Undoubtedly, 2020 was an historically challenging year, but some good did come out of it. For one thing, we celebrated our 10th anniversary — a significant milestone for a small charity with a very different type of animal welfare mission. Approximately 4,000 companion and service animals over the years have received assistance from HHF, resulting in numerous lives saved.

Harley’s Hope was able to rise to the challenges the pandemic created and ramped up an entirely new program to help feed the pets of those affected by the virus and its fallout. Over 25,000 lbs. of food and other pet supplies were delivered to high-risk pet parents or distributed via our monthly drive-up pet food pantries, between April 1 and December 31st, through our Emergency Pet Food Program.  That’s a lot of kibble, but to be able to increase the number of pets and people helped during a pandemic meant the world to us.

We continued to take major and emergency veterinary cases without a break in service. This allowed us to help save pets living with people who were battling Covid, quarantining due to their own issues, unemployed due to the pandemic, as well as people who were barely getting by before the virus hit. And, while our emergency foster care program is small, we were able to shelter three animals displaced due to fire, homelessness, and hospitalization. One service dog was boarded twice while his disabled Marine veteran underwent life-saving treatment at a local hospital. Thank you to Lucky Dog Central for working with HHF to keep that dog safe and sound.

All told, over 1,030 animals received services in 2020. To put that in perspective, we normally assist 100 animals or less per year. This kind of massive shift doesn’t happen without a lot of help, so please indulge me as I take the time to thank those who made this possible.

To our donors, we would not still be up and running 10 years down the road without your support, so thank you for literally keeping the lights on. While major gifts can be transformative for a small nonprofit, and we thank those of you who gave those special gifts, every donation at every amount truly does count. Our gratitude goes out to our monthly donors, to our occasional donors, to our year-end campaign donors, and to our corporate and foundation donors. Without you, we might not have survived 2020, so thank you for believing in the value of our work to keep pets and people together.

Two other nonprofits played a huge role in developing our emergency food program. The Colorado Pet Pantry didn’t hesitate to jump in and provide over 10 tons of pet food and litter to support our efforts. Without them, this program wouldn’t have happened. In trying to find a location for the drive-up pet food pantries, the Church for All Nations didn’t hesitate to let us piggy back on their human food bank. Thank you also to the individuals who donated pet food and supplies they could no longer use. Sadly, many gave because their own pets had passed on.  How kind of you, in your moment of grief, to think of other pets in need. And, thank you to Wild Blue Cats! who donated a truckload full of dog food and litter in support of our work, then came back later with a load of cat food to share. 

But, there’s another group that is equally important, but don’t receive nearly enough accolades — our volunteers.  Harley’s Hope has never had a large volunteer base because we didn’t need one. The vast majority of our work was done on the computer or phone, then carried out by a small group of dedicated program coordinators and our board of directors. The emergency food program changed all that. 

We now have people driving across three counties to deliver food to those in need. Just this past week, dog food was delivered to an 81-year-old woman in Pueblo with an old dog in need of canned food. Cat food and litter was brought to a 75-year-old in Colorado Springs who is trying to feed her own pets and make sure a colony of feral cats don’t starve to death in the middle of winter. Supplies have been delivered in Teller County as far away as Victor and Cripple Creek, because need doesn’t end at the county line. 

And, our wonderful, stalwart volunteers stood outside in 18-degree weather mid-December to make sure attendees at that month’s pet food pantry received not only food and litter, but new pet coats, sweaters and candy canes to make their holidays a bit brighter. Thank you all for giving of yourself, your time and your talent to support our mission. Please take a moment to look at our Thank You section this month where we will recognize all of these wonderful donors, volunteers, and supporters by name.

Despite 2021 beginning with a heartbreakingly rocky start, I still want to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best, and to share my hope for a better year.