Williamson County Animal Center: Orvis Dog Enrichment Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
We were so honored to be awarded these grant funds. This money helped us purchase promotional items to help get the message out to folks that our shelter is not "your typical pound." We purchased magnets and a retractable sign to draw people in and to help get the community more involved. We do still have funds left over from the grant that we are looking to use to help purchase Frisbees to provide to adopters. This will help get our name out in the community and bring in more adopters, volunteers, fosters, etc.
This grant is helping us change the public's perception of who we are and what we do. We never have any budget funds to help provide items to provide to adopters to help make their experience with us a happier one. The better experiences folks have with us, the more apt they are to tell their friends to come and adopt, volunteer, foster, donate. We thank the Orvis animal care grant so much for helping us make this connection with the public. Our logo and name are now out in the community and we are seeing more folks being comfortable with the idea of coming to the shelter first before visiting a pet store or Craigslist.
How many pets did this grant help?
Since these funds were used to purchase promotional items for adoption events, it is hard to say exactly how many animals this grant helped. This grant has definitely helped us have a great presence in the community. This is huge to bring folks in to be more involved. This could mean more potentional adopters, donors, volunteers, and fosters. This translates to our programs and efforts being supported and more lives being saved!
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Marlene, one of our beloved volunteers, is part of the “Silver Sneakers” club at the YMCA. She had one of our magnets on her refrigerator and a friend of hers asked about our organization. This one magnet opened up an opportunity for her to have a conversation about her volunteering efforts. Her friend, Mary, came in the next week and adopted “Shaun the Sheep” (pictured with Marlene). He was a small 8-year-old poodle who was surrendered to our shelter a week before. Without something as simple as a magnet, Shaun could still be waiting for his forever home. THANK YOU, Orvis and the Petfinder Foundation, for allowing us to purchase these items and to create a dialogue that is much-needed! Shaun is just one example of how this grant has helped us save lives!
