Dear Supporter,
I realize this post is a bit long, but please bear with me.
Like so many other businesses and charities in our community, the Humane Society for Hamilton County has been hit incredibly hard by the pandemic. While pet adoptions have been excellent, our annual fundraising initiatives that keep our doors open, 365 days a year, to over 3,000 animals, have been casualties of COVID.
HSHC relies on the generosity of our donors, corporate sponsors, grants, our Trends for Tails Resale Shop, and the revenue generated by our three major fundraising events to fund our daily operation, community programs, and all life-saving care. Those events--Wine, Wags & Whiskers (May), Woofstock (August), and Tinsel & Tails (November)-- account for nearly $400,000 in NET revenue in our 2020, annual operating budget.
While our hope in May was to reschedule Wine, Wags & Whiskers for September 18th, and we have a very comprehensive COVID safety plan to facilitate an indoor event, our team feels the format of a wine tasting still represents too much risk for our guests. Therefore, this event will be canceled for 2020.
It is also with a heavy heart that we will have to close our Trends for Tails Resale Shop effective September 25th. Our resale shop in Noblesville has been another important revenue stream for HSHC generating $50K-$60K in net revenue for our Survivor Program each year. The shop was closed for nearly 2 months, and with continued limited retail traffic and restrictions, it has become another going out of business victim of COVID.
Thankfully, we had already raised the funds needed for the construction of our new facility in Fishers before the pandemic hit. So, the good news is, that project is still on track with those restricted funds in place for this purpose.
The bad news is, the cancellation of Wine, Wags & Whiskers, and the closing of Trends for Tails, along with the loss of several sponsors also impacted by COVID, has us looking at approximately $250,000 in lost revenue for 2020.
Your Humane Society for Hamilton County serves as one of the only open-admission, truly no-kill shelters in the country. As both the animal control facility and Humane Society for Hamilton County, we rescue the most difficult to save, and place, animals imaginable. From victims of abuse and those with hit-by-car injuries, to pets displaced by the economy or a lack of owner commitment, we are equally committed to them all. HSHC has always believed in sharing our blessings beyond Hamilton County’s borders rescuing over 300 animals each year at-risk for euthanasia in other Indiana shelters.
But with this deficit, the lives of these animals, that we are requested daily to help,
lie in the balance.
I have faith that those of you who can *will* consider sharing your blessings with us at this incredibly difficult time. We’re counting on you…because they’re counting on us.
With hope,
Rebecca Stevens
