#GivingTuesday: Helping Hearts & Saving Lives

As The Big Hearts Fund closes the book on another year, we cannot help but reflect on our many triumphs and heartwarming experiences, as well as the challenging and heartbreaking situations beyond our control. It can be a struggle to not be discouraged by such elements, but we are all the more motivated when triumph comes out of a heartbreaking situation.

One such triumph is the story of Frosty. Frosty plays an extremely important role in the lives of two little boys who love him. One day, the boys’ mother dropped Frosty and her young children off at their grandmother’s house because she was going away for a few days. She never came back. Through the tears, anger, and sleepless nights following their abandonment, these little boys held on tight to Frosty. So did their grandmother, Ellen.

“Frosty is their world,” she explained. “He reminds them of what was. He loves the boys and guards them. We had months of anger and crying and Frosty was right there through it all. Now, we are ok. We struggle, but at the end of the day when I’m tucking them both into bed with Frosty it all feels right.” It was during these moments carrying Frosty, when Ellen first noticed his abnormal heartbeat. She could feel that something wasn’t right, so she took him to the vet.

Like many other BHF sponsored dogs, Frosty had a PDA that required surgery to correct; if he didn’t receive the surgery, he would not survive more than a handful of months. Frosty’s grandmother works hard to support her grandchildren, but having not anticipated taking care of a second family in later life, she was ill-equipped to handle the additional expense of Frosty’s surgery. She set about looking for help. She found The Big Hearts Fund. In addition to a grant from the Financial Aid Program, BHF set up a fundraising page for Frosty, successfully raising an additional $1,000 to cover the cost of his surgery. The surgery went through without a hitch, and he was back to acting as guardian and playmate to his two brothers in a matter of months.

Frosty’s is not the only story of a family’s triumph over adversity. In the past 12 months, BHF has awarded $24,000 to 29 pets whose families depend on them through tough times as well. You can read their stories at The Big Hearts Fund website.

As BHF continues its mission of raising funds and awareness for pets with heart disease, we have learned that not only are we saving pets’ lives, we are offering something critical to the families who love them. These pets are sources of comfort, stability, and hope in difficult times, and seeing these families rally behind their beloved pets has only encouraged BHF to reach more pets and families in need. In order to accomplish this goal, we invite you to contribute to BHF’s “Helping Hearts” Annual Pledge Drive.  Your year-end contribution or monthly pledge can provide medication to manage a heart condition ($50), allow for an echocardiogram ($350), or fund 100% of a BHF grant for curative surgery ($1,000).  

The Big Hearts Fund website has a simple and secure Donation page through which you can submit your tax-deductible contribution. Simply click the DONATE button on any page, and complete the donation/pledge form.

So many have been integral in The Big Hearts Fund’s impact, and we hope you are able to continue on this journey with us as we strive to help all animals in need receive the care they deserve.

On behalf of The Big Hearts Fund staff, Board of Directors, and most of all, Keeva, Roscoe, Frosty, Diamond, their loving families, and so many more, I thank you for your unwavering support and spirited generosity.

Yours in Service,

Kaitlin R Bishop Executive Director, The Big Hearts Fund