By KEN AND NICOLINA STEWART | VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT
SUGAR’S GIFT™ PROGRESS REPORT FOR NOVEMBER 2023
2023 has been an extremely busy year for us! We have helped over 150 Little Angels so far, and the busy time of the year is approaching. We were fortunate to receive a small grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, as we told you in our last report, and that has opened up more opportunities for us to help pet owners and their babies in areas where we normally are not able to serve. We have been trying to keep a few openings for the areas such as Venice, Ellenton, Palmetto and West Bradenton, even though our extra funds have been depleted. Read below for some good news on expanding our areas again in Sarasota/Manatee Counties!
We have helped a record number of Little Angels on the East Coast of Florida this year, as well. We LOVE Dr. Dack in Jupiter and we have a new crematory on the East Coast, Safe Passages, that really believes in our mission and gives our pet owners extras there, just because. Thank you Margo and company! Safe Passages is helping us locate more mobile veterinarians on the East Coast of Florida for an expansion over there – thank you!
GIVING TUESDAY IS COMING UP – MARK YOUR CALENDARS! NOVEMBER 28, 2023!
The second largest fund matching day for us is coming up! Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, November 28, 2023….the more funds we receive that day, the more matching funds we receive from GlobalGiving! You’ll hear more about Giving Tuesday as we get closer to the day with all the specifics, but we wanted to let you know ahead of time that we really need your help that day! GlobalGiving has over $1.2 million to give non-profits that day and again, the more you give, the more we receive from them. Thank you, in advance, for any donations you are willing to give us on that special day! Here is the link, but you’ll get more notices coming up….
SARASOTA/MANATEE FUNDRAISING EVENT COMING UP IN 2024!
We are starting to work on a local fundraising event for 2024! A number of people are on our list to contact very soon to organize and work on our event – it is about time that we do one! Watch out for our newsletters coming up – we’ll need a lot of volunteers!
OPENING UP MOST OF SARASOTA AND MANATEE COUNTIES AGAIN
Starting now, we can service most of Sarasota and Manatee Counties again! We can help pet owners and their Little Angels in all of Sarasota, Siesta Key, Venice, East Bradenton, Parrish, Ellenton and even most of West Bradenton! We cannot, however, serve Longboat Key and Anna Maria Island, unfortunately. We would love to know of more mobile vets that service any of these areas, including Longboat Key and Anna Maria, so let us know if you are aware of any mobile vets for us to contact. As always, our availability in any area is dependent upon the schedules of the mobile veterinarians with whom we partner. They always do their best to fit us in – thank you Drs. Wendy and Kyle!
On the East Coast, we can service Jupiter, West Palm Beach and the surrounding areas, as well. We will have more funding for the East Coast starting January 1, 2024.
PLEASE VOTE FOR US AS A 2024 BEST OF SARASOTA!
Nominations for 2024 Best Of SRQ in various categories close on Wednesday, November 15, 2023. If you haven’t taken time to vote for Sugar’s Gift™ as the Best Local Animal Non-Profit, please do so before the November 15 deadline! Click the link below and you’ll be taken to the voting page on SRQ Magazine! Thanks so much – in advance!
HELPING THE LITTLE ANGELS – WE REALLY NEED YOUR HELP RIGHT NOW!
In the Sarasota/Bradenton area we receive 10-15 calls per day. Not all of those people need our help right away – some simply want information for when the time comes. But, realistically, we could be helping 8-10 pets per week if we had the funding.
As you know, we do not advertise, or spend your generous donations on overhead such as paying people, rent etc. We are proud of the fact that between 92-96% of all your donations go directly to our mission of helping babies cross the Rainbow Bridge from home.
Thank you again for your understanding with not being able to help everyone we would like, as quickly as we would like. We try to help within 3-4 days, and sometimes, dependent upon the location, we can help within 2-3 days. We try very hard to help everyone we can and the amount of babies we are helping is increasing…it is so hard to tell people no, but occasionally, we must.
With all that said, we are still busier than ever and helping more babies cross the Rainbow Bridge from home than ever! In fact, we want to help more of you, but we do need more donations in order to do that!
NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORHOOD FAVE FOR 2023! (We are proud of this so we are putting it here again!!)
Our followers voted Sugar's Gift™ as a Next Door Neighborhood Fave for 2023 in the Sarasota/Bradenton area! Your votes got us this distinguished honor. We hear from a lot of our pet owners that they hear about us on Next Door, so thank you for spreading the word on there for us!
THANK YOUS
With the challenges we face, we are still getting so much support from all of you – and believe me, we need it! With the rising costs due to inflation in every sector, we are no exception in having our costs to do business increase. We have received some very generous donations during 2023, and please let others know of our wonderful work. Spreading the word is our only real source of advertising.
Again, thank you to all of you who donate on Facebook, as well. We don’t always know who is donating, and we don’t always know if you have fundraisers for Sugar’s Gift™, but please know that we appreciate all of what you do to help us!
