We are so amazed and grateful for the astounding outpouring of love, honor and respect for the work of BrightHaven. Caring, compassionate people from all walks of life are coming forward to help restructure our operations and initiate new streams of revenue; AND, in a very short time, over $55K has been raised!
As a result, we are proud to announce that the sanctuary will remain open, and we are now focused on raising the funds necessary to secure the future for our existing animal residents, and to allow us to serve more animals that need our help.
We truly appreciate your care and support, and invite you to be part of our journey as we secure BrightHaven’s future for the animals!
Here’s the link to our campaign: http://bit.ly/bright-sos
It is a NEW day here at BrightHaven!
As many of you know, it was just a few months ago—sad and agonizing months—that we faced the closure of our beloved sanctuary and the end of a dream.
Ever since its modest beginnings in the late 1980s, with two rescue cats named Mitzi and Gloria and one dog named Winston, BrightHaven has sought to be an example of kindness, compassion and mercy to the most vulnerable members of our homeless animal population: the disabled, the chronically ill and the aged.
Without our help and the caring support of animal lovers everywhere, these animals would be left to suffer and die alone and unloved.
Since then, over 1000 animal residents have been spared such a sad ending to their lives, and instead, received the dignity, respect and unconditional love we all deserve.
In life, everything has a beginning and an end. During the last few years, BrightHaven began to experience changes that caused us to wonder if BrightHaven had come to the end of its own season, and was ready to close its doors and fade from memory.
This economy has not been kind to nonprofit organizations, and animal sanctuaries have been particularly hard hit. For example, despite funding and longevity, a local shelter closed its doors after 50 years! Other private shelters and rescue groups have experienced significant reductions in staff and the number of animals rescued.
Just as we thought closure was inevitable for BrightHaven, a miracle happened.
Thanks in part to BrightHaven’s GoFundMe campaign and the television publicity generated by San Francisco’s KPIX Channel 5 reporter Wilson Walker, hundreds of people responded with an outpouring of love and financial support. As we already mentioned, we raised a little over $55K in a very short time, and most of it came from small donations.
This fabulous response opened our eyes to new possibilities. Maybe, just maybe, we weren’t done, and BrightHaven was NOT going away. Maybe these challenges were actually preparing BrightHaven for a powerful new beginning
Today we are pleased to tell you that BrightHaven has been revived, emboldened and empowered by our expanded base of support. The right people have come forward to help us restructure our operations and show us new and exciting ways to do business and bring in more revenue. We also have a new vision for a larger community outreach and participation, and a renovation of our facilities to help more animals.
There is NO going back!
Most importantly, we could not have done this without YOUR love, prayers and financial support. YOU believed in us and our mission.
The lesson we discovered from this “detour” on our journey is that we cannot do this work alone. In the coming months and years, we will continue to need people who will be partners with us in our efforts and be members of the BrightHaven family.
Whether it is time or treasure that you have to give, we need and want your ongoing support for the good of the animals who come to us in the future, as well as the animals in our care now.
We invite you to join us and BE the difference in an animal’s life.
With love and deep gratitude,
Gail & Richard Pope, BrightHaven Co-Founders