Oh, What a Night!

On Saturday, October 7, more than 550 supporters joined us for our Unleash Your Heart Gala & Auction. This annual event has a reputation as the party of the year - not just because it's a great time, but also because of the extraordinary generosity of our community. 

Gala is a critical fundraiser for HSSW, and this year it raised a record $625,000 for the animals. This generous support helps ensure HSSW will be here every day to provide essential medical care and behavioral rehabilitation, foster care for pets who need special support, shelter for lost pets and those fleeing abuse and neglect, and adoption services for pets and families looking for their perfect match. Thanks to our incredible donors and dedicated sponsors, we can be here for the animals every day. 

The evening was filled with excitement as guests shared delicious food and drink, bid on fabulous items in the live and virtual silent auction, enjoyed moving stories of impact, dashed for desserts, and danced the night away.  

Fundraising is only one part of the magic that happens at Gala. It's a time for us to celebrate the special connection between people and pets, reflect on our year with moving stories of second chances for animals, and share updates on new initiatives and our path forward supporting pets and people.

A New Initiative

This year, we shared an exciting update coming soon to a road (yes, road) near you: The Sandra Richardson Miller Mobile Veterinary Clinic. 

The Mobile Clinic will soon be on the move providing no or low-cost spay/neuter, wellness, and prevention services for low-income families who have little to no access to veterinary care. The addition of the Mobile Clinic will expand our capacity to bring veterinary care to the community where it is needed most and help keep people and pets together. (If you'd like to read more about our commitment to wellness care for pets and its impact, check out last month's WAG.)

This unique program will allow us to serve the growing needs of our community while we continue to raise funds to build a new public low-cost veterinary clinic and behavior center that will be added to the current shelter facility in the next few years.

Learn more about the future for HSSW and our plans to support the pets and people of our community on our strategic plan, Path Forward 2025. 

Thank you Sponsors

Events like Gala wouldn't be possible without the support of our sponsors. Today, we want to acknowledge the special contributions of Gala's presenting sponsors - Columbia River Veterinary Specialists and ilani - two great friends of the animals and partners in our work. We are deeply grateful for their support of HSSW.

Columbia River Veterinary Specialists

Longtime friends of HSSW, Columbia River Veterinary Specialists are dedicated partners in our work. Offering specialized and emergency care to pets in the Vancouver and Portland metro areas, CRVS has made it their mission to provide pets with state-of-the-art medical care and service. But their support isn't limited to pets in our community, CRVS provides year-round emergency and specialized support for the animals of HSSW. Thanks to this partnership, we know that skilled emergency care is available to the animals of HSSW in their time of need.

ilani

Our partnership with ilani extends beyond Gala. They are year-round supporters of our mission and partners in our work in the community. In addition to their sponsorship of Gala, the ilani team went the extra mile with great hospitality, making Gala such a special evening. The partnership between ilani and HSSW is one that will benefit the animals of Southwest Washington for many years. And we're just one of the many organizations fortunate to be the recipient of their generous support. Through charitable giving in our region, ilani aims to strengthen our community now and into the future.

Gala Photos

Want to revisit all the fun of the evening? Check out photos at the links below:

Gala Event Photos  Gala Photo Booth

Holiday Magic at ReTails

If it seems like the holidays are creeping up on you, they are! And while trees, ornaments, and more are popping up on store shelves everywhere, the ReTails elves (staff and volunteers, of course) are busy decking the halls to open the ReTails Holiday Store on November 3. And if you're as excited as we are, you can get your ticket to our preview night and shop before we open to the public (more on that later...). 

For nearly a decade, the holiday store has been the destination for savvy shoppers to pick up gently used holiday decór at the low prices you've come to expect at ReTails. In 2014 - shortly after moving into our current location - the first Holiday Boutique opened as a pop-up store in an empty storefront two doors down from the store. The effort was led by volunteers who sorted, cleaned, priced, displayed, and sorted box after box of holiday items. Its busy sales and lines out the door made it clear: the holiday store would become a ReTails tradition.

Over the years, the Holiday Store has grown not just in popularity, but also in footprint. It continues to press the boundaries of the boutique to include holiday merch in our dinnerware and kitchen departments, linens and pillows, and a veritable forest of gently-used Christmas trees. Prepping for the Holiday Store has become a year-round labor of love for our team. Every day our staff and volunteers spend time pricing, organizing, and sorting items to get ready for the holiday store. And this year, we have a mountain of holiday merchandise waiting for eager thrifters. We've filled a 40-foot storage container, a truck trailer, and all available rack space in the store... more than 45 pallets of holiday items are ready to find new homes. 

Of course, the true magic of the Holiday Store isn't in the glittering decorations, vintage baubles, or holiday greenery, it's that every purchase supports the lifesaving support HSSW provides the pets and people of our community. 

We're continuing another tradition this year: ReTails Holiday Store Preview Night. On November 2, we'll open the store for ticket holders from 5:00-8:00 to shop before we open to the public. And if you can't make it, don't worry! The store is restocked throughout the day by our hardworking team, so there's always something new to discover.

Preview Night Tickets

The ReTails Holiday Store will be open daily through the holiday season. And don't just think of us for your holiday shopping needs - we're also grateful for your donations of holiday items. As always, every purchase and donation supports the pets at HSSW. And if the holidays aren't your thing, don't worry! We still have our usual incredible selection of non-holiday items waiting for you. Find ReTails location, hours, and more - click here.

HSSW Newsletter

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