Racing for Rescues FURtual 2021 Event

The Results Are In: Racing for Rescues 2021 Raises $56,000 for the Animals!

We are thrilled and grateful to announce that the 2021 FURtual Racing for Rescues event was our most successful 5K/fun walk yet, with over $56,000 raised for stray and abandoned cats and dogs! Thanks to every single registrant, sponsor, fundraiser, raffle ticket buyer, donor, and t-shirt contest entrant, our life-saving work will continue to find forever families for homeless animals! We’ve put together a special video in thanks–we truly could not do this work without the support of our loving community!

If you’re not following us on Facebook, you may not have seen our raffle and fundraising competition winner announcements. Congratulations to Matthew Terribile for winning the $750 in gift cards! We’re deeply appreciative of all who bought tickets and of our 2021 raffle sponsor, Hartsfield and Nash Insurance Agency! Congrats also to our fundraising volunteers who each won $50 Amazon gift cards: Lisa Best (for most money raised), Jonathan Romms (for most gifts $10 or more), and Stefan Mueri (for random selection among all fundraisers who raised at least $50).

Lastly, you can find the photo album of pictures submitted by our 2021 walkers and runners (and their pets) HERE!

SAVE THE DATE! Racing for Rescues will return to Dorothea Dix Park on May 1, 2022!

To keep everyone safe, the Racing for Rescues 5K race/fun walk is FURtual once again April 30 – May 9, 2021!

This virtual (or FURtual) event features:

• A one-of-a-kind Racing for Rescues t-shirt for all registered participants!
• A leaderboard to see how your 5K timing compares to others' (optional, of course)!
• The chance to win fundraising and raffle prizes!
• The ability to pawticipate from anywhere, any time April 30 - May 9!
• An oppawtunity to help stray and abandoned cats and dogs get the second chances they deserve!

Click to Register (T-Shirt Included!)

Unleash the Giving: Donate Now!

Win Big: Purr-chase Raffle Tickets!

Create Your Own Fundraiser!

Official event t-shirt included for all registrants! PLEASE NOTE: While all registered participants will receive an event t-shirt, only those who registered by April 12, 2021 will receive their t-shirts in the first-wave shipment before the event begins on April 30. Those who register April 13, 2021 or later will receive their t-shirts in the second-wave shipment, after the event has concluded (likely by the end of May). Additionally, due to the pandemic, t-shirt stock has been unpredictable, so it is possible that there may be some slight variation in the color/fabric of the shirt between the two shipments.

Though we hoped to be able to conduct an in-person 5K race/fun walk this year, the pandemic continues to pose a threat to the health of our staff, volunteers, runners, and walkers. Just as we’ve implemented new protocols at the adoption center so we can continue safely rescuing, caring for, and finding forever homes for homeless cats and dogs (like Emma Lemon here), we must do the same for this event. Our mission remains unchanged, as does our goal for Racing for Rescues: to raise life-saving funding that is vital for stray and abandoned cats and dogs who need their second chances to find LOVE!

For our second FURtual Racing for Rescues event, we’re introducing two new elements: the ability to submit your 5K timing and see others’ timing, and the chance to place YOUR adopted pet on the official event t-shirt that each participant receives! And of course, we have our annual raffle, but this year, we’ve increased the value of the gift cards to $750 for one lucky winner!

Read on to learn all about the 2021 FURtual event elements and register today!

Compare Your 5K Timing!

Running App and Cycling App | Strava Are you curious how your 5K timing compares to other runners’? Are you working on your time and proud to show off your progress? This Racing for Rescues FURtual event allows you to submit your timing and see where you stand on a leaderboard!

Runners can submit their timing manually, or those who use the free Strava app can integrate their timing with their registration. Just make sure your completed run is set to viewable by “Everyone” before you attempt to submit your timing.

Not interested in comparing? No problem! Posting your results is optional. EVERYONE who completes a 5K or fun walk for homeless animals is a winner in our book!

