We save local dogs from death row.
 We try our best to save as many as we can. We work with what we have but of course we're limited by space, able bodies, and by funding. But honestly, our community does a pretty great job of keeping us running smoothly, and for that we can't thank you enough! We are based in the Manatee-Sarasota area. Most of our dogs come straight from Manatee County Animal Services and the farthest out we go to rescue dogs is an occasional trip to Highlands County, also known as Sebring. That means your donation and your hard work stays in this community. We believe euthanasia is meant only for the terminally ill dogs that have no comfort left in life, and we are proud to be a No-Kill rescue. We love these dogs. They're our dogs until they're adopted, and we treat each one of them as loved family pets -- because that's what they are.
So here's the news
Online, on September 20th & 21st our incredible supporters have the opportunity to have their donations matched (doubled if you donated through the Giving Challenge last year, tripled if this is your first time participating with us in the Giving Challenge.) This is thanks to the generous sponsors of the Giving Challenge listed below, and the whole event is hosted by the Sarasota Community Foundation. We will receive a donation link that lasts only 24 hours from noon to noon through which eligible donations can be made. We will be sharing that link like crazy on our facebook page. 
Early pledges may also be made by phone at any time before the challenge. Simply call our trusted board member Stephanie at (941) 962-4090 to make your pledge.
The theme this year is 'Be The One', which we totally love. The whole point is that anyone can be the one to make a difference. It doesn't matter if you're dropping a $100 donation or a $25 donation this year, whether you can bring a foster dog into your home or just hold a leash for 5 minutes, you are making a difference. We're not a big organization, we just have big hearts. We know the names of everyone who comments on our Facebook posts and supports us through PayPal and our YouCaring fundraisers. You mean so much to us and we love that you believe in what we're doing here.
Our Next Event
We are thrilled that Manatee County Animal Services agreed to partner with us for the "Best Business Partnership Challenge" this year, and we expect great adoption success for the animals in our county shetler from our joint Clear the Shelter 2-day Event this Friday and Saturday. We sure hope you'll come out and see us!
#UnforgettaBULL
We are also promoting our UnforgettaBULL campaign, through which we hope to bring light to the dogs who are overlooked at the shelter and are in danger of being forgotten or falling through the cracks. This often means seniors, pit bulls, dogs in need of medical care or behavioral rehab, or simply unlucky pups who run out of time.
Our millennial design team also came up with some new t-shirts.
Grab yours at the event this weekend Sep. 16th & 17th
So, we hope we've earned your support this year. If we didn't, we can promise you we are constantly learning how to better our organization and grow larger and stronger as a team. Last year, the results from the Giving Challenge were astounding and your support allowed us to build new kennels for every dog in our rescue during our move to the new location. We were also able to double the kennel space for some of our larger dogs and build raised beds for every kennel. We're so proud of how far we've come, and we hope you will stick around to see our progress for next year!
How To Donate
If you'd like to make a donation to Forget-Me-Not for the Giving Challenge but you're so excited that you just can't wait, give us a call at (941) 962-4090 to make your pledge now. Donations between $25 and $100 are eligible for the matching opportunities.
Otherwise, we will be sent a donation link on September 20th that will last for just 24 hours. Through this link, our supporters will be able to make donations eligible for double & triple matching. We'll be sending out an email with that link and also sharing it on our Facebook page during the challenge on September 20th and 21st.
 | 
If you follow our
it goes quickly. The fact that our donors are able to triple their generous donations is almost unbelievable to us, and we hope you're just as excited about it as we are.
We share a common goal with Manatee County Animal Services: We want to see these dogs get great homes. We were thrilled when MCAS director Sarah Brown agreed to partner with us for the Best Business Partner challenge this year. Immediately, we began to plan an adoption event for the dogs at the county shelter. We decided to call it "Clear the Shelter" because that was the ultimate dream. Sarah Brown believes being a No-Kill county shelter is achievable, and of course we will do whatever we can to help her in that mission. The kennels were overflowing with dogs, and still are, but by working together with Animal Services to promote this event and bring our event to life, we were able to help the county shelter adopt out 25 cats and 27 dogs in two days.
While our primary goal was adoptions and clearing kennels at the county shelter, we also set out to educate people on the dog overpopulation crisis in our area and how easy it is for great dogs to slip through the cracks and become forgotten in a crowded shelter. That is the whole idea behind our UnforgettaBULL campaign. So many people were astonished by the number of pit bull-type dogs filling up the kennels, and some of those people ended up going home with one of those blocky-headed friends. We couldn't have asked for a better outcome. 
During our 
This gives us hope that we'll be able to get Thumper corrective surgery for his leg and he'll soon be in ship shape! We scooped the little guy up at the end of the Clear the Shelter event on Saturday and we all giggled as we gave him kisses and loaded him into the van. Thumper is less than a year old, and soon enough we'll find him a new home to enjoy the rest of his long, healthy life in. The freedom ride was glorious, and it was a beautiful end to a beautiful day.
We have some residents that we know may never leave us. Some of our dogs are still overcoming traumas that keep them at a sanctuary status, and some will never recover, but they're safe here. We love these dogs. They're our family. We knew what we were getting ourselves into by becoming a No-Kill rescue and housing sanctuary dogs, and part of that responsibility is affording lifelong care for dogs that will never be adopted. An example of this is Hero, our resident "Dangerous Dog" designee (AKA victim of a weird and outdated law that was recently turned upside down by 
We grabbed some pups and hit the road! We'll be popping up all over town to find adopters for our dogs, meet new friends, and let people know about the Giving Challenge. We'll be touring the town for 24 hours during the Giving Challenge to celebrate 24 hours of online giving. We'll be starting out around noon in Downtown Bradenton in our "tour bus" (OK -- it's actually an RV, but it's big and has couches... and dogs!). If you would like to join the Forget-Me-Not Tour or you have a great place for us to stop by and show off pups, send us a shout out on 
