30/12/2019
Dear Friends and Supporters,
As we end 2019 and move on to 2020, we want to say Thank You for the love and support that you all
have shown us these past 6 years.
Many of you will thank me for all that I do and for saving a life. I want you to know that I truly
appreciate the Thank You’s but I am just a small part of the process. As I say all of the time, since day
one, there is no I in RESCUE. However, there is an I in VILLAGE.
Because of all of you, we have built an Awesome Village that works together to save lives. We are so
grateful for all the Veterinarians and Staff at Coyne Crown Point that help us take care of the animal’s
medical needs, Animal Control Officers, Shelter Staff, Shelter Volunteers, Rescue Coordinators,
Transporters, Cross Posters, Fosters, and Adopters – and our very special relationship with Stacey with
Common Ground Animal Rescue Network in Kentucky. And of course, you – for your generous
donations and support for our fundraisers which help us do what we do.
A very special thank you to our Foster Families! We believe that our rescued Guardians babies deserve
loving, welcoming arms and a comfy home to decompress from shelter life while they heal. We love it
when they can finally show their true wonderful personalities so the right Fur-Ever Family can be found
for them. Our wonderful Foster Families offer just that and more, whether it’s just fattening them up or
helping to heal their medical problems or broken spirits. By the way, we always need more Fosters – we
cannot save them if they have no place to go, and we don’t believe in rescuing them from the shelter to
put them in another cage in boarding. I encourage you extend your support by spreading the word and
help us recruit other families to Foster. No matter where you live, Rescues and Shelters always need
Foster Families. Always.
This year, with your help, we have been able to rescue 87 lives. Fourteen of them were Seniors over the
age of 7 years old. The Seniors truly break our hearts, how confusing it must be for them being
surrendered by the families that had promised to love them forever. We had to say Goodbye this year
to our very own Matriarch Dog Grandma Chiquita. She was 15-17 years old, and her last years were
filled with love and comfort. Rescuing a Senior costs our group three times the amount to fully vet. And
we are ever so happy to see them adopted and into loving homes to live out their golden years. They
still have so much love to give!
This reminds of something I cannot stress enough: Please be sure to make provisions for your pets in
case something should happen to you. Have a plan so those you leave behind know what your wishes
are and your furbabies will have a soft place to land while they readjust to a life without you. We have
had some rescues that came to us because plans were not made.
Of our 87 rescued dogs, 41 of them were puppies. We rescued several litters of puppies from the
Fulton, Kentucky Shelter. In each case, we were thrilled to be able to keep the puppies with their mom
until transport was arranged. And even better, the families who gave us their puppies kept the mother
and allowed us to get her spayed, so at the very least we feel the cycle of reproduction ended at that
home. (HOPEFULLY).
Another number we are so proud of - we had 91 Dogs adopted this year. That number is not just the
animals we rescued this year, but some that were in rescue before 2019. Guardians of the Green Mile
often take in dogs that need time to find themselves as dogs again and need additional time in foster to
be ready for a normal life. It’s what we do.
We get so caught up in rescuing and rehabilitating the animal, oh how much their lives have changed,
that sometimes we need to be reminded that the Adopters lives were also changed. We love the
updates we get from the families! To see our babies living wonderful lives is the fuel for our souls to
keep going. So, please, keep those updates coming! We are very Blessed to have you as a part of the
Guardians Family.
We are still in search of a property that will help us save many more souls. We had to say “no” more
than ever this year. So many Momma Dogs had to give birth at the shelter and sometimes stay there for
weeks with newborn puppies, all because we had nowhere to put them. We all know a shelter is no
place for newborn puppies. So we need to continue to raise the funds necessary to hit that property
goal. We have about $35,000 in the property fund account but we have quite a ways to go. Well over
$200,000+ to get that desperately needed property.
Guardians of the Green Mile had $64,000 in expenses this year which included vet bills, vaccines and
preventative meds for fleas and heartworm, food, supplies such as leashes, collars and tags, as well as
operating costs. Just the insurance for the rescue is $2,000 annually alone. We have fees for the
website, and we had to purchase a storage shed this year - the cost of renting a storage unit was getting
out of control and hurting our mission.
Overall, we had $19,000 in donations and $18,750 in adoption fees. There was $4875 given in
sponsorship, and $8263 was brought in through grants. At our main event, WoofStock, we earned
about $10,000 after expenses. Our other main fundraiser, St. Pawtrick’s brought in nearly $4,000. With
all that work, all done by volunteers, we brought in $64,888, which still leaves us around $1,000 to the
negative. Almost a break-even point. But breaking even will not help us grow, will not allow us to save
even more lives.
Our two largest fundraising events are already booked and you can help! Please save the dates for
St.Pawtricks - March 14th in Chesterton. Tickets will be available very soon. And Woofstock will be
Friday August 14th at the Central Park Plaza in Valparaiso. We had over 1200 people attend our 2019
event, this year will be even bigger and better!
In closing, we are reaching out to you, our valued supporters, with a plea for year-end donations so we
can hit the ground running in 2020. Your Donation is 100% tax deductible, and every dollar will help us
continue to save even more lives in 2020!
HOW TO DONATE –
*MAIL CHECKS TO GOTGM (please make sure to mark it GOTGM BUILDING FUND or GENERAL MEDICAL
FUND)
PO BOX 182 PORTAGE, IN 46368
*PAYPAL USE [email protected]
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=U9ZSXR2CTX4WN This link will allow you to do a monthly donation.
*Amazon Smile is a no-cost to you way to help us out by choosing Guardians of the Green Mile as your
charity and they will send a percentage of your purchases back to us when you shop while on their
Amazon Smile portal.
Do you have Matching Gifts through your employer? We are a 501c3 Non for-Profit Charity
46-3299932 is our Federal EIN # Tax Letters will be sent for all Donations.
We Wish You a Very Happy New Year.
With Heartfelt Thanks and Love
Sherri M. Christopher
Executive Director / Founder
Guardians of the Green Mile Inc
