we made it to the top 10 wohoooo. lets spread the word

Mr. Thompson-
Thank you for the wonderful thing you are doing for animals everywhere. The Humane Society of the Nature Coast has been in our community for 44 years and we have never seen the changes that have happened in the past 5 years. Unfortunately they can only patch the old buildings so long and as the developement of the community has grown, now the shelter desperately needs to grow to meet the need. Everyone is working hard to lower the euthanasia rate here and the makeover would definitely help make that happen. Thank you for your time and attention to our shelter on your visit. It really energized our community. We are ready for a state wide explosion should we make the Top 10!

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I have heard only great things about the shelter from those who know and visit it. I have been in the cheering squad from NYS for many weeks and hope that this good group and their many furry residents are recognized for the hard work that they do.
Kathleen D

As a member of the Board for the past 5 years, I have had many reasons to be proud of our organization, but never as much as Saturday’s Zootoo visit. The community rallied for our cause and showed up in force, waving their banners and signs and chanting up a storm!

As we await your decision on our hopeful advancement to the next round, everyone at the HSNC says THANK YOU RICHARD AND ZOOTOO. We all appreciated your words of encouragement and guidance and your passion and foresight for the betterment of our four-legged companions.

See you in Vegas

Mr. Thompson,
Thank you so much for visiting our little town. I hope we were able to make you feel welcome and prove to you that this community will stand behind and help our shelter. Joanne is a wonderful person and truly lives for the animals. IF (and I should say when) we win the makeover, you can be assured, the money will not be going to waste. This shelter, while devoted to helping the animals, does everything possible to help the community. The ability to renovate and expand would do everyone a world of good.
Thank you again for visiting us, and for this wonderful opportunity.

Mr. Thompson,
It was a pleasure to meet you. The kind words you wrote of our staff, volunteers and shelter is much appreciated. As you noted, our little shelter that started off as a converted chicken coop in the sixties has certainly come a long way, and through the years it has evolved to what it is now only from the utmost determination of those in our community dedicated to the plight of our homeless animals who can not speak nor stand up for themselves. I can assure you that win or loose, this community will never stop what our mission is: to save as many lives as possible and educate the public on all issues pertaining to animal welfare. It is amazing what we can and will get done, believing that if there is a will, there is a way. I also want to thank you for observing the fact that the children in our community are dear to our hearts, and like you said, this is the generation that will be taking on the torch in years to come, therefore it is up to us to do our best to involve and educate our youth. I am very proud at the fact that my own two children take great pride knowing that even though they are young, they can and will make a big difference. Mr. Thompson, I thank you for being an inspiration to us as well as other big business’s that should take more initiative in reaching out to the community’s that keep them in business, and give back at local levels across the Country. Have fun in Las Vegas and be safe!
Christina Ryman

I'm a recent convert and have been swept along by this tide of enthusiasm, I'm still getting to terms with the fact that our little shelter in Brooksville had more points than any other in Florida and that the TOPCAT came to visit us. What an honor and I have to say and well deserved. The energy and passion that this community has shown is contagious. From the school kids to our government leaders, from business leaders to any Joe like me Thank You for this opportunity. We're not finished yet, we'll be seeing you again soon I'm sure.

Mr. Thompson,
Thank you for your kind words acknowledging the efforts of our staff, volunteers, and community. Thank you also for the inspiration and avenue to reach out and energize our community via the ZooToo makeover competition. We are winners already! And, thank you for providing the ZooToo.com forum as an avenue to connect, not only to those in our immediate community but to pet lovers nationwide. As the momentum grows, together we can and WILL make a difference, reducing pet overpopulation and increasing animal welfare awareness across the country. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Teri Reeves

Mr. Tompson,

I am one of the adult advisors to the Junior Board. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you. Not just for the opportunity of a lifetime for the shelter, but what this has done for our community. This community has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past years. This is great for our community but not so for the shelter. The need to assist more animals in our area continues to grow with the population boom, but as you saw the facilities have not been able to keep up with the pace of progress. Yet, I have met more people because of this contest than I have in previous years. I’ve made new friends. People are more aware of what is happening with animals and pets, and it’s not just in our area. I have seen a renewed interest and involvement in students in my class and my own children and their friends. The impact is amazing! So, again, thank you. I know you have seen the need of our shelter and the community and pray that you will give “the Little Shelter that Could” an opportunity to continue to “chug” towards the ultimate prize.

Sincerely,

Mary Beth

These are shared thoughts from Alex from the junior board and his Mom, Lisa.
Hi, what an exciting time it was at the Pet Expo. We hope that we will become one of the top ten and potenially become the winners of the ! million dollar make over. We need this money to better help the animals that we all love greatly. Our shelter helps save hundreds of animals but it is getting harder every year with the growing need for a bigger and more supplied shelter.
Thank You for your kind comments about our shelter.

