This holiday season, give the Gift of Hope to a homeless pet by donating to the Petfinder Foundation in a loved one’s honor.
Donate by Dec. 17 and your gift recipient will get the beautiful card pictured above, with a personalized letter from us. The watercolor is by Austin, Tex.-based artist Laura Jackson, who has often donated her work to us for our holiday cards to gift recipients.
I asked Laura — who writes a great blog about rescuing pets that has a lot of excellent pet-care tips — why she is so generous to the Petfinder Foundation. “Your foundation takes real action to improve the lives of shelter animals and people,” she said. It’s true!
In addition to the card, if you give $50 or more, your loved one will receive a special gift from us: A copy of one of the following new books (while supplies last; if we run out, we will send your giftee a Petfinder Foundation t-shirt):
A Christmas Home by Greg Kincaid. Greg has been working with Petfinder since the publication of the first book in his series, A Dog Named Christmas, in 2008. (Read his posts on the Petfinder blog.) A Dog Named Christmas, about a young man who convinces the people in his town to foster all the pets in their local shelter over the holidays, was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame original movie, and Greg worked with the producers to have a PSA for Petfinder and pet adoption aired at the end!
That book also inspired Petfinder’s annual promotion, “Foster a Lonely Pet for the Holidays,” which shelters nationwide have participated in every year for the past four years.
A Christmas Home, the third book in the series (after the 2010 prequel Christmas with Tucker), revisits the McCray family at a time when the local shelter is about to close due to lack of funding. Like Greg’s other books, it’s touching and wise (but you don’t need to have read the first two in the series to enjoy it). See the book on Amazon.
Why has Greg continued to work with us over the years? “It’s always such a honor to work with Petfinder,” he says. “I don’t know of anyone who does more for shelter pets than this talented and hardworking organization of animal advocates. They truly make the world a better place.” Thanks, Greg!
Little Boy Blue: A Puppy’s Rescue from Death Row and His Owner’s Journey for Truth by Kim Kavin. When Kim, a journalist, adopted Blue as a puppy in 2010, she became curious about his history. Her investigation led her to the crowded North Carolina shelter where he’d been scheduled for euthanasia before he was rescued by the organization that brought him to the Northeast and posted him on Petfinder.com.
Little Boy Blue tells the inspiring story of the “underground railroad” of rescue groups that has exploded in recent years, thanks in part to Petfinder giving groups the ability to reach potential adopters all over the country. You will also come to know and love Blue, a very special dog who now brings smiles to the faces of everyone he meets.
The author is even donating some of the book’s profits to the Petfinder Foundation. Here’s why: “I found my dog Blue on Petfinder, and in reporting Little Boy Blue I learned about the critical role that Petfinder plays in helping dogs like him find homes,” Kim tells us. “The Petfinder Foundation is doing great work to help rescue groups of all sizes, not to mention all kinds of animals, and I could not be more thrilled that a portion of my book’s proceeds are helping the Petfinder cause.” See the book on Amazon.
So give the Gift of Hope — the perfect present for the compassionate person in your life!