Give to the Max

Give to the Max! November, 2023

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Give to the Max Success!

📣 We continued to receive donations after Give to the Max Day, 2023 so our final total for this year’s fundraiser is just over $70,000!!! 🎉 We are truly overjoyed! Thank you. 😊

💚 THANK YOU! Thank you for following our stories, and supporting the work we do with the vulnerable cats and dogs in our communities. 💚 Just one more story to let you know who you are helping helping when you donate to BENCHS. Two weeks ago, Spinna came to us from the Mankato Police Department. She was stray, hurt, and needing our help. Her back leg was bleeding and she was wobbling as she struggled to take three steps. She needed a vet appointment the next day and the fine folks at MN Valley Vet Hospital squeezed her in for us. She had a broken pelvis and will need to be in foster for 4 more weeks at least. ❤️‍🩹 Spinna means “purr” in Swedish and that is how she got her name. Despite the pain she had to have been in, Spinna continued to purr during her first evening at BENCHS. It was as if she were saying, “Thank you! Thank you for helping me!” 💚

After counting the last donations, our Give to the Max campaign raised over $70,000! 🎉 We didn’t quite make our $80,000 goal, but we still know that every dollar donated will be there to help others like Spinna who need our help. 🎉 So thank you to everyone who donated! Thank you for supporting our cause and mission! From all of the cats and dogs at BENCHS, “Thank you for helping us!” 💚 🐱💚 🐶 💚

Rescue, Rehabilitate, Rehome: Join Our Cause

The BENCHS mission goes far beyond simply offering a safe haven for the animals in our care; it’s about creating a more compassionate world where animals and people can thrive together. At BENCHS, we believe that every animal, no matter their past, deserves a chance at a better future. We rescue and rehabilitate animals in need, providing them with a new beginning, much like giving them a second leash on life.

At this crucial moment, we find ourselves facing some extraordinary challenges. BENCHS is newly without an in-house vet, which has increased the medical costs for our animals and lengthened their stay. A decline in adoptions plus an increasing number of stray animals has resulted in many animals waiting longer than we’d like for new homes. Our building repairs are necessary and costly. Finding staff and volunteers has remained difficult. Operations costs continue to rise. Every single animal in our care costs BENCHS a minimum of $35 per day with staff hours, cleaning supplies, medical care, food, etc. We are happy to provide our staff much needed paid time off and increasing wages, but that takes money. BENCHS truly relies on the generosity of donors like you to keep our doors open. As we continue our mission to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome these deserving animals, we rely on your support now more than ever.

But no matter the challenges, we remain committed to providing everything our animals need to have a real chance at life ~ food, medical care, time, safety, and love. We are happy to announce we have taken some big steps in the right direction. We have hired Torrey Walrath as our new Executive Director and Anna Snyder has recently joined us as our Shelter Manager! With them at the helm, we are eager to get our house in order so that we are able to move forward with expansion to our building so we can help more pets while they wait for their furever homes.

Give to the Max has been transformational for us throughout the years and currently makes up around 10% of our annual budget. This year, we ask each of you to dig a little deeper and help us reach our goal of $80,000. Whether you donate $5 or $5,000, know that every single dollar goes toward ensuring that the cats and dogs within our communities have a safe place to land.

Donate Today and Help Us Give Pets a Second Leash on Life!