February 2021 Newsletter – Love-A-Bull’s 2020 Wins and Future Goals

Adopt-A-Bull Norma

Adopt-A-Bull Norma

Hi everyone! We hope the start of 2021 has been a little brighter for you than last year — even though for so many of our Adopt-A-Bulls, 2020 was their best year yet!

We wanted to share with you some of the things we’re celebrating about 2020, as well as what we’re looking forward to this year/our current goals:

2020 Wins:

  • Helped 180 pit bull-type dogs find their forever homes — more than 4 times the amount of Love-A-Bull adoptions as 2019! This included 20 HW+ dogs, three dogs on chains, six mama dogs, 80+ puppies and an incredibly LOW return rate. Wow!
  • Foster/volunteer updates: We had 32 active fosters, grew our transport team by 23 volunteers and onboarded 34 new volunteers in 2020. Thank you SO much for your time and energy! We couldn’t run our organization with you!
  • Community outreach/assistance updates: We contributed to community members’ requests for medical bill assistance and provided spay/neuter vouchers. In December, we also hosted a Love-A-Bull Gives Back food and CBD oil drive-thru pantry. This year, we are planning to host more free-food drives and resume our spay/neuter clinics — stay tuned!
  • Event/fundraising updates: COVID-19 drastically reduced our ability to host in-person events in 2020, but we are proud of our first-ever virtual silent auction for National Pit Bull Awareness Month, holiday photos at The Driskill Hotel, an amazing Draw-A-Bull portrait fundraiser and more! We also began partnering with a dozen new-to-us small businesses, both Texas-based and national, as part of our Shop for a Cause fundraising campaigns.
  • Merch updates: We ran our first successful Bonfire campaign for National Pit Bull Awareness Month and are undergoing a major revamp of our current merchandise offerings, with the launch of a brand new store in 2021.

2021 Needs/Open Volunteer Positions:

  • Board of Director member (1) — the most active role in our organization, our Board of Directors is a “working board,” meaning we run the rescue, adoption, education and advocacy efforts of Love-A-Bull … and we’re all volunteers!
  • Events Committee Co-Chair (1) — while COVID-19 reduced our ability to host in-person events, we still had plenty of fun with virtual fundraisers last year and some socially distanced opportunities! We are expecting to ramp up our events in 2021 and would love for an additional expert in this area to take events from planning to execution, particularly if you already have any event planning or fundraising experience!
  • Community Outreach Coordinator (1) — we are seeking an additional volunteer Community Outreach Coordinator to help with our goal of reducing the homeless animal population by hosting more spay/neuter clinics and other outreach and education efforts in our most vulnerable areas of rural TX!
  • Transport Coordinator (1) — Coordinate transport for new-intake freedom rides from shelters, medical appointments, supply runs, puppy missions and more! Be the main point of contact for our volunteer transport team.
  • Dog Trainers (1) — Work as an apprentice under our Board President to conduct safe, in-person training classes; create virtual training opportunities; and eventually  assist at foster/adoption meet-and-greets.

Please email Roxy at getinvolved@love-a-bull.org if you are interested in any of the above leadership positions or volunteer opportunities!

  • Supplies: We’re always in need of puppy pee pads and Nulo canned puppy food! Our Amazon wishlist is updated regularly with these items and more. Please email info@love-a-bull.org to see if we are in need of your donation. If we are not at this time, we are happy to recommend another nearby rescue/shelter that could benefit from your kindness! All donations can be mailed to Love-A-Bull, 2900 W. Anderson Lane C-200, #304 Austin, TX 78757 or may be dropped off during one of our new monthly community donation days in Central Austin.

Upcoming events/Partner updates

Our Facebook page is the best place to stay up-to-date on any of our upcoming events, but did you know we also communicate often on Instagram and Twitter? Check us out — all of our handles are @LoveABullATX!

March 4-5 – Amplify Austin 24-hour fundraising campaign!

Love-A-Bull is again participating in Amplify Austin Day, a 24-hour online fundraising campaign that brought in $4,000 for us in 2020! We hope to be able to meet this goal. Want to fundraise on our behalf and tell your pet’s story? You can check out our profile here and either donate or become a fundraiser! While the campaign officially kicks off on March 4, donations are now open and accepted at any time.

Minted — now a year-round Shop for a Cause partner!

We’re excited to announce our year-round Shop for a Cause Partner, Minted! This comes just in time for Valentine’s Day. It’s the perfect occasion to send love with limited-supply bags and pouches, custom heart-shaped puzzles and new mailable classroom Valentine’s, all while giving back to Love-A-Bull! Enjoy 20% off Minted gifts throughout the year when you use the promo code FUNDRAISEBULL at checkout and 15% of each order will be donated back to our rescue!

Shop at Minted.com and help us save more pups like our currently available Adopt-A-Bulls pictured below!

Thank you, donors!

We had so many donors in 2020, from individuals to businesses, adopters and even fosters and volunteers lending not only their time but also monetary donations. We appreciate you so much, as we entirely rely on fundraising efforts to continue our lifesaving operations, in addition to outreach and education efforts!

We’d love to thank the following organizations, businesses and people for their above-and-beyond donations in 2020:

Individuals:

Amanda Andrews

Amber Kennebeck

Annie Sendrowitz

Beau Sharpe

Bradley Groff

Callie Purdy

Carmela Grasmick

Catherine Geerhart

Christopher Lopez

Dallas Henderson

Darold DuBose

Fred Kaplan Living Trust

Gregory Peterson

Harold & Tatiana Huslage

Heather O’Donnell

Imran Zaidi

Jonathan Cassoria

Julie Wickert

Kaitlin Wilde

Karen McCormick

Kelly Arthur

Kristin Davis

Laura South

Lauren DiStefano

Leslie Mackie

Linda Scullary

Lisa McVey

Marcy Jacobs

Matthew Ferrara

Natalie Dowd

Ravikumar Kishore

Robert Larry

Robert Ross

Roy Moore

Sandra Evertson

Sandy Talmadge

Shawna Murland

Tiffany Valambhia

Todd Borowski

Traci Warner

Businesses:

A Pup Named Hattie

Apache Moon

BarkBox

Burn Bootcamp Lakeway

Central Texas Archery

Counter Culture

Cuddle Clones

D Pet Hotels

Dogs Around Austin

Fi

Fireflies and Candlelight

Fit & Fearless

Franco Mobile Service

FurrRescue Fashions

Galaxy Theatres

Good Girl Gidget

GOODBOYWear

Grounds and Hounds

HapPea Vegans

Hypnotic Dog Co.

Julian Creek Artworks

K9 Water World

Kendra Scott

Kono’s Kitchen

Li’l Nonna’s

Marceline’s Menagerie

Max & Neo

Mia Bella Dog Boutique

Mighty Paw

Mii Creative

Mini Pup Creations

Minted

My Metal Rescue

Nelson Studio

Outlaw Pawz

P&F Pet Provisions

Painting with a Twist

Paws on Chicon

Peace Love Pets

Peaceful Warrior Yoga Studio

Pet Artist 4 U

Pet Suites RR

Plow Bao

Plow Burger

PMADTX

Raven Row Salon

Red Stella Hair Salon

Rebel Cheese

Rescue Chocolate

Revival Plants

Rooted

Scrappy Rat Designs

SereniTEA Wellness

Shut tha Front Door

Taurus Academy

Tiff’s Treats

Tomlinson’s

Tractive

Trader Joe’s

The Driskill Hotel

The Escape Game

The LINE Hotel

The Tour Guys

The Wild Flour

Unicorn Bully Bites

Zoo Snoods

Zucchini Kill Bakery