Alex

Dear Mr. Tompson,
my name is Lorna steff and i'm one the jr. board! I can saw that our vist to see out shelter was a major blessing not just to us and the community but to our animals. Yeah they maybe not have a clue about what's going on but if we were able to win this zootoo make over we know the animals and everyone else would appericate it greatly! Our Jr. board is a big part of our shelter and it's very fun to be on but there also is a time to be serious and help the animals out. We know how bad our shelter is and that we need more space because that is something we lack but we try to make it the best because we know these animals need homes and its not just dogs its the cats to. Our jr. board right now it actually working on a power point and a paper to present in front of the board about not just help dogs and cats but the fur friends to. Like hamsters, bunnys, ect, ect. So thanks so much for coming and seeing us all we all loved it and it was a real blessing.
Thanks again
Lorna Steff!!!

we couldnt of asked for a better review :D

Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words! I am a volunteer at the shelter, a volunteer in the public school system, and my daughter is on the Junior Board of Directors at the Humane Society of the Nature Coast. Our school system really rallied behind the efforts to gain points on Zootoo. They know the value of involving children in something bigger than themselves. At my son's school there was an enthusiastic school wide announcement when it was confirmed our shelter had made the top 20 in the first phase of the competition. I was at a school meeting last night and was greeted by people who are now a part of Zootoo and excited about your visit this past weekend. There is hope in our future with the young people who are willing to become involved!

Dear Mr. Thompson,
When we started our Junior Board our mission statement was " To rescue and rehome the homeless pets in our community. And educate the public on how to treat the animals they have." Your visit was a blessing. There is so much more awarness of our shelter and the need that we have for a new building. We have turned so many away for our lack of space. We, as a Junior Board, believe that our shelter is in great need of this makeover. Whatever happens, your visit to our area has made more of the public aware of the needs for the unwanted pets. So even if we don't win the makeover we still have won. And from the hearts of the young and the hearts of our unwanted pets, we were blessed to have you.
Thank you,
Tralynn Barbee
Chairperson
Junior Board of the Humane Society of the Nature Coast

Thank you for all you said about Joanne and the shelter, I am a volunteer and the people at the shelter whether they are staff or volunteers have one thing in common and that is the love of animals. Not only do we love them we take care of them and make sure every effort is made to save as many as we can and to place them into the right environment.

Joanne is a force to be reckoned with, I don't know how she does it. She has so much energy and puts 1000% in all her efforts for the shelter. She is role model for all of us.

Our shelter is old and needs lots of work but it is clean and our animals are very well taken care of and loved by all of us. It is not unusual for grown women to stand and cry when one of our babies goes to their forever home.

I agree with you about young people, being a former teacher it is important to teach children early how to treat and love animals.

Thank you for you for you kind words and you are so right in all you said. You really saw our shelter, our community and Joanne for what we stand for. The care, safety and love of animals.

Thank you for your kind words and the visit. We enjoyed showing you around our shelter. We may be small in physical size and needy, but we are large in the love we give to our animals and do the best we can to make this a better community for all animals.

We are the "Little Shelter That Could..." and everyone from staff, volunteers and the community have come together to do the best that can be done with what we have. Thank you, Mr. Thompson, for giving us a chance to become the "Little Shelter That Did" by helping us to meet our goals in helping more pets and families in need. Your generosity will make a difference.

I think the Junior Board idea is phenomenal! Congratulations on your place in the top 20 and good luck to you!
Lisa
St. Tammany Humane Society

We are all excited about the makeover contest but, your personal visit made it so real. Thank you for your time and your kind words. We have a great little shelter altho old and in need of renovations. Our whole community has come together in this effort and we will be holding our breath until your announcement. Thank you again and see you in Las Vegas.

Your visit to our community meant so much to so many people. I was very moved by your sincere words, especially your mention of the younger generation and how vital they are to the shelter. I'm sure travelling around the country is an exhausting job, but it sure didn't show in your arrival and your speech. Thanks, thanks and thanks!!!!!

This is great! Well said and very nice...thank you!

Thank you, thank you! Your visit to our pet expo was the icing on the expo cake. Your love of animals was apparent and everyone at the Humane Society of the Nature Coast was excited to meet the 'topcat' in person. We are so proud of our shelter and the people who are committed to it and I am happy that you were able to see it all first hand. We know we are winners! The animals tell us so every day. Thank you for all you have done to encourage the public to become involved and help solve the problem of pet overpopulation. It's a big job, but together we can do it.

My apologies for not having the opportunity for more than a quick hello. Our event was quite successful and I had families waiting to do adoption contracts and that is a priority. I hope you enjoyed your visit to our little corner of Heaven......Dennis

The Humane Society of the Nature Coast was so pleased you were able to visit our shelter and community this past Saturday.

As you saw, our shelter is small and in need of much updating. Just as important, I hope we were able to convey the extreme pride we have of our "little shelter", our community and the love we have for those animals whose care we are entrusted with.

At the end of the day we take our thanks in the form of wagging tails, wet kisses and the "purrs".

Thank you so much for your kind words. Both our shelter and our community were motivated by your visit and your encouragement of their efforts on behalf of the animals in need. After you left I heard the same response over and over...while we need a makeover, everyone realizes that all the other shelters also need help in these difficult times. We are committed to following your advice for growth and development and we know that all of the shelters have won based on their exposure on Zootoo. We all thank you from the bottom of our hearts and the pets thank you from the bottom of their paws. Win the makeover or not we will continue to enjoy Zootoo and reap it's benefits. Las Vegas here we come!