What is Stand By You?
Stand By You is a grassroots project for direct assistance to disaster displaced animals. Mid-Peninsula Animal Hospital™ staff, clients, friends and family work with industry colleagues to maximize the impact of our collective donation efforts. There is zero overhead.
How Does It Work?
For every dollar donated, we'll match* it, load up the food, crates and medical supplies, and drive it up with our Vets and RVT team. Costs for gas, lodging, staff lunches, staff time and equipment are on us. For every dollar you give toward feeding and medical supplies for the evacuated animals, we'll match* it, buy the food at a discount provided by our distributor, and drive it up ourselves. It's as direct-impact as you can get.
Who is involved?
The Mid-Peninsula Animal Hospital™ staff and clients, and any friends or family who want to pitch in.
On the receiving side, we've received calls for help from several shelters. We want to answer the calls from Napa, Sonoma and Santa Rosa, but to be clear, we're going to start with Santa Rosa first because it's the most concentrated area. Biggest impact first.
Comerica Bank provides the banking services at no cost.
Where does the money go?
If you choose to use the Paypal option, there's a charge just a little over 2% for the convenience.
If you mail in a check, or bring one by the animal hospital, we match* the funds, all of which goes to pet food, purchased at a discount from our distributor, plus crates and medical supplies. We drive the truck ourselves to colleagues in the area. Transport costs are covered by us.
How did the Stand By You project start?
After the Fukushima earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant disaster, we saw the story of little dog who stood by his friend until humans arrived, who he then summoned to help his friend. Our first Stand By You project was to help fund foster care directly with colleagues in Japan.
Today, we are responding with direct assistance to a disaster much more close to home. We're driving food, crates and medical supplies up to several shelters who have accepted evacuees and/or their animals and are asking for our help. We're going to Santa Rosa first. We're also making plans to send Vets and RVTs, with another truckload of food, crates and medical supplies. If you want to make a direct impact, this is as direct as it gets.
How long is the Stand By You project supposed to last?
We don't know. We hope, not long; we hope the rebuild is more quick than slow.
* funds are matched up to $10,000.