Original Message:
Sent: 02-20-2025 03:41 PM
From: Elaine Edington
Subject: February 2025 Giveaway: How Are You Supporting Pets and People in Your Community?
Regarding the Witch's Run fundraiser ... We hold it in October at a local sports bar that supports our non-profit, Shelter Animal Donations (SAD). Tickets are around $35 and that includes one drink and a light food buffet. There are prize baskets with items in them donated by local businesses and the baskets themselves are put together by volunteers. There are also raffle tickets sold at the event for other basket drawings. In addition, participants are encouraged to come in costume, and we have contests for the scariest witch and the prettiest witch with winners picking out a gift basket. The winners are decided by the applause of the people in the sports bar. The highlight event is our tricycle races. We have 3-4 trikes with multiple races until all who want to race have completed it - winner gets a prize. Everyone cheers the riders on.
I've attached some pictures and a link to a video of one of the races (hope the link works). (9) Facebook
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Elaine Edington
Grant coordinator volunteer
Shelter Animal Donations & Genesee County Animal C
MI
Original Message:
Sent: 02-20-2025 04:57 AM
From: Sandra Hill
Subject: February 2025 Giveaway: How Are You Supporting Pets and People in Your Community?
Can you tell me more about the fundraiser "Witches Run"? Sounds intriguing
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Sandra Hill
Operation CatSnip of Kentucky, Inc
Original Message:
Sent: 02-02-2025 11:45 AM
From: Elaine Edington
Subject: February 2025 Giveaway: How Are You Supporting Pets and People in Your Community?
Genesee County Animal Control (GCAC) and Shelter Animal Donations (SAD) take a multi-prong approach in helping the people of our community and their animals. Of course, this is made possible through donations and grants.
- Community food pantry - people are able to come in and get dog or cat food once a month. This has allowed people to keep their animals at home that would have otherwise surrendered them to animal control. The challenge is having enough food available to meet the demand.
- Heartworm care post-adoption - We have an arrangement with a local veterinary office to provide heartworm treatments for dogs recently adopted from GCAC that started their treatment with us but still need to complete the series. At adoption, the adopter is asked how much they can contribute to the treatments, say $50, and GCAC/SAD covers the remaining cost. The local veterinary office bills us directly providing the dogs' names for our tracking purposes.
- We offer vaccine clinics 2 to 3 times a year for cats and dogs. These clinics provide owners a way to keep their animals healthy and not have to take away money used for their own food and housing needs.
- TNR for community cats - During part of the year, we provide spay/neuter surgeries for community cats. We have found many people in the community who feed the strays but can't afford to take them into veterinary offices to be fixed. This allows the community to manage the numbers of cats they are feeding. If needed, we also loan out traps to the community.
- Additionally, Shelter Animal Donations plans fundraising events within the community such as golf outings, bake sales, bowling, bingo, and holiday events like our Witches Run and Easter Egg hunt by partnering with local businesses and community involvement.
These activities are important to provide to our community as our county in 2023 had a poverty rate of 16.4%, and the main city of Flint, MI had a poverty rate of 33.3%. Michigan's overall poverty rate in 2023 was 13.5% and the national rate was 11.1%. Genesee County has many populations of concern that must make tough decisions on a limited budget. Pet care costs compete with the costs of food, rent, utilities, transportation and medical care. High prices for necessities like food, rent and gas only exacerbate the problem and make GCAC/SAD's assistance critical to keep pets with their owners.
Best,
Elaine Edington
Genesee County Animal Control / Shelter Animal Donations
Volunteer, Grant Coordinator
Flint, Michigan
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Elaine Edington
Grant coordinator volunteer
Shelter Animal Donations & Genesee County Animal C
MI
Original Message:
Sent: 02-01-2025 07:11 AM
From: Maddie's Pet Forum Admin
Subject: February 2025 Giveaway: How Are You Supporting Pets and People in Your Community?
🐾 When people thrive, animals do too. Community sheltering focuses on extending care and resources beyond the shelter to keep pets and families together. The more we help pet owners-especially those facing housing insecurity, financial hardship, or crisis-the fewer animals end up in shelters and the stronger our communities become.
That's why so many organizations are shifting from a shelter-centric model to one that provides resources before a pet needs to be surrendered. Whether it's pet food pantries, behavior support, access to veterinary care, temporary fostering for people in crisis, or partnerships with social service agencies, these efforts help keep pets where they belong: with their families.
❓How are you or your organization working to support both pets and their people?
Let's share ideas, success stories, and lessons learned to inspire each other!
💬 Comment below to join the conversation! Every comment on this thread during the month of February automatically enters you into our $1,000 Cuddly prize pack giveaway. Plus, your participation enters you to win a $3K grant for engaging on the Forum.
📚 Looking to deepen your knowledge? Check out some of our most popular Weekly Community Conversations to explore innovative ways organizations are supporting pets and their people.
#AccesstoCare
#CommunityPartnerships*
#PetSupportServices*
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Maddie's Pet Forum Admin
Maddie's Fund
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