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Written by: The Philanthropist

Heart of Gold: Alyssa Gold

Ally’s Animal Project // allysanimalproject.org // @allys_animal_project

Background

A sophomore at Riviera Preparatory School, Gold has long been a champion of animals, logging more than 1,000 foster volunteer hours and caring for cats, dogs, hamsters and guinea pigs in her own home. “Every since I was little, I have loved animals,” she says. “I loved going to animal shelters just to visit with and play with the animals while they were waiting for their forever homes.” One of these dogs, Bruno, had a significant impact on her, staying with Gold and her family as he recovered from surgery and rehabilitated his back leg. Bruno’s journey inspired Gold to take action and launch her own animal-focused organization.

I hope to find grants as well as companies or individuals that will make tax deductible donations so that I can continue to grow and be able to help as many animals as possible during the Covid-19 crisis and beyond.

The Project

After making free bracelets (called “Forever in Your Heart” bracelets) for those who had lost a pet, Gold quickly expanded into charitable giving, selling various other designs to raise money for animals in need. But with the recent events of the world, Gold narrowed her focus. “When Covid-19 struck, I realized so many people were losing their jobs and their animals were at risk of being surrendered back to the animal shelter if they couldn’t afford to buy pet food,” she says. “I began posting on my Instagram account to contact me if a pet food donation was needed. To date, we have sent pet food to over 80 families in need.”

New Normal

Recently, Gold was contacted by two major pet-care companies who have donated to her cause. Additionally, she has moved all operations and sales online to her website, Instagram and Facebook and is training other students on how to make her signature bracelets via Zoom. “I also put my pet food request forms on my webpage [so that we can] place the orders online and have the order shipped directly to people’s homes,” she says.

Next Steps

Now a registered nonprofit, Gold hopes to grow Ally’s Animal Project via grants as well as community and corporate support. “The community can support me best by following my Instagram page (@Allys_Animal_Project) and Facebook account (Ally’s Animal Project) so they are always aware of any initiatives I have going on, and can share the information with people in need,” says Gold. Donations can be made via her website. “I plan to have this organization continue for decades to come and for it to always be functioning to help animals.”

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