06/26/2025
💜 ARAR Shelter Update! 💚
As requested, for full transparency, we'd like to update you all on our flood recovery and fundraising totals. We will always be open and honest with our community, and we are happy to answer questions at any time regarding this event and our progress in rebuilding.
It is quite obvious we have an absolutely incredible village behind us. The support brought many of us to tears in the best way. To be totally honest, after the initial post that we were evacuating the shelter and needed help with funds for boarding animals, we were terrified we'd never recover. Donations are at an all time low, and that first post didn't go anywhere fast. And then the media came, you all shared and donated more than once, you came in person to physically help, you came to take animals home, you shopped our wishlist, you offered words of support and encouragement, and you gave us the hope and motivation we needed to continue on despite one of the biggest challenges we've ever faced.
Where we currently stand...
🏠 The shelter is almost completely dry, but there is now so much work and sanitizing to do. We have contractors coming tomorrow to start on drywall, replace doors, replace trim, and to determine what more needs done. We are still in the process of sorting through what has been destroyed and needs to be dumped. The losses are immeasurable, we still don't have a number on how much this will actually cost us in the end as we're not even half way through sorting through the mess. We are rapidly filling a 20 yard dumpster with damaged, soaked, and unusable supplies and equipment. We expect our shelter animals will be displaced for another 2-3 weeks absolute minimum, and this is if everything goes exactly as planned... And it hasn't. So, all of this to say we have no idea when we'll be back to full function as a shelter.
💰 Regarding donations received - we have not yet come to a final dollar amount as donations are still trickling in. As requested, a very rough estimate of our totals between Facebook, GoFundMe, Zeffy, and our various electronic payment methods is approximately $125,000 (this is before fees are taken out). As you may have noticed, we stopped fundraising the moment the media arrived. Your response to the media was mindblowing, and it was at that moment that we knew we were going to be ok. Any excess funds will go directly toward our shelter and foster animals in the form of veterinary care. There are no words to express how grateful we are. None. ❤️
We will keep you all updated on our progress here as we begin to rebuild. Again, we thank you from the bottoms of our hearts. This catastrophe really knocked us down hard, but we are going to get through this thanks to you all. We will come back bigger and better than ever.
Thanks to each and every one of you, from your grateful friends at A ReJoyceful Animal Rescue 💜💚
