Santa Cruz Co. Animal Shelter Welcomes Philanthropic Partner

From SCCAS: The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter (SCCAS) is the principal organization safeguarding and improving the lives of domestic animals in Santa Cruz County. With intake exceeding 5,000 animals a year, SCCAS has a bedrock of municipal funding for core services such as animal control, licensing, rabies vaccinations, housing for strays and surrenders, and intervention in animal abuse cases.

Most of the Shelter’s key preventive efforts, however, require private money. The vital programs that help animals and their guardians beyond the Shelter’s doors – spay/neuter clinics, training classes, humane education, and community outreach – are dependent on donations from private individuals. To help meet this need, a group of supporters have launched the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter Foundation. “Our goal is simple,” said Foundation treasurer Brett Hennie, an executive with the Driscoll Company in Watsonville. “We want to ensure that the County Shelter will have a steady source of private funding to provide program stability and expansion of proven preventive outreach."

As a 501(c)(3) entity, the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter Foundation will access resources otherwise unavailable to SCCAS. For example, many businesses encourage employee philanthropy by offering matching gift programs, but require recipients to have 501(c)(3) status. The Foundation will fill that role, reaching out to businesses and other organizations while offering potential donors a range of giving options not currently available through the Shelter, including gifts of securities, automobiles, real estate and more. “We are thrilled to have an ally like the Foundation,” said SCCAS General Manager Melanie Sobel. “Unlike private rescue organizations, our staff focus solely on services and we have no fundraising staff to focus on charitable giving. To have a Foundation raising needed funding for our pro-active programs is a real boon, because these programs are essential to bringing about change.” To learn more about the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter Foundation, please visit https://www.scanimalshelterfoundation.org.

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