My hearts been hurting these past few weeks as the rescue faces the reality of closing. I can't fathom a life where this rescue isn't around. Helping our community, and communities far beyond us. Our staff is so passionate about the animals. We all often have our bathrooms full of little babies needing extra care. It is a labor of love. It is a way of life.
Pity posts aren't my thing. I hate making Facebook posts asking for money, as I am scared they will fail. That people won't show up for us. That I will fail the animals in some way. But we are entering a stage where we NEED to ask for help. Or we won't be around much longer.
The truth is, from the very beginning we wanted to create something that was self sufficient. That didn't require us to beg for money to keep the doors open. That is why we have pet supplies. But we have come to realize, our pet supplies aren't brining in money like we had hoped, as we just don't have the set up for it. We can't carry enough lines of product to really establish a customer base. So we have found ourselves relying on adoptions to keep the doors open. We have to have a higher adoption fee because it means we can pay the bills. But I also feel that those high adoption fees are really excluding an entire group of individuals that would be amazing pet owners. Some day, when we are big and famous I'm hoping we can remove all barriers to pet ownership. Supporting adopters post adoption with a low cost vet clinic, assisting the community with low cost spays and neuters, but wait... I am getting ahead of myself. Call me a dreamer.
The point of this post is that we need YOUR help. Currently we have four amazing monthly donors whose total giving equals $100 a month. This is amazing as it will allow us to purchase a bag of dog and cat food each month for our rescues. But we have 140+ animals in our care right now, and with vet bills, food bills, rent, all amounting to great numbers, we need more supporters. If we can't find more individuals willing to become a monthly donor (any amount helps!), then I don't see the survival of the rescue. That is the harsh reality. A successful non-profit has donor backing. I believe we have close to 6,000 followers on Facebook, and if each one signed up to give $1 a month we would be in a much different situation! The thought of losing our building wouldn't be so scary as we would have the funds to move.
If you are interested in becoming a monthly donor you can go to our donate page, it should be a fairly easy process to sign up. All donations are tax-deductible as we are 501c3 charity. If you would prefer to mail us a check monthly, you can make checks out to: Oregon Pet Project. Our tax ID # is: 92-3827652
I just want to say thank you to everyone who has shared our posts, adopted an animal from us, told friends about us. Your support means everything.
I know that times are hard and not everyone can give financially. I would never ask a family to put themselves in financial danger to help us. So if you are not in a place to become a donor, I ask that you pray for us. We believe in a good God, and that prayer works. I also believe that Gods plan is not always our plan, and I have peace in that His was are greater than our ways.
Enjoy this sweet video taken a couple evenings ago of our main cat adoption room. Staff will often sit in this room after a hard day. Seeing the cats so relaxed and playful fills our hearts with joy, as some of their stories are hard to believe. It's a reminder of why we are here.
XOXO,
Daria Veenstra
ARK Pet Rescue
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