families.  We have prevented five cases from economic euthanasia, assisted with four emergency surgeries, covered the costs for seven cases needing critical diagnostics and supported ten families with maintaining economic mobility with estimates ranging from $2,000 - $5,000. It is a big win overall for all we have accomplished in the past 7 months of having 501c3 status and now operating in seven states, but the biggest win for this year would be the conversations with grateful owners. No feeling compares to knowing you helped an animal and their family breathe easier. Veterinary medicine is a very hard field to work in, especially emergency/specialty, but it truly is those moments that make it all worth it. The veterinary professionals we've had the pleasure of working with have shown an immense of gratitude for our resources as well and have greatly helped expand our mission! We look forward to 2026. 



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    Maria Putnam
    Founder/CEO
    All About the Animals Foundation
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  • 20.  RE: December 2025 + January 2026 Giveaway: What's a win you're celebrating from this past year?

    Posted 2 hours ago

    I'm so glad this is being asked - 10 Lives has had a tough year with some really tough and weird medical cases - including 3 (possibly 4) cases of congenital rickets in a litter of kittens and 2! cases of Atresia Ani. It can be easy to feel bogged down and sad in the face of these tough cases so our wins include:

    • Helping over 600 cats and get fixed this year. As a little organization, this is NO JOKE!
    • Finding forever homes for over 100 cats!
    • Starting some incredible new partnerships - including recruiting a veterinarian for our board, meeting an incredible grant making org through this forum, and partnering with some awesome companies like Pacagen and 10th Life Window screens. 
    • Growing our behind the scenes volunteers and recruiting new folks into this work. When we first started it was many "vets" who love the work but getting new excited fresh faces has been wonderful. 


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    Farrah Goff
    President
    10 Lives Rescue NY Inc
    NY
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