Have you experienced the feeling of wanting to know what is just around the bend?
Have you yearned to look into the future and stayed up nights erecting a pathway to that vision? I cannot imagine life without a passionate cause, without dreaming about what is next. This past year has been about statistics and stories.
Animals enter Rescue Village through these doors and, with time and care and love, exit through these same doors to go home to your house, to someone else’s, to a sanctuary, or to a working situation embraced by compassion.
We seized 52 dogs from neglect, 94 cats from a hoarder. The pure numbers filled hallways and every square inch of free space. They moved through our veterinary clinic. Almost all had to be spayed or neutered. They needed vaccines and medicines. They all had names and, believe me, we knew every single one.
With each rescue come dreams: That we will save more; that we will learn something new about fixing broken souls; that we will help more people; that we will prevent more unwanted litters; that we will take more animals out of conditions of abuse; that we will educate more children.
I came here in August 2007, wowed by the quality and quantity of life-saving that fills this building. Our team pushed to the limits, turning a windowless utility room into kitten holding. We lined hallways with humane traps and built a 2x weekly low-cost spay/neuter program for strays. We worked around our lack of puppy isolation by keeping these little ones in foster care. We turned a room meant to be focused on dog adoption into a kitten adoption space.
The dedication of everyone working and volunteering at Rescue Village was matched only by their resourcefulness and insistence that we would take on even the hardest challenges and save lives. Yet, through it all, we had this dream that someday we would expand this building.
The Board of Trustees shares this dream. The volunteers share this dream. The donors share this dream. The animals, well, they share it through their ability to rebuild trust and their capacity to bring companionship and love. But, now it is time to go around that bend to see how much more we can do and to act on it.
I am thrilled to share with all of you the news that Rescue Village has embarked on a $3 million capital campaign to expand and remodel the shelter. We are calling it the “Raise the Roof to Save More Lives” campaign. Imagine building on the foundation we have and the standards on which we are based. Imagine a 35% increase in lives saved.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. It is the best time of year to imagine and to pursue our dreams.
