Chrissy Meadows, sales representative with EXIT Landmark Realty of White Plains, MD regularly partners with Last Chance Animal Rescue (LCAR) to give back. Here she explains how and why she chooses to work with this organization and partner with the Spirit of EXIT to further her contribution.
Last Chance Animal Rescue operates in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia. They take in cats and dogs from 50+ high-kill shelters in 12 states, provide disaster relief services around the world, and support other areas in animal cruelty cases. LCAR partners with 30 Petcos and Petsmarts to provide in-store cat adoptions. They also offer low cost spay/neuter services for the Southern Maryland area. Since 1999, LCAR has rescued and rehomed over 100,000 pets!
I decided to partner with Last Chance for after I heard about their involvement in the Wicomico County Horse Cruelty Case. On March 16th, 2018 over 100 neglected horses and 25 deceased horses were found on a woman’s property. The horses were starving and had been eating the aluminum siding, fiberglass, and insulation off the house to survive. The live horses were seized from the property by the local Humane Society. On March 19th, Last Chance Animal Rescue offered to assist. They took on 29 of the rescued horses and immediately started spreading the word about the “Wicomico 29” all over social media. Throughout the rehabilitation process and several babies being born, LCAR rewrote a story of tragedy into a story of hope.
My fundraiser had two parts; one, I raffled off local restaurant/retailer gift card bundles via an online raffle system. Two, I used some of the participating local businesses as drop-off locations for physical items specifically requested by LCAR. Most needed items this year have been towels, new or used, to keep the animals clean, warm & dry. I was able to promote the event through my sizable, local presence on social media. I also requested that these posts be shared by the participating businesses to get further exposure and participation.
I am so thankful for and humbled by the participants and donors involved in my event. In a year of unprecedented challenges and division, people and businesses in my Southern Maryland community came together for a common goal. Through this fundraiser and with the generous funds match from EXIT Realty Corp. International, we have raised $2,000 for LCAR with countless additional donations of food and supplies. When the people in a community come together, we can accomplish incredible things! I look forward to continuing to engage my community through my real estate business to support my charity partners locally and around the world.
“Thank you so much. These funds will do tremendous good and will help our organization rescue, aid and adopt out many more animals from high kill shelters, hoarding situations and abuse. Please know, your thoughtful contribution not only benefits the animals, your kindness and generosity also lift the spirits of our hard-working staff members. We are extremely grateful for your encouragement and involvement,” said Cynthia Sharpley, Executive Director of Last Chance Animal Rescue.
A portion of every transaction fee received by EXIT Realty Corp. International is applied to its charitable fund. Through the Spirit of EXIT Dollar-for-Dollar Matching Program, EXIT offices and associates can raise money for local, approved, registered charities and apply to EXIT’s head office to have those funds matched from the company’s pledged pool of funds. Chrissy met her goal of $1,000 which EXIT’s head office was proud to match for a total donation of $2,000 to Last Chance Animal Rescue.
