In 2016, we challenged you to “Be The One to Be The Love.” At noon on September 20, 2016, and for the next 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds, you showed your love for HSSC. You liked our posts and photos on social media. You came out to see us on our “Be The Love” tour around Sarasota. You donated to the Giving Challenge. Ultimately, you raised $96,000 for HSSC. That’s a lot of love!

And you haven’t stopped showing the love since. Every time HSSC completes an adoption, hands out a bag of food, teaches a dog to sit, or lends a paw in the community—it’s love in action. It would not be possible for HSSC to do what we do without your support. You Are The One. You Are The Love.

• Love is what we give when we take in, care for, and rehabilitate over 1,600 abandoned dogs and cats each year.
• Love is what we see when an adopter and a pet begin their life together.
• Love is why we have a Pet Pantry Program for those in our community who are struggling to feed their pets.
• Love is why we offer K-9 Obedience Training Courses that transform energetic and sometimes destructive dogs into well-behaved members of a household.
• Love is what we show when we bring Pet Therapy Teams to brighten the lives of the sad and the sick.
• Love is how we instill respect for animals in the youngest members of our community through Humane Education.
• Love is why we opened a full-service Animal Clinic that’s open to anyone who wants quality, affordable care for their dogs and cats.

Love is what powers our mission to engage the hearts, hands, and minds of the community to help animals.

• 24 hours, 14 stops on Big MAC
• 540 individual gifts
• $38,486 in donations
• $57,512 in additional matching funds
• 1 truly amazing community experience
• YOU are the love for HSSC

We LOVE our supporters, and we appreciate every one of you.

#BeTheLove Tour

To celebrate the 2016 Giving Challenge, HSSC took to the streets in our Mobile Adoption Center (“Big Mac”). Beginning at noon on September 20, 2016, Big MAC cruised around Sarasota. We spread the word about the Giving Challenge, and we had some furry friends with us. We posted real-time updates of Big MAC’s location on HSSC’s Facebook page all day, and we had a lot of fun. Here are a few of the stops HSSC visited for the #BeTheLove Tour:

• Synovus Bank
• The Community Foundation of Sarasota County
• Tommy Bahama St. Armand’s Circle
• The Animal Clinic of the Humane Society of Sarasota County
• Oleary’s Tiki Bar & Grill
• Libby’s Cafe & Bar
• JDub’s Brewing Company
• Tasty Home Cookin’
• Petco
• Bayside Pet Resort