A thank you to our supporters

This began as a post on our Facebook page but that didn't feel sufficient to express the depth of our gratitude.

We've only just begun to help the 80 families in our community but I'm already humbled and honoured by the generosity and caring of our supporters.

Project Maddie began in the spring of 2010. Somebody asked me a very simple question: Do you know of any resources to help low-income pet owners at risk of losing their pets because they can't afford to feed them?  That fateful question came on behalf of a woman who had a beautiful Golden Retriever named Maddie, and Project Maddie was born.

Over the last three and a half years there have been many dogs and cats like Maddie, and thanks to people like you we've been able to help them. By the time people reach out to us for assistance their situation is usually desperate. Most of our clients are food bank users themselves, and usually when they're forced to choose between feeding themselves and feeding their pets they choose to feed their pets.

You can imagine how much a helping hand means to a pet owner in the practical sense. A weight is lifted, and the pet owner has the peace of mind of knowing a beloved furkid has nutritious food to eat. When our clients no longer have to feed their pets what they pick up at the people food bank it means they have more to eat as well.  That alone would be enough to sustain my passion for this project, but Project Maddie makes a difference in another way that I didn't anticipate. It means so much to our clients to know that people care. I've heard it time and time again, when a client is incredulous that a person he or she has never met cares enough to help him or her in such a meaningful, personal way, because what are our relationships with our pets if not meaningful and personal?  More than one client has told me that your generosity and caring has restored their faith in people.

I wish it was possible for you to hear every "thank you", and the now familiar sound of a pet owner's voice cracking as he or she breaks down in tears of relief and joy. It's been three years and it still doesn't feel right to me to be the one who hears the "thank you"s because I am not the one who makes it possible. You are. So I just want each and every one of our angels to know that your support means so much to perfect strangers, the people you cared about enough to help.

Donations for our "80 families" at Pet Valu (280 North Service Rd. W in Oakville, ON)