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This has been a terrible time. COVID-19 has been heartbreaking, terrifying, frustrating, and infuriating. Our hearts go
out to those of you who have lost loved ones and who have in so many other ways suffered the impact of this vicious
pandemic.
A crisis like this one will bring out some pretty bad behavior in certain people. We’ve all seen it—temper tantrums
over wearing a face mask, partying shoulder-to-shoulder, protests with screaming and destruction of property. Even
domestic violence has increased as a result of the virus. But then there is this sliver of a silver lining, a glowing exam-
ple of how we 2-leggeds can rise above and show the better angels of our nature.
One of the places where the good in us has emerged so strongly is in animal welfare.
In case you haven’t heard this, shelters and rescue organizations all over this country are adopting pets in record
numbers. The quarantine and work-from-home situations have given people the available time to get to know and
train a new dog or cat. The result: Animals that otherwise might never have known the love of a family now have a
forever home.
Here at The Crossings Animal Society (CAS), several wonderful things have happened, reflecting the kindness and
compassion of animal lovers like you in our community.

• We were able to start building a foster network . This has allowed us to regularly bring dogs from MAMAS shel-
ter in South Carolina, and to begin building relationships to “pull” dogs and cats from local shelters. Since COVID-
19, we have fostered, then adopted almost 20 dogs and cats. (However, we still need more fosters, in part because
several of them took advantage of our “foster-to-adopt” option and gave their foster a forever home!)

• Requests for volunteer applications became a frequent occurrence. We now have a number of new volun-
teers and active committees (including the Communications Committee, which has revitalized Finding Sanctuary,
the newsletter you are now reading.)

• In our effort to help pet families in which a layoff or job loss has occurred, we have created Curbside Kibble Ex-
press . It is a community, family-helping-family program, in which donor families cover the cost of pet food for the
recipient family for one or more months. The family needing assistance picks up their pet’s food—exactly the food
their dog or cat normally eats—from one of three local pet food stores, which this program also supports.

All of the good work that has been done here at CAS over the past five months was only possible because of our dedi-
cated volunteers and animal lovers like you.

We still need your help, though . We continue to look for fosters, adoptive families, and volunteers. Curbside Kibble
Express needs more families to sign up—both to give and to receive, because both are blessings. Finally, because
fundraising came to a halt with COVID-19, please considering donating to CAS. One particularly enjoyable way to do
nd
this is by entering our 2 annual pet calendar contest--I’m Rescued and Cherished--which will begin in mid-August.
Thank you so much again for your support, and for all you do to help dogs and cats in need. Enjoy the rest of your
summer, and stay safe.

Sincerely,