Long Beach Gives opens the season of generosity and support!

On Thursday, Sept. 17, Long Beach Gives kicked off a week of community support for nonprofits whose work has benefited Long Beach residents of all ages and species. The campaign runs through the midnight ending Giving Day, Sept. 24.

Long Beach Gives is an online fundraising campaign created to raise awareness of nonprofits centered in Long Beach and those outside the city that have contributed to a positive impact in Long Beach, and to inspire individuals and businesses in Long Beach to support the organizations’ work with donations.

Long Beach Gives is the brainchild of Julie Meenan, executive director of the Josephine S. Gumbiner Foundation. Meenan founded Long Beach Gives in 2019 as a graduate school project focused on giving days, such as Giving Tuesday.

“She saw that, in our nonprofit community, too much reliance was being put on foundations for supporting nonprofits,” said Carrie Eldridge, Long Beach Gives campaign and engagement manager. “And that’s not sustainable — there’s no long-term future. [Grants and foundations] can sunset or have to support other nonprofits, and you really need sustainable income for our nonprofits to create that consistency that our community deserves. So, Julie created Long Beach Gives as a platform for nonprofits to share their stories, to tell the community what they’re doing.”

Each year, interested nonprofits submit applications beginning in January. The campaign begins on the third Thursday of September and culminates the following Thursday with Long Beach Gives Day, the biggest day of giving and a showcase for the nonprofits and the community.

Since its founding, the community has raised $10,806,999 for the nonprofits. Community members choose from among 16 diverse charitable categories that benefit such causes as family and seniors, social justice, LGBTQ+, the environment, health and, of course, animals. Because we’re Scratch This! and you’re reading the column probably because you love animals, here’s a list of animal-related nonprofits on Long Beach Gives. Just click this link and search the name.

1FURONE Foundation Therapy dogs and mini-horses come to the rescue of people who need healing. They help as only animals can help.

Animal Refuge of Los Angeles This nonprofit provides education and resources for people who cannot afford spay/neuter for their pets.

Aquarium of the Pacific Donations will help fund the Aquarium’s CELP Scholar Program — Community, Equity, Learning, and Persistence — which creates pathways for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds to excel in marine sciences. The sea and its inhabitants need all the help they can get, and this fund will help them get it.

Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden Not to be koi, but your gift will help feed the fish.

Golden State Humane Donations to the nonprofit arm of this low-cost veterinary clinic support their community programs, Feral Fridays and the Veterans Fund.

Helen Sanders CatPAWS CatPAWS pulls cats and kittens from our shelter at Long Beach Animal Care Services, heals them, fosters them, and gets them to good homes. Most of these kittens were born to unspayed momcats on the street, so CatPAWS takes care of that end as well, with free spay/neuter clinics for trapped strays and low-cost clinics for “owned” cats. The nonprofit also provides DIY bottle-feeding kits to residents who find litters and want to save their lives.

K9 Kismet Dog Rescue This nonprofit helps people who need help affording medical care for their pups so they can stay in the homes where they’re loved and not be relinquished to a shelter. Their outstanding DIESEL Project provides professional training and enrichment for long-stay shelter dogs who are stressing out in one way or another and also gives hands-on training to the volunteers who love and care for all the dogs in the shelter. Shelter volunteers and staff know that dogs belong in homes, not kennels. K9 Kismet helps them get there.

Los Cerritos Wetlands Trust Humans are stewards for the planet and all species who live on it. Long Beach’s patch of wild needs to thrive for the sake of the animals living in or migrating to it. Donations will help.

SAFE Rescue Team This li’l ol’ rescue takes pets off the street and keeps them — well, safe in foster homes until they find them forever ones. Many of these pets are ill or injured; some are seniors who were dumped and left to die. Each pet gets whatever veterinary treatment they need as well as spay/neuter surgery, vaccinations and microchips. You’ll meet a few of them in Yours drooly.

spcaLA spcaLA is a privately run shelter that shares space with Long Beach Animal Care Services at the P.D. Pitchford Companion Animal Village and Education Center. Besides adopting and fostering pets, spcaLA works to protect pets and their people from domestic violence and offers education on how to prevent it. The nonprofit also offers Friends for Life Summer Camp; Pet Care Patch Workshops, which educate kids about caring for their pets; and dog-training classes.

The Little Lion Foundation “Every cat deserves to roar” is this nonprofit’s motto. Little Lion rescues cats and kittens, gets them healthy, and adopts them out. Some of the kittens are just a few hours old; they are nursed to good health in the Little Paws nursery. Over a year ago, they opened their Community Cat Clinic, which spays and neuters strays and returns them to whence they came. It also provides low-cost spay/neuter and wellness care for housecats. Little Lion also lends humane traps to people who want to trap community cats and prevent the birth of more unwanted kittens.

If you have any spare change after donating to animals, use it to help other nonprofits. Human animals need help, too.

YOURS DROOLY

One great thing about Long Beach Gives is that every nonprofit gets equal profile no matter how small or whatever its cause is. SAFE Rescue Team consists of a small group of volunteers, but they’ve been doing a mighty job of helping sick, injured and dumped animals, helping them heal, and finding homes. Meet three of these sweethearts, read what SAFE Rescue Team has to say about them, and complete this application to adopt one of them or any dog staying with one of their fosters. Check them all out here.

Talk about precious cargo! Cargo was found in horrific condition and landed in a high-kill shelter in the Central California desert. He was so severely matted that he was matted down to his skin. He was covered in urine and feces, smelled like death, and was suffering from a severe upper-respiratory infection that was dangerously close to becoming pneumonia.

