"Willy", a pup with a broken jaw that came in the morning of the Betty White Challenge. Officials say he has had surgery and is now recovering. The organization says he has a long road ahead of him, but a positive outlook. (Supplied)

By Daniel Barker-Tremblay

Saving Grace Animal Society

Betty White’s legacy restores new hope to central Alberta animal rescue

Jan 21, 2022 | 12:43 PM

Local animal lovers have stepped up in a big way in support of a central Alberta animal rescue organization.

The Betty White Challenge, launched by Alix, AB based Saving Grace Animal Society, surpassed its $10,000 fundraising goal recently with the generous support of thousands of central Albertans.

The Betty White Challenge was launched in honor of the late actress’ 100^th birthday on January 17. Although the society had a fundraising goal of $10,000 – what came next, shocked the organization.

“Our hopes for that day were to reach the $10,000 and that alone would be pretty life changing money for the organization. As the day went by, every hour we checked the tallies and we had hit our $10,000 goal by nine o’clock that morning,” says Amanda McClughan, Development Director for The Saving Grace Animal Society. “The funds just continued to come in throughout the day, and the next morning when we sat down to tally everything up, we were astonished that we had reached over $120,000 which is one of the top reaches of the different organizations in Alberta. We are so very thankful that people chose us to donate to, and just so many people in general just got involved with this challenge because the funds go to such a great cause.”

McClughan says the organization saw donations from one dollar, up to $1,000 during The Betty White Challenge.

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“That in itself speaks to how one dollar can make a difference, and if you can give one dollar, that adds up. We received donations from 3,000 different people to hold account for this and it’s amazing that many people can give just a little bit. It speaks to the power of community and what happens when people get really involved.”

(Supplied)

According to McClughan, December 2019 was when the organization started to raise funds for an expansion to reach higher demands, with the hopes of a veterinarian clinic to be added to their existing facility.

Officials say the end of 2021 was a rough time for the Society, with donations and adoptions down and intakes higher than ever. The organization also had to temporarily close its doors and was only able to accept emergency cases, such as medical animals, orphans and moms.

Going into 2022, officials were thankful to see adoptions and donations pick up, but admit that intakes still remain high. Now, Saving Grace Animal Society is faced with the issue of not having enough surgery space to fully vet all of their animals for adoption. The organization has been able to add another half surgery day weekly, but is still finding their space isn’t enough to get everyone through.

They further note that many other rescues are struggling with the same issue due to a shortage of vets in Alberta. The organization’s campaign to build its own vet clinic next to their shelter, is needed now more than ever, with this boost from The Betty White Challenge, being exactly what they needed, say officials.

To date, Saving Grace’s Brick to Brick Campaign to raise funds for the vet clinic was sitting at $380,000 out of the original $500,000 they needed to build. Going into 2022, the organization received news that all permits were approved and were cleared to proceed with the build. With $120,000 raised through The Betty White Challenge, officials say there is nothing holding them back now.

The new vet clinic, planned to be located next to their shelter in Alix, is expected to be done in September of this year.

Saving Grace will soon be releasing sponsorship opportunities for needed medical equipment. The Society is also looking for local businesses and tradespeople to assist with the build of the vet clinic. If you would like to get involved or have assistance to offer, you can contact Amanda McClughan.

To contribute to the Brick by Brick campaign, you can donate online at www.savinggracecanada.com/store/brickbybrick.

For more information on Saving Grace Animal Society, visit www.savinggracecanada.com.