We can all make a difference, and I thank you for all of your efforts in helping save the animals. Sometimes I think that we loose sight of just what a small gesture can do and of what a huge impact it can have. I have dedicated my life to helping God’s most precious creatures, a “pact”, if you will, that I made as the result of a prayer being answered in saving the life of my best friend Penelope, a 3 pound Yorkie who is my constant companion. Some of you there in SMA know her, and the blessings that I have received while helping animals and their humans in need have been enormous.

Sometimes a small sacrifice or a moment of our time is all it takes to change a situation from bad to good. It can affect a person’s or animal’s life forever, and sometimes we might not ever know the true effect that our simple gesture has made, but the feeling that we can get in doing so can create a desire to continue in helping others and also to provide a role model for others to follow. I have tried over the years to help animals here in the States as well as my beloved SMA, and the rewards that my family and I receive in our daily efforts are beyond words. Knowing that we saved an animal’s life and thereby helping their human family as well is the greatest reward of all.

In May, a few days after the tornado in Joplin, Missouri, I decided on a whim to get in the SUV and head up north. I posted on Craigslist in the DFW area that I was making the trip, and within hours I had received donations and cash to help with gas expenses. I prepared my vehicle to be able to sleep in it, and I prepared my heart to see total destruction. After all, I had never been to a disaster site, so I did not really know what to expect. I decorated my SUV with paw prints all over it, and wrote “Joplin Bound” and “Saving the Animals” on the windows. People honked at me the whole 7 hour drive, and I had people at rest stops giving me money and thanking me for my efforts. I was already feeling pretty darn good and I was not even there yet. But, once I got there, I soon realize that what you see on TV is not always what reality is.