Support our work
Help that costs nothing
We are not taking money yet. What we do need is blankets, stuffed animals and word of mouth — and those are genuinely the things that move the needle right now.
Not everything we need is money
Some of the most useful help we get costs nothing at all.
Donate blankets or stuffed animals
New items only, please — fleece blankets and sturdy stuffed animals, unused. There are good reasons for that, and they're worth two minutes of your time: why new only?
Email us first and we'll arrange the handover — where to bring things, or where to send them. It saves you a wasted trip.
Run a collection
Offices, schools, scout troops and churches have gathered new blankets and stuffed animals for us. It costs the organiser nothing and fills a car boot fast.
Connect us with a shelter
If you volunteer at, work for, or simply know a shelter in the Greater Richmond area and Hampton Roads, introduce us. We deliver at no cost to them, and the hardest part is being heard of in the first place.
Tell one person
Genuinely the cheapest thing on this list and not the least useful. Most people who find us were told about us by someone they know.
Why new only?
Because it's the one rule we can't bend, we'd rather explain it than just say no.
A dog or cat arriving at a shelter is often unwell, underweight or worn down by whatever brought them there. Their immune system is having a hard week. Used bedding can carry fleas, mites and bacteria that a healthy pet at home shrugs off and a stressed one in a kennel does not — and a home wash cannot be relied on to clear it. Shelters set this rule because one contaminated blanket can become an outbreak in a room full of others already unwell.
There's a gentler reason too. A used blanket smells of the dog it belonged to. To a frightened dog in an unfamiliar place, that scent is another dog's territory, not comfort. A new one has no history. It becomes theirs the moment they lie down on it, and it's the only thing in that kennel that is.
So if you have blankets your own pets have outgrown, please don't throw them out — most shelters take used bedding for cleaning and lining crates, just not for giving to the dogs and cats themselves. Ring your nearest one and ask. It's a good use for them; it just isn't ours.
Where things stand
We are a small operation in Mechanicsville: we buy new fleece blankets and stuffed animals, gather donated ones, and take them to shelters. What we need most right now is items and introductions, not money.
Questions about any of this? Ask us — we are small enough to actually answer. Get in touch.