Every little helps

For the past few years I've made a lump sum charitable donation to the SPCA towards the end of year. In 2009 my year-end donation coincided with the heartbreaking loss of my amazing and wonderful cat, Lucy, who had herself once been rescued by the SPCA (possibly even twice). In Lucy's honour and loving memory I made my donation, directing it towards the SPCA's Biscuit Fund for Medical Care which provides urgent and life-saving medical treatment to animals in their care and is named after a remarkable dog who narrowly survived a heartless knife attack several years ago. Thankfully Biscuit was successfully treated and re-homed through the SPCA.

When it came to donating this time around my heart was also honouring (and still grieving) our vocal and endearingly bratty companion Otto, whom we sadly lost to old age just prior to Christmas, on Dec. 6th, and of course, not forgetting the wonderful yet feisty 9 lives of Molly (1987-2006). So for 2010 I made a general donation plus, in my New Year spirit/resolution to "Do" more, I finally signed up for the PAW Plan Monthly Giving (something I've been meaning to do for ages). I figure it's a relatively small thing to do considering the 4 incredible cats Lorne and I have shared thanks to the efforts of the SCPCA. (This excludes Mishka of course, because I bought her as a teeny tiny kitten/beanie baby for $10 from a man with a bag of kittens down at Steamworks pub in Gastown.)

In wandering around the SPCA website, I found another great funding program, 'Guardian Angel' where you can read about animals currently in their care awaiting adoption and even choose an animal for whom you can become a Guardian Angel by making a small contribution toward their care. The great thing is, you can also leave a supportive note that can be viewed by those looking through the adoption site.

Since Christmastime also signifies the anniversary of Lucy's passing, I was acutely aware of it being a full year since we said goodbye. No surprise then that I was moved to tears when I saw this little gem, Bella, who not only bears a striking resemblance to Lucy, but Bella's story definitely reminds me of the hardships and emotional struggles we strongly suspect Lucy had encountered before I adopted her in 1998 and the angst she showed in the early days.

There isn't a huge amount of space to write your personal message but perhaps just as well because it forced me to keep it brief. Amid a few tears, I wrote my note for Bella: "Bella's traumatic past & related anxieties sound a lot like those my cat Lucy had endured. With love, patience, nurturing & reassurance Lucy flourished, revealing an endless capacity to love & trust. She was a true blessing. Bella will be too!" Heck, it was all I could do to stop myself from driving to the Okanagan SPCA right there and then to collect her for myself :-)

Anyhow, I'm pleased to report that I got the following lovely email yesterday informing me that Bella has actually just been adopted:

"Dear Guardian Angel,

Great news!! We are pleased to let you know that thanks to your support, Bella was welcomed into her new "forever home" in Penticton on January 15, 2011.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Happy endings like this are only possible with the generous support of animal lovers like you.

As you know, the BC SPCA is a charity entirely reliant on community support. We could not care for the tens of thousands of animals like we do each year without it. If Bella could thank you, she would too! "

I'm so happy and it's great that you get sent an update. I truly hope that her new family will give her all the love and devotion she so richly deserves to help her overcome the past and live out a long and very happy life! And I know Lucy would wish her the same.