branfordcompassionclub Branford Compassion Club

2022 Annual Appeal

Dear Friends,

We continue to provide for the feeding, shelter, and care of homeless, abandoned, and feral cats; to educate the public about the importance of spay/neuter population control, responsible pet ownership and kindness to animals; and to establish an ongoing community network to achieve these goals.

When we rescue, we don’t know what the related vetting expenses will be, not all health issues are immediately evident.

In June BCC rescued 4 kittens, whose mom had not been spayed and was allowed outside, which exposed the unborn kittens to serious diseases. With expert veterinary care, all 4 kittens survived, flourished, and were adopted into loving homes. Their veterinary costs, however, went far beyond what could be covered by our usual $225/ kitten adoption fee. The actual cost was $3,615.83, exceeding the adoption fee by $2,715.83.

Since January 1st we have accepted more than 246 cats/kittens and adopted out over 229, bringing the total adoptions since we opened our shelter in 2011, to more than 2,519! We currently have over 162 cats and kittens under our care, spread out between foster homes and our shelter! Our shelter manager receives requests daily for rescue assistance from people and local animal control agencies.

Importantly though, as the recent beneficiary of some substantial donations, we have also begun to invest for our future. Our strategy is conservative, with the goal of supplementing our regular fundraising while continuing to grow our investments. We hope this strategy will help to secure our next 25 years and that we can look forward to your continuing support. Bequests, stock transfers or donations from your IRA can be excellent, tax-efficient ways to participate in this effort. We encourage you to discuss the options with your estate planning or tax advisor. If you would like to see more about this and see how you might participate, please visit our website: https://branfordcompassionclub.org/how-to-help/planned-giving/

While we plan, we still need your help NOW to continue fulfilling our mission!

Send a donation via the Donate button below or send a check to:

Branford Compassion Club
P.O. Box 768
Branford, CT 06405

Thank you in advance for your support, generosity, and compassion!
If you have given to us recently, please accept our heartfelt appreciation!

Sincerely,
Margaret Johnson
Margaret Johnson, President

or send a check to:
Branford Compassion Club
P.O. Box 768
Branford, CT 06405

Jen Payne Branford Compassion Club

2021 Annual Appeal


If it weren’t for BCC, I would never have adopted my beloved cat Jupiter. He was the sweetest cat and the greatest joy of my life! His adoring eyes would follow me from room to room. So, every time I hear about a stray or abandoned cat in need of rescue, I always think about Jupiter – and want to help!

Dear Friends,

Never has the need for rescue been so great or our veterinary cost, due to serious health issues and volume, been so high. We exceeded our 2021 budget for veterinary care in September. By the end of October our expenses had exceeded last year’s by more than $36,000, despite the considerable discounts received from our dedicated team of veterinarians.

Yet, we remain firm in our mission to provide for the feeding, shelter, and care of homeless, abandoned, and feral cats; to educate the public about the importance of spay/neuter population control, responsible pet ownership and kindness to animals; and, to establish an ongoing community network to achieve these goals.

2021 has been a very busy year for us! We have accepted more than 264 cats and kittens since January 1, some of which require a high level of veterinary care and socialization to become adoptable. In the same period, we adopted out over 194, bringing the total adoptions since we opened our shelter in 2011 to more than 2,516! We currently have more than 160 cats and kittens under our care in foster homes and in the shelter. Our shelter manager receives daily requests for rescue assistance from people facing eviction because of related Covid-19 job loss, people finding and feeding stray cats living outside, and local animal control agencies.

The high volume of intakes results in financial challenges that our adoption fees do not even begin to cover. As a non-profit, no-kill, volunteer-driven program with just one paid shelter manager, we receive no municipal funding from any town, and many state programs have been eliminated. Our operating costs in all areas – shelter maintenance, supplies, and veterinary care – continue to increase.

We have implemented additional fundraisers to make sure we can still accomplish our mission, despite the high bills, but we can’t do it without your help! Thank you in advance for your support, generosity, and compassion. If you have given to us recently, please accept our heartfelt appreciation.

Sincerely,

Margaret Johnson
President

or send a check to:
Branford Compassion Club
P.O. Box 768
Branford, CT 06405

Jen Payne Branford Compassion Club

We Need Your Support! Become a Sponsor Today!

Dear Branford Compassion Club Friend,

BCC hasn’t stopped rescuing!

