Some of you may not know it, but the Ark receives NO city, county, state or federal funding. The Ark solely relies on donations from our generous community to keep afloat. The Ark has no paid employees, and is run by volunteers only and without those hands every day, the animals wouldn't be tended to, but as everyone knows, there are financials that go with the responsibility of rescuing animals and that is where fundraising comes in.
Since the Ark gets all of their animals prime vet care, including all shots and spaying/neutering, it can be a large expense. Many animals come to the Ark with various health issues from skin conditions to heart worm infestations, but we see to it that they all get excellent care and are treated for all health issues. In order to raise funds for animal care and shelter operation, we have many fundraisers including the Needy Paws Telethon. It is one of our major fundraising events of the year.
As a volunteer in the phone room this year, I can tell you that the day was very busy with very generous folks that called in to support the Ark. We got to talk to many wonderful people that told us stories about their beloved pets, including the pea-eating poodles that got in trouble for eating peas out of the garden this week. Hehehe...
After 4 long hours of answering phones, we finally got to hear a grand total for pledges....
The day ended with over $33,000.00 in pledges!! We are so grateful for the support from the community and for all the folks that called in to donate their time to volunteer. We definitely need all the hands that we can get.
Now we hope and pray that each of those wonderful people that pledged will remember to mail in the donation. :)
At one point I received a donation of $500.00 and it was incredible. Folks are so generous and have blessed the shelter with so much with their donations and most of all support. Without our community, we would not be able to operate. Thank you so much to all of the volunteers that helped today and all of the citizens of the community that donated to this wonderful cause.
God Bless all of you!
