Hello and happy New Year! This New Year's Eve I traveled to Guthrie, OK, to help rebuild the City of Guthrie Animal Shelter as part of the Petfinder.com Foundation's next week-long Rescue U Trip -- our program that sends college students to repair and rebuild shelters in need.

On May 24, 2011, the Guthrie shelter was hit by an F5 tornado (the most powerful kind), leveling one of its two buildings and significantly damaging the outdoor kennels and other infrastructure.

In the seven months since, shelter staff have been struggling to rebuild and care for the animals at an offsite temporary shelter. FEMA aided in rebuilding some of the shelter, but the money ran out and the project stalled.

Thanks to funding from the Animal Rescue Site, Rescue U is here to finish the job and make sure the employees of the Guthrie shelter can function at full capacity by Sunday, Jan. 8. Then the shelter will once again be able to open its doors to help the people and pets of Guthrie, OK.

After the jump, watch our first video update from the trip.

It's day three in Morehead, Kentucky on our Rescue U trip to help Rowan County Animal Shelter. We've made a lot of progress and managed to dodge any significant weather-related delays. The outdoor kennel roofs are framed, fencing is going up, the shelter roof is repaired and dog beds and kitty condos are being constructed by the students. The community support is overwhelming.

Our friend Rob Hamilton, the manager of Braxton County Animal Shelter in West Virginia, drove over yesterday to help out and pay it forward. Last year his facility was the site of a Rescue U trip. (Read about and watch video of that trip here.)

Colleen Harrington, the director of shelter operations at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in New Jersey, joined us too. She is here to help care for the animals and transport dogs back with her, increasing the likelihood that they will be adopted.

After a long travel day full of weather-related flight delays, I made it to Morehead, KY, and met up with the students and volunteers who are here for our Rescue U program.

We headed out early this morning to the Rowan County Animal Shelter and began work to repair the roof and kennel fencing -- two of many projects that desperately need to be completed by the time we leave.

This is day one of a 10-day trip for students from Delaware Valley College, Morehead State University and Eastern Kentucky University who gave up their first week of summer vacation to meet us in Kentucky to rehab the shelter to help homeless pets.

The pets here are all amazing, with eyes that melt your soul, all of them just waiting to find their forever homes. One look at them quickly reminds all of us why we are here. The staff and volunteers at the shelter welcomed us with open arms and the community of Rowan is rallying around this effort. I can't help but be inspired by the dedication of the students, volunteers and staff who all care so much.

Follow us here as we blog from the shelter each day.

And remember ... today is the last day to VOTE for the Petfinder.com Foundation to support this program with a $500,000 donation from Chase. Voting ends at midnight EST. Every vote counts and we could definitely use yours!!!

This trip is made possible through the support of our friends at BISSELL, longtime advocates for pet adoption; The Animal Rescue Site and GreaterGood.org. Visit The Animal Rescue Site every day to make a free click donation that supports the Petfinder.com Foundation.

... back to the shelter ...

Liz

... And we're off! I am heading down to Kentucky to partner with Animal Lifeline on our Rescue U program. Together with a group of dedicated college students, professional staff, and colleagues, we're going to help rebuild some shelters in need.

Approximately 30 students from Delaware Valley College, Morehead State University and Eastern Kentucky University will be volunteering together on various projects to improve shelter conditions at Rowan County Animal Shelter and Menifee County Animal Shelter in Eastern Kentucky.

The students are giving up their first week of summer vacation to repair and install chain link fences and kennels, build roofs over kennels, install a dog bath, make dog and cat beds, clean the existing kennels and install an outdoor cat enclosure and play area.

Like we did with our last Rescue U trip, to South Carolina, we'll keep you updated from the road with video blogs so you can see firsthand the amazing work the students are doing and the pets who are waiting to find their forever homes.

This trip is made possible through the support of our friends at BISSELL, longtime advocates for pet adoption, The Animal Rescue Site and GreaterGood.org. Visit The Animal Rescue Site every day to make a free click donation that supports the Petfinder.com Foundation.

PS: Our Rescue U program is up for a $500,000 grant from Chase. Help us continue the program by voting for The Petfinder.com Foundation today!

Dear friends,

Last month your votes helped us win a $25,000 grant in the Chase Community Giving Facebook promotion.

That win allowed us to move on to round two, where we submitted a "Big Idea" for a chance to win $500,000 to help homeless pets.

Now we need your help more than ever. Voting begins today and goes to midnight on May 25.

VOTE NOW and help the Petfinder.com Foundation win $500,000!!!

Voting is easy and free: Just "Like" facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving, then click here to vote for the Petfinder.com Foundation. Then spread the word by "Liking" our charity page to post it to your Facebook wall.

