2020 has been a wild and chaotic year, to say the least. The year started with massive wildfires in Australia, the middle was caught up in the fight for racial justice, and it seems like we’ll end the year in a global pandemic that’s killed 270,000 people in the United States alone (that’s 18.6% of all the covid related deaths worldwide!).
But there was good this year too. At the beginning of the pandemic here in the US (March/April), there was a record number of pet adoptions and fosters and so many rescue animals found a home! Animals as Natural Therapy was able to do socially distanced therapy visits and brought some joy to many nursing home residents. Darrel the dog shared his impressive skateboarding and compassion skills on King5 Evening.
Some great things about this year include the work done by the many amazing nonprofits here in the Pacific Northwest. And today is Giving Tuesday, an international day of giving and a great day to support those nonprofits! Here are some wonderful nonprofits:
- Animals as Natural Therapy, an animal-based therapy program in Whatcom County that works with at risk youth and veterans, plus they do mobile visits to retirement/nursing homes, schools, and more.
- Pasado’s Safe Haven, a nonprofit based in Snohomish County that serves the Puget Sound area and works to end animal cruelty, adopt out rescue animals of all kinds, and keep animal shelter numbers low through a spay/neuter program and pet food bank.
- The Tokitae Fund of Lummi Nation’s Lhaqtemish Foundation, which advocates for orcas in the Salish Sea (known as the qwe ‘lhol mechen, ‘our relatives under the water’) and the sanctity of the Salish Sea.
- The Washington Nature Conservatory, a branch of The Nature Conservatory that works on maintaining the natural habitat of the Pacific Northwest in a variety of ways.
There are, of course, so many other nonprofits here in the Pacific Northwest and around the country. This year has been tough, including financially for many, but if you can, I definitely recommend supporting the nonprofit of your choice!
Do you have any favorite nonprofits?