Thank you very much for considering a donation in Harvey's memory. Debra and I are matching every dollar (†) donated by our friends to any or all of these charities (all having 501(c)(3) status, for your tax-deductible enjoyment).
To donate to any of these charities, please use the information provided below for each one. In each case, please be sure to provide a note with your donation explaining that it is in Harvey's name as a memorial and to also include my name for their reference so that they can track which donations are for us to match. In order to make sure your donation is matched, please also let me know that you've made a donation and for how much. By providing the information in two different places, I hope that we can guarantee that no donation goes unmatched.
Berner Blessings — We have been blessed with a local breed club, the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Greater Seattle, that has in addition to introducing us to some truly wonderful people (including Daryl and Krista Johnson, the breeders from whom we got Harvey), provided lots of fun activities and outings with other Berner families, as well as support in a variety of ways to those families. One way in which the club supports their members is through the Berner Blessings fund. This fund provides financial assistance for medical expenses to families with Berners in need.
donations, payable to "BMDCGS", may be mailed to:
BMDCGS Berner Blessings Fund
c/o Terri Zimmerman
3804 225th Street East
Spanaway, WA 98387
Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine — There are any variety of reasons why the WSU CVM is worthy of financial contributions. However, the CVM has a special place in our hearts, for their care of Harvey and expert advice when his lymphoma first appeared almost five years ago. It would be impossible to overstate the importance of one particular vet working there at the time, Dr. Katja Ruess, but the entire department is a top-notch medical facility as well as being a leading research facility in the field of veterinary oncology. Harvey might not have even gotten through his first bout with lymphoma had it not been for the WSU CVM.
donations, payable to "WSUF", may be mailed to:
College of Veterinary Medicine
c/o Lynne Haley
P.O. Box 647010
Pullman, WA 99164
The Humane Society for Seattle/King County — While Seattle's Humane Society has had little to do with Harvey's health, they have been a central figure in our own giving over the years, as well as in our life with Harvey. Through them and their annual auction, we have discovered many dog-friendly destinations and activities which we have enjoyed sharing with Harvey. Of course, this recreational enrichment of our lives is just a footnote to the real work that the Humane Society does. They are an essential part of the support infrastructure for animals in the Seattle region and every pet owner here benefits, whether directly or indirectly, from their efforts.
donations, payable to "The Humane Society for Seattle/King County", may be mailed to:
Attn: Development
The Humane Society for Seattle/King County
13212 SE Eastgate Way
Bellevue, WA 98005-4408
You may include their "memorial" form if you like, which you can download here. If your employer matches donations, feel free to fill out that section of the form. Put my name in the "notification" section as a way to ensure that we know to match your donation. – note: in spite of what their form says, by default they will include the donation amount when we are notified, so if you'd prefer that remain private, please make a note on your form of that; see below for more details
You may also donate to the Humane Society online.
Please remember that your employer may also match donations to 501(c)(1) organizations. I don't know what the rules are with respect to matching donations that are already matched, but as long as you don't have any prohibition on that, getting your employer to match any donation you make here is of course a great idea. :)
Please also note, we recognize that some people who would like to give in Harvey's memory may prefer to keep the amount, or even the fact, of the gift private. As well, some people may prefer to give to some other charity or charities instead. We readily acknowledge these truths, and the fact that there are indeed many other charities just as worthy as the three we mention here. Please don't let our offer to match giving stand in the way of following your own heart. If you would prefer to give to someone else and/or give privately, please feel free to do so and know that regardless we appreciate your thoughtfulness and interest in honoring Harvey.
†fine print — In order to ensure that we can provide our matching donation in a timely manner, please make sure that your own donation is sent by January 31st, 2007. Also, while it is our intent to match every donation in full, our budget does have constraints just like everyone else's. If you are intending to give an amount that you suspect may be unusually large (say, five figures for example), it would probably be wise to check with us first to ensure that we are able to match it. I don't want to state a specific limit, for fear of stifling anyone's creativity, but we do reserve the right to limit our matching as necessary to avoid overcommitting our funds (even as we do believe it unlikely we'll have to invoke that right).