Two donors to the Tompkins County SPCA have offered funding for a 'challenge match' that could yield the SPCA up to $100,000.  SPCA of Tompkins County's Executive Director Jim Bouderau says it will be the largest challenge match in SPCA history.

"I am tremendously pleased to announce that two of our most dedicated friends of the SPCA have offered a $50,000 challenge to match, dollar for dollar, every donation made between now and May 31, 2015.  Our 'matchmakers' are challenging our community to rally in support of us," says Jim Bouderau. "Raising funds at this time of year is critical to our work in the upcoming busy summer months when we see the largest influx of animals."

In 2001, the SPCA of Tompkins County became the first open-admission, No Kill shelter in the United States and subsequently achieved another milestone when opening the nation's first LEED certified Animal Shelter in 2004. In 2014, the SPCA celebrated the Pet Adoption Centers' ten year anniversary by installing a large roof-mounted solar array to continue its commitment to sustainable and environmentally friendly animal sheltering.

"We are looking forward to another busy and exciting year," Bouderau says. "Over the past three months, grant funding has been reduced drastically by almost $65,000, putting some of our most critical programs, like our spay and neuter clinics, at risk.  We worked with our 'matchmakers' so the challenge was timed to help bridge this gap and to coincide with the beginning of kitten/puppy season, when entire litters of animals are surrendered to us for care and eventual adoption. We've been able to do some amazing work in the last fourteen years and couldn't have done this without our many donors and the support of our local community."

Bouderau can't stress enough the importance of local support.

"We are not a government or municipally-funded shelter," he says.  "We rely on the generosity of this community, and their belief in our mission, to make the critical work we do possible."

v11i15