By KEN AND NICOLINA STEWART | VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENT
SUGAR’S GIFT™ PROGRESS REPORT FOR APRIL 2023
RECAP OF 2023, SO FAR:
A great big thank you to all of our supporters and friends! This year, so far, has been a very busy year for us at Sugar’s Gift™. We have helped more babies cross the Rainbow Bridge from home at our Jupiter location than ever before during the same time frame. We have our wonderful Dr. Dack in Jupiter who helps all of the babies cross the Rainbow Bridge from home over on the East Coast. And, we have an incredible grant from the Knopf Family Foundation that helps our East Coast Operations. (thank you, Sandy!) And, in the Sarasota/Bradenton area of FL, we are on track for helping 200-250 babies for 2023, which is more than ever! We appreciate your help in spreading the word about what we do. 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 92-95% of all your donations go directly to our mission of helping babies cross the Rainbow Bridge from home.
Being busy is wonderful, but with that come challenges, too. Many of you have learned by speaking with us that finding mobile veterinarians to help us is difficult right now. COVID-19 really hurt us – we previously had 6 vets in the Sarasota and Manatee County area before COVID-19 to help us. Currently, we rely on Drs. Wendy and Kyle for almost all of our services in Sarasota and Manatee Counties. They are incredible – they will help us in any way they can; however, we understand that they have their own practice, and we can’t ask them to put our needs above the needs of other pet owners and pets they help, too.
We appreciate your understanding with not being able to help everyone we would like, as quickly as we would like. Our geographic areas are not as broad as they once were in Sarasota and Manatee Counties; however, we still try to help everyone we can and the amount of babies we are helping is increasing, despite the limitations in the areas we can serve. We are hopeful that will change in the next 18 months as we set a very high goal: We want to hire our own veterinarian, at least on a part-time basis. That will broaden our reach in the Sarasota/Bradenton area.
We still have challenges after COVID-19 in other areas of the county for finding veterinarians, as well. For anyone in the Vacaville, CA or Las Vegas, NV areas, please let us know about mobile vets in your area that we can contact to help us in those locations. There is a veterinarian shortage all over the country, and we certainly feel that with our organization.
With all that said, we are still busier than ever and helping more babies cross the Rainbow Bridge from home than ever! So, please don’t think we are slowing down….in fact, we want to help more of you!
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 this first 4 months of 2023, and please let others know of our wonderful work.
There are so many people who choose Sugar’s Gift™ as a charity for fundraisers on Facebook. I want to let you know that sometimes when we receive the donations from them, we don’t always know whose fundraisers they were from….(maybe we should and we just don’t know where to look).
GRANTS AND FUNDRAISING:
2023 is going to be the year of the Grant for us! We need help with this, so please contact Nikki at nikkistewart@sugarsgift.org if you or someone you know can help us. We are serious about hiring our own veterinarian at some point, and fundraising on a consistent basis is necessary to afford a vet.
If anyone has experience in securing multi-year funding, we need you very much!
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.
JULY BONUS DAY IS COMING!
GOOD NEWS! We are coming up on a fabulous matching event on July 12, 2023with GlobalGiving, our fundraising partner! As some of you know, our biggest fundraising events are in July with GlobalGiving’s Bonus Day and toward the end of the year on Giving Tuesday. We try very hard to raise a lot of funds on those 2 important days of the year. So, we need your HELP!
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!
Will You Please Help Us on JULY BONUS DAY or with 4 Consecutive MONTHLY 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!
With the challenges of COVID-19 across the country, we have been a bit challenged getting our new website up and running, but it will come soon! 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 with your friends!
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!
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – VOLUNTEER ROUNDUP COMING SOON!
WE ARE READY TO USE YOUR TALENTS!
So many of you have offered to help us as volunteers over the years and we are getting ready to have a Volunteer RoundUp! Our needs are growing, so please complete the Volunteer form on the website if you have a special skillset or have extra time on your hands. Our website has a few positions listed and we certainly have a need for various Administration positions, Website Manager, Social Media Team Members, Event Planners, and many more. And, if you just want to join us but don’t have anything in particular in mind, that is OK, too! Remember, though…..all positions are Volunteer, not paid. That is one reason our overhead rate is at 2-5% and it will stay there. We are very cognizant of our costs. We want your dollars to go to our mission, not our overhead expenses.
AGAIN, CALLING FUNDRAISERS AND GRANT WRITERS! WE NEED YOUR HELP THIS YEAR AND NEXT!
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. 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.
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