CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – The holidays are a time for giving. This Christmas, the Montgomery County Animal Care and Adoption Center got a very special gift.
“We had an amazing donor donate $10,000,” said shelter director Eileen Mahan. “The amount of generosity...it just takes your breath away.”
She said it’s the biggest donation the shelter has ever received. The money will go a long way paying for veterinarian care which includes vaccines, bloodwork, elective surgeries, and treating injuries or illnesses. Those treatments ultimately help animals get adopted.
“Money like this will allow us to get some of those surgeries taken care of beforehand, make the animals more adoptable, get them into their perfect homes quicker,” said Mahan. “So it just makes everything better.”
The couple that donated the money won a $1 million lottery ticket. They didn’t want to talk on camera, but have been close friends of the shelter, donating food and adopting three dogs over the years.
The donation brought tears to office technician Kelly Stanley’s eyes.
“It makes me teary to talk about it now; it does,” said Stanley. “It was a huge donation.”
Stanley said that 2020 has been tough on families financially and she knows the donor could have spent the money on a lot of things. She said they’re grateful for this gift.
“It’s so touching, especially this year,” said Stanley.
“It is definitely the best Christmas gift these animals can get, I guess short of a new home,” said Mahan.