"Kindness to animals helps build a better world for all of us." That is the philosophy at Best Friends Animal Society. When I heard about Best Friends a long while back, I thought it was such a special place and wanted to support it. More recently, I've also been interested in the good things happening at SASHA Farm and Angel's Gate, so I wanted to support them, too.

Best Friends is a no-kill animal sanctuary in Utah. It is home to around 1,500 animals, including cats, dogs, horses, rabbits, birds and other animals. They have special areas for the animals to live amongst their own, like Cat World and Dogtown, to name a couple. They care for the animals and adopt them out to loving homes, and the animals that cannot be adopted find permanent homes at the sanctuary. They also have emergency rescue efforts to help animals in dire need everywhere.

The 'SASHA' in SASHA Farm stands for 'Sanctuary and Safe Haven for Animals'. It is a farm in Michigan that is home to over 200 farm animals, among them being donkeys, cows, horses and pigs. As they say at SASHA Farm, these animals "have come from unhappy circumstances, often mistreated or neglected, but now have a safe, permanent home at SASHA Farm."

Angel's Gate is a place after my own heart. It's a home and hospice for animals with very special needs. These special little guys may have to live with cancer, liver or kidney disease, paralyses, orthopedic problems, and many other challenges, but at Angel's Gate, they can "live out their days in peace, dignity and love." The animals at Angel's Gate are not up for adoption -- instead, they receive life-long and very dedicated care for their special needs. What an amazing place. :o)

Keep an eye out for several specially-marked items in the shop [marked with a !], for which I'll donate the entire selling price to Best Friends, SASHA Farm or Angel's Gate! For all other items, 10% of the selling price will be donated -- so no matter what you purchase here, something is going towards helping animals who deserve nothing less than a great life. I will alternate donations among Best Friends, SASHA Farm and Angel's Gate, and the donation will be made when the donation amount nears $50.

If you don't find anything in the shop that interests you, please consider making a direct donation to Best Friends, SASHA Farm, Angel's Gate or any other animal shelter that interests you. I like to donate stuff to Crafters for Critters, too, which is a great place for crafters to send in their handmade-with-love goods -- you should try it if you like to make things! Any little bit helps!

June 1st, 2008 to August 10th, 2008:
$54.35 was raised in donations through this shop and our Etsy shop [$55.00 was donated to Angel's Gate]

November 27th, 2007 to May 31st, 2008:
$45.55 was raised in donations [$50.00 worth of merchandise was purchased from The SASHA Store, which directly benefits SASHA Farm -- the items will be offered in donation-raising gift sets in the near future!]

September 30th, 2007 to November 26th, 2007:
$49.60 was raised in donations [$50.00 was donated to Best Friends Emergency Rescue Fund: Nye County Cat Rescue]

Read about the donations made [of money and handmade goods] on the blog!