Update: Lake Tahoe Humane Society moving, donations still needed

”Storms Make Trees Take Deeper Roots” – Dolly Parton

We always like to start our organizational releases with a quote to help paint a picture of where things stand.

Over the past months, we took a pause with organizational announcements because we have been stretched pretty lean with trying to fundraise, consider next steps, drive partnerships, and working with the District Attorney’s office to put the crime against the organization behind us – unfortunately the impact of the crime has caused irreparable damage, and despite our monumental efforts, we are having a difficult time recovering from it. Perhaps more than the community realizes, and why we want to be transparent with you.

Our Category 5 Storm
We would be lying if we said the last six months did not have its share of storms, challenges, and floods of difficulty. But we believe that after every storm, there will be some clear skies, wisdom, and deeper roots.

Our circumstances have remained hard, and have gotten harder. We are doing our best to try and stay cautiously optimistic, but prudently realistic while working hard to generate funds to square up with the businesses owed. Despite selling almost everything associated with the organization and several fundraising efforts, we continue to make progress, but are still falling short.

We continue to have strategic conversations with organizations whom we can potentially partner with to help us collectively serve the community. Our goal is to restore services to the community, whether they are provided by us or someone else. We want to find a solution. We don’t have a clear picture of what any of this will ultimately look like yet, but we hope to have something to share in the future.

To be 100 percent transparent, we’re running out of funding, and we are now in a position where we need to make some difficult decisions about the future of the organization. We continue to be hopeful that we will find a buyer for the building to enable us to repay debt that has been accumulated. We are committed to paying the veterinarians back for the care that they have already provided to our local animals through our voucher program. If you can help, we welcome contributions no matter the amount to the Paws for the Cause campaign with a sole purpose of paying the balances owed to our local veterinarians. Or, if you would like to contribute directly to the veterinarians to pay down the balances, we are happy to provide you with their contact information. Please note these contributions are tax deductible and we will make sure that you receive a receipt.

A Rainbow Despite the Storms
For months we have been kicking tires on where we might eventually end up once the building is sold, and then something wonderful and unexpected fell into place. We received a call from a long time Tahoe family who has donated office space in Zephyr Cove to the Humane Society. We actually had to pinch ourselves to believe that it was true, and it is! We are incredibly grateful to the DeSota Family for lending a hand to the organization as we look for a solution. We cannot thank you enough.

We will be moving there throughout the month of October and getting set up. We might need some hands to help us make this happen, if you would like to help us, please send an email to info@laketahoehumanesociety.org.

Pet Food Pantry Distribution Locations
With our upcoming move, we will no longer be distributing food from the 884 Emerald Bay Road location effective October 22. We have posted the locations, dates, and times on our website here. We know that this will inconvenience many of the people whom we support, however, we have ensured that there are alternative locations where the needy in our community will receive the help they need for their animals.

We Are Looking For a New Treasurer We are very saddened to announce the departure of Liz Naylor our Treasurer. Due to some unforeseen life circumstances, Liz will be taking time to spend with family. Liz has been a tremendous support and has brought incredible structure to the financial integrity for the organization. We are actively recruiting for a new volunteer Treasurer. If you have bookkeeping, CPA, or financial operations experience, please send an email to: info@laketahoehumanesociety.org for a copy of job description and a Board application form.

Donations and Thanks!
We continue to thank you for your support, partnerships, and encouragement. Even though we are discouraged, we remain encouraged about future possibilities.

With incredible gratitude.
Board of Directors, Lake Tahoe Humane Society