ChipIn Donation Widget for Shelters

When Mandi started this website a couple of months ago, she not only wanted to connect pet owners with other pet owners, but to try and help all animals enjoy long, healthy lives in a loving and caring environment, especially those who were less-than-fortunate. She wanted (and still wants) to create an online place where animal shelters and pet owners can connect, and create bonds to help every pet find a loving home.

Mandi has recently asked that I take over some of the duties that she was managing with this site, and keep it going in the direction she had envisioned. She'll still be a part of the network, but I will be handling the main moderating functions of the network, including the WordPress blog and the Twitter account.

Now that that's out of the way, back to the business at hand:

One of the big things Mandi wanted to do with People N Pets from the very beginning is to collect donations and hold weekly/monthly/etc drawings and give the donations to the winning animal shelter. I thought this was a great idea, so one of the first things I'm doing is to add a ChipIn donation collection widget to People N Pets. The goal of the ChipIn widget is two-fold, not only can we donate funds to help the shelters in these tough times, but it can also help us get more shelters to join if they know have a chance of winning the drawing, increasing memberships and connections.

The financial crisis is hitting many parts of the country very hard. This can lead to neglected pets, increased animal abandonment rates, which means more animals on the streets and flooding the already fledgling shelters. The influx of animals becomes more of a burden, and could lead to more animals being euthanized. That's the worst-case scenario, but I've volunteered at a couple of shelters, and seen the less than desirable conditions that some of these animals have to live in, so every little bit can help. Check out this news story about some of the conditions at an animal shelter right here in my own city.

I'll be adding the widget to the sidebar in the next day or so, and I've already collected some cash from friends and family that I'll put in it to start it off. Anyone with a Pay Pal can donate anonymously, so even non-members and visitors to the site can donate funds.

Thank you all for your support with People N Pets!

--Patrick