Never have the number of felines in our care been so high and we need your continued support!

As of today, we have: 80 kittens in foster care, 46 adult cats in foster care, and 72 cats in our shelter, for a total of 198 cats/kittens!

Our vet bills have reached new heights, due to the high number of cats with critical health issues. This month we are expecting a vet bill over $25,000.00!

In order to continue this level of support we need more of you to join us as recurring, Annual Sustaining Sponsor:

Protector – $600 (only $50 a month)
Champion – $300 (only $25 a month)
Guardian – $120 (only $10 a month)

Send a donation via our website (see below) or send a check to:

Branford Compassion Club
P.O. Box 768
Branford, CT 06405

For a few dollars or less a day – you can make a huge difference in the quality of life for our furry friends!

As a Sustaining Sponsor you will help ensure a steady stream of needed funding that will enable us to continue our mission to neuter, vaccinate, test and provide medical intervention for every feline that passes through our doors!

An additional way to support us monthly, is with recurring/auto-ship subscriptions at Chewy! * Just remember to ship to Branford Compassion Club, 2037 Foxon Road, North Branford, CT 06471

Abandoned cats are dependent on us to provide a safe haven where they can receive medical care and get the help, they need to find a forever home!

Branford Compassion Club has been here since 1997, and we continue to provide vital and lifesaving services to cats and kittens in need but, we can’t continue to do this without a major increase in sustainable support!

We cannot continue our mission without an increased source of sustainable funding. We urgently need your help, and all donations of any amount are always appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your support and generosity! We count on you, as an animal lover, to continue our mission!

Sincerely,
Margaret Johnson, President

* Please consider a gift sponsorship for a hard to shop for family member or friend!

CLICK HERE TO BECOME AN ANNUAL SUSTAINING SPONSOR NOW!

ALTERNATE: Become A Sustaining Sponsor
with Monthly Payments (Via Paypal Only)!

The Branford Compassion Club is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Jen Payne Branford Compassion Club

2020 Annual Appeal

Dear Friends,

Despite the major impact of Covid-19, we are continuing to live our mission!

We continue to provide for the feeding, shelter and care of homeless, abandoned and feral cats; to educate the public about the importance of spay/neuter population control, responsible pet ownership and kindness to animals; and to establish an ongoing community network to achieve these goals.

2020 has been a busy year for us! Covid-19 has had a major impact on the shelter, not only affecting the way we have had to do our fundraising but, affecting how we manage our daily care and processing of adoptions, while implementing all PPE precautions to keep our volunteers safe!

We have accepted more than 248 cats/kittens and adopted out over 183 since January 1st, bringing the total adoptions since we opened our shelter in 2011, to more than 2,290! We currently have over 134 cats and kittens in our care, spread out between foster homes and our shelter! Our shelter manager receives requests daily for rescue assistance from people facing eviction, because of related Covid-19 job loss and local animal control agencies.

This increase in intakes has brought financial challenges and our adoption fees do not even begin to cover the cost of the care we provide. We receive no municipal funding from any town and many state programs have been eliminated. Our operating costs in all areas— shelter maintenance, supplies, and veterinary care – continue to increase. With the exception of one paid shelter manager, our shelter is run entirely by dedicated volunteers! We are a non-profit, no-kill, volunteer-driven program.

However, there are many cats that rely on the shelter for a higher level of veterinary care, making it harder to find forever homes, and these cats need your continued support!

We need your help to continue accomplishing our mission!

Thank you in advance for your support, generosity, and compassion!
If you have given to us recently, please accept our heartfelt appreciation!

Sincerely,

Margaret Johnson
Margaret Johnson, President

Jen Payne Branford Compassion Club

We Need Your Support! Become a Sponsor Today!

Dear Branford Compassion Club Supporter,

This year brings an additional challenge, one we share with the whole community and country: the COVID-19 virus. At this time, Branford Compassion Club Feline Rescue & Adoption Center remains closed to the public, but we continue our mission of caring for homeless felines.

Our face to face fundraisers had to be cancelled and new on-line events had to be created to meet our growing needs!

Our average expenses are hovering at $12,000 a month!

This kitten season we rescued 18 mom cats and 113 kittens. As of August 3, 62 kittens and 12 mom cats are in foster care, awaiting adoption. This week our pending vet bills for non-routine care is approaching $2,500.00!