Here's what we'll do if we win:
We'd greatly expand our Rescue U program, which sends groups of college students on trips to dilapidated shelters, where they work beside shelter staff and local volunteers to build new facilities, educate the community about pet care and transport shelter pets to the North to be adopted. Each trip teaches the value of volunteering and makes a huge impact on the shelter pets and the people who care for them.

Our "Big Idea" is Rescue U as a self-sustaining, national program. With $500,000 we'll create Rescue U chapters across the country. Each chapter will organize trips, collect donations and work with local shelters, helping students stay invested in their communities and in the welfare of animals.

These students will learn the importance of compassion, the difference they can make and how to be the change they want to see in the world. Help us save thousands of homeless pets and inspire the next generation.

We are heading down to Kentucky on a Rescue U trip next week, so you will hear more from me with stories and video blogs from the road.

In the meantime, PLEASE VOTE, re-post and tell your friends.

We couldn't do it without you.

Best,
Liz

Every day at the Petfinder.com Foundation, people ask us what they can do to help homeless pets. My usual answer is: Just do something. But today I have a specific request for you because we need your HELP.

It's easy, it's free and it could mean a lot of money for homeless pets. Here's what you can do:

1. Go to Chase Community Giving on Facebook and "like" that page.
   
2. Click here and vote for the Petfinder.com Foundation!
   
3. Tell your friends!
   

If we get enough votes to put us among the top 100 charities, we'll win $25,000 to support our programs that help homeless pets -- and we'll move on to round 2, where we'll have another chance to win up to $500,000! We got a late start ... the first round of voting ends May 4!

All it takes is a minute of your time, but your vote means so much. With $25,000 and the chance to win $500,000, we can do a lot to ensure every pet has a forever home. Together we can all make a difference.

Adopt, volunteer, donate (and VOTE)!

Thank you for your support. We couldn't do it without you.

It's day four for us at Chester County Animal Control in South Carolina, and I'm thrilled that our friend, New York City style icon and animal advocate Fabiola Beracasa, has flown down to pitch in.

The Petfinder.com Foundation is partnering with Fabiola on the new program SNAP-X (more on that after the jump). She is an amazing advocate for adoptable pets and a real help at the shelter. (See her video blog above).

Today was a flurry of activity. Dogs who are going north on transport were taken to the vet for shots, spay/neuter and health certificates so they can safely make it to their new homes.

The students worked all day finishing fencing for the new kennels, putting a roof on the new cat house, building beds and helping with the animals. With one day left, it's crunch time, and it looks like rain, which complicates the plans.

It's day three for us in South Carolina on the Animal Lifeline trip and I am amazed by the progress: new outdoor kennels, a new cat house, new indoor kennels, new dog beds. The students, volunteers and Chester County Animal Control staff have been working all day, every day to make this happen. And with only three days left, the pressure is on and I can't wait to see the end result.

The quality of life for these pets is going to be dramatically improved, and more animals will be adopted because of these efforts.

Check out my video blog above to tour the shelter, meet the students and see some of the pets available for adoption. 

Despite all this great work, I have a problem: I have fallen in love with Nora, a little girl dog at the shelter. She is an unlikely candidate for me but, like most love affairs, you don't always see it coming.

Nora was a bait dog used for fighting. She came into the shelter skin and bones and ripped up, but has been nursed back to health and she is a LOVER. An itty-bitty Pit Bull with the sweetest eyes who is happiest getting her belly rubbed in the grass. You can see my video of Nora here, or check out her profile on Petfinder. I begged my husband to let me bring her back to Arizona. He said (rightfully so) it's me or the dog ... so I have some serious thinking to do tonight. She, like all of these pets, deserves to find her forever home and I am pulling for her.

This is my first blog post, even though I have been executive director of the Petfinder.com Foundation for over two years. You know how it goes: start but don't finish, something else to do, a fantastic staff who can actually blog. But no more excuses! I guess you can call this a resolution of sorts.

I love my job. In 2010, with the generous support of donors and sponsors/partners, we were able to give (literally) millions of dollars back to Petfinder.com shelter and rescue-group members to help further our mission of ending the euthanasia of adoptable pets. Sometimes I do get mired in the administrative minutia that is necessary
to run the foundation, but next week I'm busting out to help rebuild a shelter in need with a group of dedicated college students, professional staff, and colleagues.

To say I'm excited is an understatement. The idea of doing hands-on, down-and-dirty work at a shelter has a huge appeal to me (except for the 30-degree weather -- I am a Tucson girl, after all).

I'm leaving on New Year's Day to travel to Chester, SC, to participate in Animal Lifeline's Rescue University program. Animal Lifeline's amazing and dedicated staff will take college students who have volunteered(!) to give up their winter break (and New Year's Eve) to ride in a van from Pennsylvania to South Carolina and Chester County Animal Control.

The students and professional staff will spend a week rehabilitating the shelter facilities to improve the quality of life for pets waiting to find their forever homes; we'll also transport some dogs to the Northeast, where their chances of being adopted will be much higher.