December 2024

Dear Heartland Friend,

As the holiday season approaches, our thoughts turn to home and the warmth of being surrounded by loved ones. But for many animals, a family and the security of a forever home remain just a dream.

This season, you can help us get more animals home for the holidays.

We are so grateful for everything you have already done. Thanks to your compassion and unwavering support, Heartland has rescued about 1,100 sick, injured, traumatized, and homeless animals this year. With your gift this holiday season, we can continue our lifesaving work.

Many of you reading this letter have followed Heartland’s journey over the last six months as we were forced to leave our Wheeling shelter after a devastating flood.

Thankfully, none of the 101 animals in the building were hurt when the water rose more than two feet. But the flood left Heartland’s home uninhabitable. In the following days, we set up a temporary shelter at a Signature Aviation hangar at Chicago Executive Airport and continued our rescue efforts under difficult circumstances.

The journey back to our shelter has been challenging, and the construction costs are significant. But we expect to move home early next year! We can’t wait to welcome you back to our new and improved shelter so you can see the changes we’ve made during construction.

Despite this setback, we continued to welcome dogs and cats to Heartland every day, each with their own story of hardship, abandonment, or loss. Our mission is to give them a second chance at happiness—a mission we couldn’t fulfill without you. Your support provides food, shelter, medical care, and, most importantly, hope.

With the colder months upon us, the number of vulnerable pets rises as temperatures drop, leaving chronically overcrowded shelters like Chicago Animal Care & Control fuller than ever. We are asking for your help this season so we can transfer more animals into our care. Simply put, if there is no space for these dogs and cats at shelters and nowhere else to go, they may not survive.

Your gift will make an immediate difference in their lives by giving Heartland the resources to provide crucial medical care, warm beds, and nutritious meals. Your donations also support adoptions so each of our animals can spend the holidays in a loving, forever home.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts—and on behalf of the many pets hoping to find homes this season. Your generosity is their greatest gift.

Wishing you a warm and joyful holiday season,

Jenny Schlueter

Executive Director
Heartland Animal Shelt