Statements
Mission
Friends of MACC strives to amplify MACC's impact by supporting lifesaving initiatives and engaging the community to prevent pet homelessness in Davidson County. Metro Animal Care and Control (MACC) is Nashville's only open admission shelter, which means the shelter helps stray, abandoned, and injured animals whenever they need a safe place. Friends of MACC provides funding and advocacy to increase MACC's ability to save more lives.
As a volunteer-led nonprofit, Friends of MACC contributed $0.94 of every dollar spent in 2021 directly on programs, animals, and families in Nashville. The money raised for the shelter will allow us to continue providing much-needed resources to MACC. For instance, last year Friends of MACC:
> Supported MACC in saving the lives of nearly 4,000 homeless, stray, and injured animals
> Funded 70+ lifesaving surgeries though the Emergency Medical Fund
> Helped provide free food to 2,400 families through the Safety Net Program
> Created 2,300 square feet of new outdoor play yards
> Funded 500 free microchips to community pets
Friends change everything, and together, we can change the future of animal welfare here in Davidson County.
Background
In 2017, a group of volunteers at Metro Animal Care and Control (MACC) saw the need to bring more attention and resources to the incredible work happening at Nashville's only open admission shelter. These volunteers realized that MACC, on a limited budget and with limited resources, is tasked with trying to solve unlimited needs in our community. And while they love being active inside the shelter, these volunteers also recognized that they could leverage their professional skills and connections outside the shelter to better support MACC's lifesaving efforts -- and expand its impact in Davidson County.
So in 2018, Friends of MACC was incorporated and immediately began its mission of amplifying MACC's impact by supporting lifesaving initiatives and preventing pet homelessness in Davidson County. Friends of MACC has worked closely with shelter management to identify ways to help get pets adopted, returned to their homes, or remain in their homes. Our primary programs education, enrichment, and animal welfare meet those needs. Our programs were chosen because they best support our goal of preventing pet homelessness.
Our education program provides a broad range of services and can be directed to help in myriad ways: toward pets that need behavior modification to stay in their current home or find a new one, training for our volunteers or fosters to help bring out the best in animals, or brochures and short training for Davidson County residents. The shelter can be a stressful place for an animal since it's often loud and movement is limited to the kennel where the animal is kept, so our enrichment program seeks to provide resources at the shelter to keep animals healthy and active. Our animal welfare program provides support to the veterinary staff for medical emergencies that are not provided under the shelter's budget, aid to the Safety Net Program that provides food or medical services to families in need, microchips so wandering pets can be returned to their owners, and supplies to our Animal Control officers to distribute to residents who can't afford to purchase the items necessary to make their pets comfortable and compliant with Metro pet ordinances.
Our organization is both volunteer-led and volunteer-ran, and many of our board members are still active volunteers inside the shelter. Our background and passion is bring much-needed attention and financial resources to the shelter so that we can serve more families and save more animals.
Impact
Every year, MACC leadership and the Friends of MACC board create a plan to fund the programs and initiatives both at the shelter and in the community that will lead to fewer animals going homeless and more animals being saved. And together, our efforts are making a difference: Friends of MACC continues to support the shelter in ways that allows MACC to maintain its +90% save rate for all animals entering the shelter and provide services to more than 2,000 families through its Safety Net Program. And these are just two of the ways in which Friends of MACC is making an impact within our community.
Since our inception, Friends of MACC has provided improvements to MACC's facility -- remodeling or creating more than 4,000 square feet of outdoor play yards so that animals and families have outdoor space to use when needed; installing sound baffling that reduced the noise inside the shelter considerably for our animals, staff, and visitors; and undertaking a lobby makeover to improve the lobby's flow and function for our adoption counselors and guests. Through these efforts, we are making the shelter a more safe, friendly, and welcoming for everyone and every animal in the shelter.
Additionally, Friends of MACC has expanded the shelter's reach in our community through creative partnerships. For instance, during the pandemic, Friends of MACC board members established a partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank to offer food at mobile pet pantries, and this is a partnership still in place today. Friends of MACC has also developed a deeper relationship with Pet Community Center, a wonderful partner that offers low to no cost vet services to our community. Through this partnership, we've been able to save more lives together through heartworm treatment programs and free community microchipping. All these relationships support our mission.
Friends of MACC has many accomplishments for being such a new nonprofit. Our board is proud of the impact we are making in our community, and we are thankful for Nashville's support in embracing our mission and backing us with their confidence. And we are just getting started!
Needs
Friends of MACC has made an incredible impact since our inception, thanks to the warm welcome we've received from the Nashville community. While our organization is operating well, there are a two key needs that our board has identified.
First, as a volunteer-based nonprofit, we are always looking for skills-based volunteers who want to share their professional talents. From financial leadership to social media strategy, Friends of MACC relies on the expertise of our board members to help us share our message, grow our organization, engage the community, and dream for the future. Board revitalization and growth are a key focus area for our board, and we will always have the need to find dynamic, caring, talented individuals who want to serve on our board and improve animal welfare in Davidson County.
As a growing organization, Friends of MACC has developed a strong donor base that's engaged in supporting its mission. Our focus currently is on the need to diversify revenue streams. And the board has created an action plan to address this need: going forward, we are putting a focus on passive income streams and building a corporate sponsorship plan so that we can increase the areas from which we receive generous funding.
Board Chair Statement
Nashville, we are beyond thankful for your support. And together, we are making a difference for the homeless animals here in our community.
Friends of MACC started as an idea by a group of volunteers spending their Saturdays at MACC with the animals. MACC is Nashville's only open admission shelter, and it has a Herculean task of meeting unlimited needs on a limited budget and with a small staff. When we started Friends of MACC, it was to bring attention and more resources to the shelter. Since the day Friends of MACC formed, the residents of Davidson County have rallied around us and the shelter -- and it's been incredible. Your support and devotion to MACC and the homeless animals in our community is nothing short of amazing.
Each year, Friends of MACC sets a strategic plan with MACC's leadership, and we have been successful in accomplishing so many things -- over 4,000 square feet of improved or new play yards, an all-new exterior storage building to house MACC's Pet Pantry that serves 2,000+ families in need each year, resources for our Field Officers to help families and animals in the community, and funding to provide lifesaving medical care to 70+ critically ill or injured animals each year. And collectively, our efforts are leading to more awareness for MACC as an amazing community resource and resulting in more lives being saved.
All of this is possible thanks to you, Nashville. We appreciate your support, we are committed to doing more, and we are proud to call you members of the MACC Pack!
Sincerely,
Becky Carter
Board Chair
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Animal Related - Animal Protection & Welfare |
| Secondary Category: | Animal Related - Veterinary Services |
| Tertiary Category: | - |
Areas Served
| TN - Davidson |