And, we want to give a big shout out to Belspur Oaks Crematory in Sarasota, FL. Barbara and Ray Bounds are our Angels in the Sarasota/Manatee areas. They are so trustworthy – we are asked many times from pet owners who we trust for our cremations. We love Belspur Oaks and want to give a big thank you to them! And also, a great big hug and thanks to Cheryl Brady and Vet Care Express! Even though they have been sidelined a bit for the past couple of months, they do help us so much. Thank you, Cheryl and company!
We would like to also thank the Veterinary Medical Center and ER of Lakewood Ranch! Although we worked with them consistently before they had their ER, they do try to fit us in with their mobile veterinarians when they can. We understand they are very busy and we thank them for what they can do for us.
Drs. Wendy and Kyle are our true Angels in the Sarasota/Manatee county area! They will bend over backwards to accommodate us and our pet owners as much as possible. We have been so busy this year and getting busier even now, and we know they have their own clients to serve…..but they always manage to make room for us in their schedule. Thank you and we love you! (and our pet owners do, too)
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Nikki is available and willing to speak to any group – over-55 communities, fraternal and social organizations, networking groups, etc. She can speak about Sugar’s Gift™ and also about Pet Trusts in a workshop fashion, or as an informational session. Let us know and we can get you on the calendar for your group – and please spread the word because she wants to talk about the benefits of our organization and educate others about us.
WE NEED AMBASSADORS
So many of you ask us how you can help…we need Sugar's Gift™ Ambassadors to help us spread the word and help others know what we do, as well as hear your stories. We will be having a Town Hall meeting soon and we will send out a notice for those of you who have expressed interest in helping us. We need funding, and the more people who know of us and can hear the stories you have to tell them, the more likely we can increase our funding. We will arm you with what you need to help us – don’t worry!
MONTHLY GIVING MATCHES
MONTHLY GIVING MATCHES: - WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR SUGAR’S GIFT?
Our normal Monthly Giving Match is still in place! If you donate for 4 straight months up to $200 per month, Sugar’s Gift™ receives a 100% match on your first month’s donation after those 4 consecutive donations!
OUR MISSION – WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO
Our mission is always worth repeating: Our mission is to provide euthanasia and end-of-life veterinary services for terminally ill pets in their own homes. We at Sugar's Gift™ do not charge for any of our services to help your terminally ill baby. Why? Our mission from the beginning has been all about the Little Ones, not about how much money someone has. We don't charge you on a sliding scale. We don't charge you based on your income. We believe this: Every one of you who has a terminally ill pet has something in common with all of us - the love for our pets, our companions, our Little Angels and the need to have them pass in the most comfortable surroundings. That is something sacred to us. We share that love and respect you for that love, as well. That is why we do not charge you for our services. It is the last Gift you can give your baby, and it is Sugar's Gift to both of you.
OUR PET OWNERS AND THEIR MESSAGES TO US….
Pet owners across this great country of ours describe Sugar’s Gift™ as “Bringing lasting peace to pets and their owners after a life full of love.” We offer a life-changing experience...our services extend far beyond the time and scope of the services we provide for you and your pet. We are here as a resource, an ear or a shoulder to cry on, an organization that will always be here for you and your furbabies. Some of our pet owners have described our client care service as unsurpassed. Read some of our testimonials here.
LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE AND FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, THREADS – AND PLEASE RECOMMEND US ON NEXT DOOR, TOO!
We are trying to stay up to date on all the social media channels – but it is difficult! Thank you to all of you who have encouraged others to like us on Facebook….we have increased our followers to almost 1,600 as of today. We want to build even more Facebook Likes, so go here to Like Our Page and share this newsletter with your friends! We especially appreciate all the recommendations we receive on Next Door! If you can tell 5 people about us, and they can tell 5 more people about us...well, you get the picture....exponentially, it can make a huge difference to us!
WHAT WE NEED NOW FROM YOU
WE ARE COMPILING A BOOK OF STORIES!
The pet owners whose pets Sugar's Gift™ has helped are giving us stories - either written stories, poetry, songs, about their pets' lives. We want to publish those stories and let others know what wonderful people and pets we have helped, and how we have helped them through their experience with Sugar's Gift™. If you are one of our terrific pet owners and we don't have your story yet.....get those pencils (or iPads) working overtime! We want to publish the first volume this year!
So, when we say every dollar counts…..EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS. CLICK HERE TO DONATE
REMEMBER….
Sugar’s Gift™ is the only non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization in the country whose mission is to help terminally ill pets cross over the Rainbow Bridge from home with comfort, dignity and peace.
Please give generously.....monthly, annually, whatever suits your budget. We REALLY need your help right now! All the other Little Angels need us....and we need you. Thank you.
We apologize, in advance, if you receive a duplicate of this report. We are sending this through our email server, too, so you may get 2 of the same reports. Just simply forward one to someone you feel would like to read it! Thank you.
Links:
By KEN AND NICOLINA STEWART | VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT
By KEN AND NICOLINA STEWART | VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT
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