BEFORE YOU GET STARTED:

Please be mindful of applicable laws and follow expert/scientific guidance on social distancing and mask-wearing, especially as new, more-transmissible strains have entered the U.S. Also, please exercise your best judgment about whether, when, and where to run or walk, minding the weather, visibility, isolation, geography, and so on. Second Chance cannot be held responsible for any illness or injury you incur, and we’d hate to hear of anything bad happening to you or your pet. Stay safe out there!

Win the Raffle Prize (a $750 Value)!

We’re raffling off $750 worth of gift cards on May 9!* Get your tickets by May 8, 2021 HERE (or purchase them when you register for the ease of one simple and convenient transaction; need not be registered for Racing for Rescues to win the raffle). In one-winner-takes-all style, the randomly-drawn raffle winner will score a $500 American Express gift card, a $150 Amazon gift card, and a $100 Walmart gift card. That’s $750 to treat like cash as you shop, dine, and travel!

*Prize can be held for pick-up at Second Chance or mailed to the winner, according to the winner’s preference. If mailed, Second Chance accepts no responsibility if the postal services loses the envelope and we will be unable to replace the gift cards.

Thanks to Hartsfield and Nash Insurance Agency, Inc. for sponsoring this year’s raffle!

Win a Fundraising Prize!

Make a difference for the animals in our program AND win a $50 Amazon gift card! Every dollar raised helps to support the cats and dogs who need a second chance. While some of the animals require special medical care and/or surgery, all will incur routine costs such as food ($15-$40 depending on size), vaccinations ($15-20), and dewormer ($12 to over $50 for very large dogs). Additionally, all of our animals are spayed or neutered when adopted, with costs for cats and dogs ranging up to $159. Any funds you raise will allow us to help even more homeless dogs and cats in our community to find their forever home!

One $50 Amazon gift card each* will be given to:
• the fundraiser who raises the most money
• the fundraiser who raises the most gifts of at least $10 (number of donations from unique donors)
• one fundraiser who raises at least $50, who will be chosen at random among all fundraisers who raised $50+

NEW THIS YEAR: ALL fundraisers who raise $250 or more get FREE 2021 Racing for Rescues registration! Upon reaching this milestone, your registration fee will be refunded to the credit card that you used to register.

Each fundraiser easily builds their own fundraising webpage (similar to GoFundMe) and can share the link with friends and family, asking them to support you as you become a hero for the animals–we even provide you with all the tools you need to make the ask, so don’t be shy, sign up today by clicking HERE!

ARE YOU ON FACEBOOK? Facebook fundraisers are also eligible** for this competition! To create a Facebook fundraiser for our animals, click HERE. It takes just a minute!

*All donations must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, May 8, 2021 to count towards this competition.

**Fundraisers that begin February 25, 2021 or later are eligible.

From Snapshot to Mascot: Get YOUR Pet On The T-Shirt!

The entry period for this contest is now closed.

After redesigning the Racing for Rescues event t-shirt in 2020 to reflect our first FURtual event (as pictured here), we’re once again creating a one-of-a-kind shirt for this year’s event… but this time, YOUR fur baby can be the star! Here’s how to enter the competition:

Those who have (or have had) rescued cats/dogs can purchase entry tickets and submit photos of their pets (for modeling purposes) HERE by March 23, 2021. (Even if your four-legged friend is no longer with you, their memory can live on through this competition.)
Your pet must have been rescued (for example, from a shelter/rescue org, taken in after being found as a stray, and so on), but it’s okay if your pet was not rescued from Second Chance specifically.
Entry tickets are $5 each and you can purchase as many as you’d like for as many pets as you want.
After the entry window closes, we will randomly draw 5 cats and 5 dogs. The more entry tickets you purchase, the more likely your pet is to be one of the 10!
The Racing for Rescues steering committee will select 1 cat and 1 dog from the 10 randomly drawn. The selected cat and dog will be the animals on the 2021 event t-shirt, and the 2 people who submitted the cat and dog will get 2 free Racing for Rescues registrations (t-shirts included) each!