It’s the second day of my 12 Days of Charitable Giving. Readers have suggested deserving charities over the past few weeks and I’ll be posting one a day for – well, 12 days (I’m clever that way). Today’s charity is PACT For Animals.
PACT stands for People + Animals = Companions Together. The mission of the organization is to provide programs that benefit companion animals and their owners.
PACT supports the community through unique programs such as the emergency Pet Foster Programs, helping animal caregivers with their emergency needs, and running educational seminars. Since no one knows when an unexpected medical crisis will happen, PACT’s team of dedicated volunteers places animals in caring temporary foster homes in less than 5 hours in emergency situations due to a temporary military or medical crisis. Through two companion animal foster programs, PACT provides temporary, free, in-home foster care assistance to military personnel and hospital patients who have no place to safely leave their pets during their time away from home. PACT is the ONLY non-profit organization in the country providing this unique, essential service to both military personnel and hospital patients. You can read about some of their success stories here.
So how can you help?
To make a one-time donation (or a recurring donation), you can click over to the website.
You can also volunteer. PACT has opportunities for volunteers to help in a variety of ways. To be a PACT volunteer please click here and fill out a volunteer application. For more information about PACT internships, please contact Lynn Merves, Executive Director.
If you’d like to foster an animal, you can be as specific as you’d like about the type of animal you are comfortable fostering and how long you can commit. The shortest foster length is usually two months, and all homes are inspected by a Home Visit Volunteer before any animals are placed. Foster homes are reimbursed by the owner for the cost of food and medical costs of the foster pet, and should any problem arise, PACT personnel are on hand 24/7 to help. To foster, fill out an application here. You can check out a list of dogs waiting for foster parents here.
Remember that your time is not deductible but out-of-pocket expenses related to your volunteer time may be deductible. You can deduct your mileage plus parking fees and tolls. You can also claim travel expenses such as air, rail, and bus transportation, taxi fares or other costs of transportation between the airport or station and your hotel, the cost of lodging and the cost of meals if you incur those costs while you are away from home and performing services for charity; unreimbursed uniforms or other related clothing worn as part of your charitable service; and supplies used in the performance of your services.
As always, you want to make sure that your donation is going to a qualified charitable organization. A search using the IRS’ Exempt Organizations Select Check reveals that PACT is on the list. To find out more about the work of the organization, check out their website, like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.
Remember: submissions to the 12 Days of Charitable Giving are made by readers and in most cases, I can’t personally vouch for the good work that these folks do. So be generous. But be smart. Do your homework.
For more information on making charitable donations, check out this post.
For other charities in the series:
