Like the rest of the world, we can’t believe it’s been a full year since the COVID-19 pandemic closed our adoption center, canceled our events, and altered the way we rescue and adopt out the animals in our program. It felt like the right time to share a new video in which we thank you for enabling the successes we’ve enjoyed through the challenges (our mission goes strong!) and update you on what’s staying the same for a little longer and what’s going to start changing soon. Our paws are crossed that the next time we have a pandemic-related update, it’ll be “business as usual,” so please, until then, stay safe and well! We miss and appreciate you!
This week marks the one-year anniversary of Second Chance’s adoption center closing to the public, canceling events, shifting gears to a virtual (FURtual) Racing for Rescues 5K/fun walk. In light of this significant moment, we wanted to provide an update for you.
First, THANK YOU for making sure the animals were supported in this past year! In the last 12 months (March 2020 – 2021), we rescued 709 homeless cats and dogs and adopted out 697 animals. Compared to 659 rescued and 630 adopted in the 12-month period before that (March 2019 – 2020), we saw a 7.6% and 10.6% increase, respectively. We were able to do this because YOU donated, because YOU masked up at the adoption center, because YOU registered for our first-ever virtual Racing for Rescues and bid generously in our first-ever virtual Evening of Pawsibilities auction. We appreciate you rolling with the punches and being there for animals in need!
Secondly, where are we today? The adoption center is still closed and operating by appointment only. With COVID positivity rates declining and vaccination rates increasing, we are hopeful we can open our doors sometime in 2021. For now, keeping the center closed is still working well for us to keep capacity in the center as low as possible while serving animals in need—our numbers are strong and our staff and volunteers are healthy! These measures protect our adopters as well.
And, Racing for Rescues is once again going virtual. Registration for the 2021 5K race/fun walk is now open, and we’re excited to introduce a Strava integration and leaderboard for our runners this year, because we are still doing this thing in community with one other. All who register will get redesigned, one-of-a-kind event t-shirts–and through March 23, we’re running a contest through which YOUR rescued cat or dog has a chance to get into that t-shirt’s new design! We’ve upped the raffle prize value from $550 in gift cards last year to $750 in gift cards this year, so go get your tickets, too! Do it all at RacingForRescuesNC.com today!
Lastly, we are going to start doing some small fundraising and adoption events in the coming months. We haven’t yet publicized any info, and we don’t yet know whether the 2021 Evening of Pawsibilities will be virtual or in-person (or a mix of both), but we are going to start expanding from 0 events to a few events. We’re planning outdoor, distanced, lower-capacity events for 2021, so keep an eye on our website calendar or Facebook page. We’re also tossing around some ideas for at-home, virtual, or independent activities through late spring, summer, and early fall, for those not ready to get back to events. We’re putting together an “event menu” of sorts for varied interests and comfort levels.
We hope you and yours are doing well, are healthy, and are seeing your pandemic anxiety beginning to subside. Thanks again for your support and we hope to see you sooner rather than later!
