0 Shares

Submitted by Mud Bay

Mud Bay is proud to announce it has exceeded its September goal to raise $50,000 to benefit Gulf Coast dogs and cats impacted by Hurricane Harvey. The company also intends to continue the donation drive into October to benefit companion animals in areas affected by Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria.

Generous customers donated in all of Mud Bay’s 44 locations, and Mud Bay matched customer donations dollar-for-dollar up to $25,000. However, after seeing Hurricane Maria’s impact on Puerto Rico, Mud Bay has decided to extend the donation drive to meet a new $100,000 goal and donate an additional $5,000 to the cause. Lars Wulff, co-CEO for Mud Bay explains:

“The heartbreaking impact of Hurricane Harvey compelled Mud Bay to take action. But even before we officially launched our donation drive, our customers were coming into our stores asking us how they could help the dogs and cats impacted by the storm.”

The initial donation drive was to benefit the Houston SPCA, Wings of Rescue, Seattle Humane, Oregon Humane and other shelters who are helping the Hurricane Harvey relief effort. While Wings of Rescue and Houston SPCA are on the ground in Texas, many Pacific Northwest shelters agreed to take existing animals in Houston-area shelters to make room for pets separated from their owners. Other local animal rescue organizations also sent staff to Texas to help with the hurricane response efforts.

With this new fundraising goal, Mud Bay hopes to help other animals in need due to recent hurricanes. Wulff said:

“We want to thank Mud Bay’s wonderful customers for their incredible generosity. Sadly, the need has grown since Hurricane Harvey. So now we’re hoping our customers can help us reach this new goal to aid animals in Florida and Puerto Rico too.”

Currently, a Seattle Mud Bay store in Greenwood has collected the most donations from customers. Greenwood store manager Amanda Evans said she’s had a lot of conversations about the Hurricane Harvey donation drive with people who visit. Many people wanted to know why some of the beneficiaries are local charities, while other customers asked about the specific missions of the animal rescue groups.

“All of my staff members are really knowledgeable about where the money is going to go and what the relief efforts look like. And I think that’s why Mud Bay customers feel comfortable donating through us,” said Evans.

Evans credits the loyal customer base that regularly shops in Greenwood for the success of the donation drive. She says she spends most of her day talking to customers about their dogs and cats, so it also makes sense to discuss the impact of recent natural disasters on pet owners. Many Greenwood customers were already very informed about the hurricane relief efforts and were happy to have a concrete way to help, said Evans.

“Mud Bay has a great community of shoppers that come in, and we love talking to them. But when a disaster happens, we never directly ask anyone for donations. That’s why we’re so honored that our fantastic customers gave generously to help others.”

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
0 Shares