Jewelry for Charity - September Recap & October Kick-Off

As usual, 5% of last month's sales will go to charity - September's recipient is Friends of Animals, and I'm happy to report that with your help, I've raised $272 for this worthy cause, bringing my grand total since the project's launch (May 2007) to $1,483!



October's charity is none other than the wonderful and fabulous Best Friends Animal Society in Utah. If you haven't heard of this place, you must be living under a rock (no offense) - it's basically the biggest, most beautiful animal rescue facility that I've ever heard of. The sanctuary, at the heart of Southern Utah's Golden Circle of national parks, is home, on any given day, to about 1,500 dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, birds and other animals.

Here's some more information about Best Friends, straight from the horse's mouth (ha ha) -

Best Friends believes that how we treat animals, the Earth and each other is the best reflection of who we are as a society. This belief guides our work and drives our goal of being a model sanctuary and educational facility while we work toward the day when kindness to animals is a way of life, and all companion animals have a home and the care they need to thrive.

We focus on animals who are injured or abandoned, have special needs, or are considered “unadoptable” by others. We provide expert medical care, rehabilitation services, behavioral assistance and emergency aid when necessary. In addition, through our various adoption programs, we work diligently to find each animal a home.

Programs:

• Animal Care: Best Friends has consistently found good homes for 75 percent or more of the special needs animals that come to the sanctuary each year. Those who cannot be adopted live out their lives at the sanctuary.

• Emergency/Disaster Response: Best Friends rescued over 4,300 animals including 2,844 dogs, 1,427 cats and 54 other types of animals from hurricane Katrina, and provided shelter and transport for an additional 3511 animals from other organizations working in the Gulf Coast.

• Assisting the Public: Staff members worked with more than 20,000 volunteer members across the country to find solutions to neighborhood problems and ways to help animals in need.

• Developing Model Programs: Best Friends is the lead organization for the Utah Coalition for Animals. More than 29,000 low-cost sterilizations were performed in 2005.

• Promoting Growth of a Worldwide Community: The Best Friends Network assists people across the country with tackling local issues by connecting them with other animal lovers in their area, and providing resources to help animals in need.

• Sharing our Knowledge: Best Friends magazine is the nation’s most read general-interest magazine for people who care about companion animals, wildlife and the Earth.

Definitely a worthy cause! Hopefully October will be a great month and we'll raise tons of money for the people and animals at Best Friends!

Charlie Brown, one of the dogs at Best Friends

Read more about Best Friends at www.bestfriends.org!