2022 Giving Challenge
To the world, it's just one animal. But to one person, that animal is the world.
Animals teach us so much. They bring out our truest selves. They’re a wonderful reminder not to take life too seriously. To forgive and forget. To love with abandon. To experience life wholeheartedly.
Animals make people better.
Life—much like working in an animal shelter—is messy, stinky, noisy, and, at times, heartbreaking. For every moment that goes as planned, there are thousands that go perfectly wrong. But it’s these missteps that bring people together. These disappointments that cause us to reach deep inside ourselves and find strengths previously unknown. These winding paths that take us where we needed to go all along. Time and time again—with a tail wag, a nudge, or a gentle purr—animals show us that we are not alone. That all will be okay.
Animals don’t care how we look, how much money we have, where we live, or what we do. They’re happy just to be with us.
As the area’s premier no-kill shelter, the Humane Society of Sarasota County’s official role is to take in and care for cats and dogs and adopt them into loving, permanent homes. But the whole of our mission is greater than the sum of our programs and services. Contained in every single animal’s success story is an entire universe of emotion, a collage of perfectly imperfect moments, and a special bond between human and animal.
HSSC’s impact can be measured quantitatively: number of adoptions, volunteers, and fosters, pounds of food distributed, obedience classes held, summer camp participants, pet therapy visits, spay/neuter surgeries competed, vaccines given, and more. But ultimately, it boils down to one thing: animals make people better. Thus, by helping animals, we help each other. And there is no place more committed to this ideal than HSSC.
Thank you to everyone who donated during the 2022 Giving Challenge, April 26-27. You raised more than $78,000 in just 24 hours. These gifts will bring about a special kind of joy for the animals we serve and the people who love them.
After all, finding joy in every moment is the great life lesson of humane existence. THANK YOU FOR BEING THE ONE!
About the Giving Challenge
The 2022 Giving Challenge was presented by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County with giving strengthened by The Patterson Foundation.
The Giving Challenge is an exciting online 24-hour giving event that took place from Noon to Noon on April 26–27, 2022, connecting 700+ nonprofit organizations with passionate donors and community members to build relationships, support diverse causes, and create enduring impact in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties. To strengthen giving during the 2022 Giving Challenge, The Patterson Foundation provided a 1:1 match for all unique donations $25-$100 per donor, per organization. All donations made during the Giving Challenge are unrestricted gifts and all gifts are 100% tax-deductible. If you donated during the Giving Challenge, you should have received an automated tax receipt email from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. See the Giving Challenge page for answers to FAQs.
Since 2012, the Giving Challenge has acted as a catalyst for connection, helping donors throughout our region show their love for local nonprofit organizations by providing more than $59 million in unrestricted funding. During the 2022 Giving Challenge, our community reached out with a remarkable outpouring of support, raising $15.9 million in just 24 hours.
Each participating organization has demonstrated transparency by developing an in-depth profile in The Giving Partner. View HSSC’s Giving Partner Profile here.
12 Life Lessons from Shelter Animals
