The Binky Foundation

The Binky Foundation experienced a two-fold increase in grant applications in 2011. With resources limited we focused first on the smaller First Steps grants, particularly those that we determined would bring long-term benefits to the grantee as opposed to simply helping with current operating expenses. We have posted our revised criteria and information on our new application windows commencing in 2012 because of the large number of requests for funding (see our Grant Program page.)

First Step Grants

During 2011, First Steps grants of $2500 or less were awarded to 20 organizations in 11 states. These grants largely reflecting our revised criteria, and we were also pleased to be able to include grants to organizations helping some of our underserved animal friends, including rabbits and turtles. Here is a list of our 2011 First Steps grantees:

• Austin Pets Alive! for its dog behavior and enrichment program.
• Horse Haven of Tennessee, Inc. in support of its educational summer camp program.
• Harley’s Hope Foundation in Colorado for its Hope series of educational programs.
• Rabbit Wranglers to help it develop a sustainable rabbit education and rescue program in Western Pennsylvania.
• Saint Seton’s Orphaned Animals for the acquisition of a surgical table for use in its spay/neuter program in Virginia.
• Saving Animals for Everyone (S.A.F.E.) Sanctuary in Florida, our second grant to it, for the purchase of an animal scale and large capacity washer and dryer for its sanctuary.
• Transport Buddies, Inc. to help with the organizational and start-up costs for a new shelter and transport facility in Virginia.
• Luv-n-Bunns Rabbit Rescue to help it develop a spay/neuter program in Pennsylvania for an underserved animal population.
• Homestretch Hounds, Inc. to provide for new beds and decks for its adoption center in Ohio.
• Nature Abounds in support of its Turtle and Tortoise Outreach Program in Pennsylvania.
• Linn County Animal Rescue, Inc. an Oregon rescue and horse sanctuary, for its mud management project, replacing among other things its horse barn’s gutters and drain pipes.
• Mountain View Rescue, Inc. of Kentucky, another repeat grantee, to purchase a horse trailer for equine transport.
• Sunrise Sanctuary in Ohio to fund the construction of a housing area for feral cats.
• FiXiT Foundation of Virginia to support its spay/neuter test market research program.
• RUFF Rescue of Central Florida, Inc. in support of a model donor acquisition program for creating a donor base for small, local rescue organizations.
• Initial Point Service Dogs, Inc. to purchase needed equipment for the transport and training of service dogs in Idaho.
• The Tank Fund, an Ohio organization providing financial assistance for vet care, in Ohio, for its initial marketing campaign to achieve a sustainable donor base for the future.
• Safehaven Small Breed Rescue, Inc. to help it create and stock a pet food bank in its Pennsylvania community.
• Animal Rescue League of Northwest Georgia in support of its fundraising services and bite prevention programs in cooperative with other local organizations.
• Planned PEThood of Georgia, Inc. to help purchase traps and related supplies for its Feral Cat Outreach Program.

Forward Steps Grants

The Binky Foundation also provided support in 2011 for a few new larger Forward Steps programs that our grant committee determined would provide long-term, valuable benefits for animals or habitat, including:

• Contributing toward the acquisition of needed equipment for the veterinary facility of a wild cat sanctuary in Oregon (WildCat Haven Sanctuary)
• Helping purchase much needed equipment for the long-term development of a spay/neuter clinic and infirmary in Iowa (C & W Rustic Hollow Shelter, Inc.)
• Funding for the purchase of walk-through gates for a repeat applicant, a horse rescue facility in Washington State (Wind Haven Horse Rescue)
• Funding for another repeat applicant for the purchase of much needed equipment for an on-sight hospital for the treatment of injured or ill wildcats in New Mexico (The Wildcat Sanctuary)
• Ongoing support for an environmental law fellowship, The Environmental Law & Policy Center, dedicated to wildlife protection, particularly for its Wildlife Habitat Protection Initiative in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in Wisconsin.

The Binky Foundation also continues to provide ongoing support for several “old friends”—organizations that provide significant and important services to animals—domestic and wild—and their habitat, including grants to:

• A small refuge in Southern New Jersey providing a haven for beavers, other indigenous wildlife and migratory birds, protecting them from encroachments of farmers, hunters and civilized development. (Unexpected Wildlife Refuge)
• An organization in Central New Jersey providing for the rehabilitation and re-entry in to the wild of injured or orphaned raptors and other birds, most of which are harmed by their proximity to the New York metropolis. (The Raptor Trust)
• A nationally and internationally known animal sanctuary in support of its educational programs (Best Friends Animal Society)