But Cargo got lucky. The shelter reached out to us because they knew we would say yes and that we would spare no expense to give this boy the medical care, love and second chance he desperately needed. We immediately arranged emergency transport and brought Cargo into our care. And now, look at him! His rehabilitation and transformation have begun, and we are already seeing the sweet, beautiful boy underneath all that neglect. Cargo will be neutered next week. We had to postpone his surgery until he was healthy enough to safely undergo anesthesia, but he is getting stronger every day.

Now, we’re searching for the most important thing of all — Cargo’s forever family! After everything this little boy has endured, he deserves a home where he will never again know neglect, loneliness or suffering, with someone who will love him fiercely, spoil him endlessly, and show him what it means to finally be safe. Cargo’s past is heartbreaking, but his future can be beautiful. Could you be the person who gives Cargo the happily-ever-after we promised him?

Sweet senior Sammie has been through more than any dog should. All he wants now is a person to love and a quiet place to call home. Sammie somehow ended up in a high-kill shelter with a badly damaged eye and was scheduled to be euthanized. We don’t know what happened to him or what his life looked like before that day. We only know that somehow, this sweet boy kept holding on.

Thankfully, a kind human stepped up to foster Sammie and gave him the chance he desperately needed. She helped nurse Sammie back to health, and he’s since been fully vetted and received treatment for his eye. He’s now healed and doing wonderfully! Sammie’s shelter records estimated his age at around 13 years old, but we believe he may actually be closer to 8 or 9, based on his energy and personality.

And what a wonderful little guy he is! His loves include walking, cozy naps, and being by his person. He’s potty trained and is hip to pee pads. He requires daily drops for dry eye, but other than that, he’s healthy and ready to be spoiled. After everything he has endured, Sammie deserves so much more than a shelter. He deserves someone who will cherish him, spoil him, and let him spend his golden years knowing what it feels like to truly belong. We promised Sammie a happily-ever-after. Now, we just need to find the person who will make that promise come true. Could that person be you?

TAIL-WAGGIN' AND NOSE-BOOPIN' EVENTS

Put a calendar on your calendar!

Electronic calendars are handy, but they’ll never replace the ones you can hang on the wall. They’re more than a convenient way to glance at a month and count, say, how many days you have left before you have to pay taxes or when St. Gertrude’s Day is (Gertrude of Nivelles is the unofficial patron saint of cats). Wall calendars also display photos or pictures of a few of your favorite things, one for each day of the month.

Calendars also provide great ways for cash-strapped animal organizations to raise money to keep themselves going. If you can’t get enough of protruding jaws, slobbery lips, squat little bodies and loving, soulful eyes, purchase your 2027 SoCal Bulldog Rescue calendar by scanning the QR code. Calendar sales fund SoCal Bulldogs’ rescue efforts.

If you know that your cat is destined for stardom — and which of them isn’t? — you have until Sept. 18 to enter them into Helen Sanders CatPAWS’ Show Us Your Kitties! calendar contest. There’s no fee to enter; then, it’s $1 a vote — alert your entire clowder to cough up the votes! Voting ends Sept. 19. You can also reserve a calendar day for just $15: a birthday, a gotcha day or any special day. First come, first claimed on the dates! Enter the contest or vote here. All date reservations and votes fund CatPAWS’ spay/neuter clinics and rescue/medical expenses.

Furry Friends Fest Adoption Event

Berth 55 is hosting a party for our shelter at Long Beach Animal Care Services(LBACS) to help animal lovers and loving animals find one another! The heroes from LBACS volunteer and staff pool will bring an assortment of adorable dogs and a kindle of kittens. For that day only, they’ll waive all adoption fees! Entertainment will include DJ Jack Pharaoh and the Red E Stage, the Badfish Roller Derby Gals making PA announcements on skates, mascots Happy the dog and Paws) the cat. Food, coffee and pet-themed vendors will be available, including the Doggo Nice Day Dog Bakery with goodies for the doggies. Tickets for an upcoming production of the Garage Theatre and a cat and a dog basket from Pet Supplies Plus will be among the prizes. “LBACS takes in between 5,000 and 6,000 lost and abandoned animals annually; animals who need medical attention, food, bedding, and care,” read a statement from Berth 55. “But when community steps up, good stuff happens. If Berth 55 can find a few good homes for a few furry friends, we’re all in!”

Furry Friends Adoption Event will take place Saturday, Sept. 26, 11 p.m.–3 p.m. at Berth 55, 555 Pico Ave., Long Beach.

Frost Fund’s Annual Fall Festival Fundraiser

Pull on your Western boots, button up your flannels, gallop across the county line, and celebrate autumn with Frost Fund at Chapman Crafted Beer! Enjoy an evening of yummy food, line dancing, local brews, raffle prizes, autumn-themed games and local vendors. Your doggy can dress up, too, and enter the costume contest, and children are more than welcome. Strollers are fine, too, but watch out for paws and wagging tails. Through social and news media, Frost Fund finds placement in local and out-of-state rescues, sanctuaries and forever homes for dogs and cats in dire need of rescue. Long Beach Animal Care Services (LBACS) pets have been beneficiaries of their volunteer efforts. Like many small nonprofits, Frost Fund is financed through donations and fundraisers like this one, so purchase tickets here. Early bird tickets are on sale until Aug. 23. If you’re currently a student, use code YOUTH at checkout for a discount, and bring your student ID at the event.

The Fall Festival Fundraiser takes place Oct. 24, 4 p.m.–8 p.m. at Chapman Crafted Beer, 123 N. Cypress St., Orange. Ticket prices vary.

Need a low-cost veterinarian, information about trapping community cats, places to volunteer, pet food, veterinary assistance, rescues and shelters to adopt from — anything pet related? Follow this link for resources. Please add your own ideas in the Comments section.