As I have previously written about, I lost my mom last month. She was an animal lover and donated tens of thousands of dollars over her lifetime--even when she had nothing--to help stray animals. If she won money on a lottery ticket, it went directly to the Humane Society when I was growing up. She was a generous lady, so I want her to be immortalized at Stray Rescue of St. Louis, one of the United States' leading no-kill dog shelters. I'm aiming to raise $5,000 in order to get a bench in her honor at the facility, that way her name will forever be associated with kindness and compassion. 100% of the proceeds will go to Stray Rescue, regardless if we make the $5,000 goal or not, which is amazing.
About seven or eight years ago, the two of us were out in a snowstorm. We were honestly great friends, so we'd get together even in inconvenient times to go drink and be merry. While we were out (and sober), we found two tiny white dogs playing in the road during a whiteout blizzard--thank goodness for my decent eyesight. We found their owner and took them over. He started pulling out Benjamin after Benjamin until he got to $1,000 and gave it to my mom, who immediately refused it. "If these were my babies, I'd want someone to do the right thing and bring them back without wanting a reward." He turned to me and offered the reward. I, too, declined it, but offered a word of advice: "Donate that money to Stray Rescue, if you really want to do something nice for us."
I offer the same advice to you. Even though you don't know how nice of a person my mom was, or even got to hear her laugh or tell a silly joke, you can at least appreciate saving the lives of dogs. Randy Grim, the owner and operator of Stray Rescue, dives in dumpsters to save pups that have been left to die. He goes to neighborhoods where the police aren't welcome. He makes gruesome discoveries of tortured dogs who need to be put down on a daily basis, yet he still soldiers on and continues to save these dogs' lives. If you've got $5 or more to spare, and you'd like to make a difference in these dogs' lives, please consider donating to my cause.
I'm an atheist, so I know my buddy is gone and she'll never be back. But she doesn't have to stop making a difference just because she's dead. With this fund, her legacy will finally be recognized. She lived a life of charity without a spotlight, never demanding that those around her notice all of the great things she did. I want to correct that with this memorial bench. Let's make this a reality.