Please choose a giving level below and help us continue our mission by becoming an Annual Sustaining Sponsor:

Protector – $600 (only $50 a month)
Champion – $300 (only $25 a month)
Guardian – $120 (only $10 a month)

Send a donation via the donation buttons below or send a check to:

Branford Compassion Club
P.O. Box 768
Branford, CT 06405

For a few dollars or less a day – you can make a huge difference in the quality of life for our furry friends!

As a Sustaining Sponsor you will help ensure a steady stream of needed funding that will enable us to continue our mission to neuter, vaccinate, test and provide medical intervention for every feline that passes through our doors!

Abandoned cats are dependent on us to provide a safe haven where they can receive medical care and get the help they need to find a forever home!

Branford Compassion Club has been here since 1997, and we continue to provide vital and lifesaving services to cats and kittens in need but, we can’t continue to do this without a major increase in sustainable support!

We cannot continue our mission without an increased source of sustainable funding. We urgently need your help, and all donations of any amount are always appreciated!

Thank you in advance for your support and generosity! We count on you, as an animal lover, to continue our mission!

Sincerely,

Margaret Johnson, President

* Please consider a gift sponsorship for a hard to shop for family member or friend!

CLICK HERE TO BECOME AN ANNUAL SUSTAINING SPONSOR NOW!

ALTERNATE: Become A Sustaining Sponsor
with Monthly Payments (Via Paypal Only)!

The Branford Compassion Club is a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

 

Jen Payne Branford Compassion Club

Animal Awareness Month

To Our Fellow Community Members:

While Branford Compassion Club Feline Rescue & Adoption Center began the year making plans for our biggest fundraiser of the year in October, Animal Awareness Day … COVID-19 came along and everyone’s world changed. We do hope you and your family and friends are all staying safe & healthy!

Though we had to cancel other events and fundraisers planned for spring and early summer, we continued to hope that Animal Awareness Day would still happen in the fall. For many years this fun day on the Branford Town Green included live music, children’s activities, food trucks, live animals, live animal educational demonstrations, a huge bake sale, and booths featuring a variety of area animal care and rescue groups, and business vendors.

The highlight of the day was the Blessing of the Animals, the annual nod to the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, large and small. An eclectic array of pets always made their way to the Green to be blessed by local clergy from several denominations.

Unfortunately the Board of Directors only recently made the difficult decision to cancel the event. This was such a heartbreaking thing to do – it is our BIGGEST event of the year and brings together so many people in our community on the Branford Town Green to celebrate the lives of the animals who share our world. We kept hoping we could still have the event but a decision had to be made soon since so much planning has to be done in advance and there is still a great deal of uncertainty about how things will shake down in the fall with the pandemic.

However, we’ve come up with some ideas to have the event virtually with some online fundraisers! The Blessing of the Animals (which is what the day centers around) will be held as a drive-through event at the North Branford Congregational Church on October 4th. The celebration for 2020 has been renamed “Animal Awareness Month” and other things are planned during the month such as an online silent auction, a pet photo contest, a Yankee Candle sale online, to name a few.

To make all this possible, we need the financial assistance of the community. There are varying levels of sponsorship, as noted on the attached form, ranging from $5,000 for presenting sponsor to $100 for bronze sponsor. You can pay by mail, making your check (sorry, no credit cards) payable to Branford Compassion Club, and mailing it to Chris Gagne, c/o Branford Compassion Club, 2037 Foxon Road, North Branford, CT 06471.

• Download a Sponsor Form
• Read more about Animal Awareness Month

The Branford Compassion Club, celebrating its 23rd anniversary this year, is a privately funded nonprofit organization founded in 1997 to raise awareness about the importance of spay-neutering felines, to aid in the adoption of homeless cats and care for those deemed unadoptable in area feral colonies. These feral cats are trapped, neutered and released into the perpetual daily care of BCC volunteers. The shelter, which opened in 2011, has found forever homes for more than 2,400 cats, while BCC has adopted out several thousand more before opening the Feline Rescue & Adoption Center. Though the shelter had to close to the public in March, we are continuing to do our best to rescue, care for, and find homes for the many homeless cats and kittens that pass through our doors. It has been a very challenging year for us and the entire country but we have to believe we will all get through it!

Sincerely,

Christina Gagne, Event Chairperson