More Than $1 Million Given to Small Shelters Through Challenge Grants

Seattle, WA, June 24, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Sixty-six rescue groups and animal shelters registered with the Petfinder.com won grants during the second voting round in GreaterGood Network's The Animal Rescue Site’s $300,000 Shelter+ Challenge of 2012.

The Grand Prize, a $5,000, grant to help animals, went to Friends of Felines Rescue Center, located in Defiance, OH.

This round of voting also gave grants to thirty groups who had never received Shelter+ grants before. These included such groups as SPCA of Martinsville-Henry County, located in Martinsville, VA; Greater Chicago Ferret Association, located in Lyons, IL; and Cape Breton SPCA located in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Since the Shelter+ Challenge began, it has proved to be one of the most popular programs on The Animal Rescue Site, the original "Click Here To Give" website for people looking for quick and easy ways to support the cause of animal rescue.

With the announcement of these grants, more than $1 million has been distributed since 2008 to Petfinder.com Network members through this program alone. Annually, The Animal Rescue Site gives more than $1 million to a variety of animal rescue charities and nonprofits operating worldwide.

The Shelter+ Challenge allows visitors to the website to cast votes for the group that they want to receive a grant. All members of the Petfinder.com Network are automatically included in the voting database and there is no registration process or it is totally free to participate in the Challenge.

In the "special" category of the Shelter+ Challenge, visitors to the website can submit photos or stories to win grants for their favorite group. The next round of voting will include a "Projects for Paws" contest in which shelters or rescue groups can submit a brief story and photo about how they would use a grant ranging from $1,000 to $4,000.

Voting round three in the Shelter+ Challenge begins July 9. There is still $150,000 left in Shelter+ Challenge grants to be awarded this year. Grants are fully funded by The Animal Rescue Site’s “Click Here To Give” and other charitable programs. These grants are distributed through GreaterGood.org and Petfinder.com Foundation.

The Animal Rescue Site is one of eight "Click Here To Give" websites in the GreaterGood Network of cause-related websites. Since 2002, more than 542 million bowls of food for animals in shelters have been funded through its interactive programs.