What is Great Community Give?

The Great Community Give is an initiative of The Community Foundation. It is a giving day event that gives you the opportunity to sponsor and donate to your favorite local nonprofits. This year, the Great Community Give will be on April 22nd, 2026.

What is our focus for Great Community Give 2026?

Our focus for The Great Community Give 2026 is expanding access to lifesaving medical care through our Have a Heart Fund and our new onsite veterinary clinic, ensuring shelter animals receive timely treatment and helping keep pets with the families who love them.

With the addition of our onsite clinic, RHSPCA will soon be able to deliver care faster than ever before. Animals will no longer have to wait for outside appointments to receive treatment, care can begin the moment they arrive. This means quicker diagnoses, more timely surgeries, improved recovery outcomes, and the ability to treat more animals in need. It also allows us to extend support to our community, helping prevent medical-related surrender by keeping pets healthy and at home. The Have a Heart Fund works hand-in-hand with our clinic, providing the financial support needed to carry out this lifesaving care.

The Have a Heart Fund has provided life changing care to over 550 animals in 2025 alone with upwards of $115,000 spent in extra veterinary costs. The Fund covers all critical medical care needs for animals residing at the shelter. When an animal enters the shelter, it is expected that they will receive age appropriate vaccines, undergo a spay or neuter procedure, and be microchipped prior to adoption. It is not uncommon to have animals that need medical treatment beyond the basics though, and this is where the Have a Heart Fund comes into play.

The Have a Heart Fund covers medical expenses such as:

• Diagnostics for senior animals
• Bloodwork
• X-rays
• Surgeries (enucleation, amputation, tumor removal)
• Dentals
• Heartworm Treatment
• And much more…

The need is never ending, and there are always animals waiting their turn for veterinary care that goes above and beyond the norm. Your donation will truly change a life and will allow us to provide care that is necessary prior to adoption. In the first two months of 2026, 55 animals received treatment through the Have a Heart Fund. RHSPCA anticipates that the need will be great this year. For this year’s Great Community Give, we have a goal of raising $70,000 towards the fund.

To see how the Have a Heart Fund has helped other animals at RHSPCA, click HERE to see recent animal stories.

Interested in helping us fundraise with a Peer to Peer Fundraiser?

• Click HERE to head to our Great Community Give Page.
• Click the “Fundraise” button under the banner near the top of the page.
• Insert your personal story and tell your audience why RHSPCA is important to you.
• Share your personal fundraising page on social media and through email to raise donations for the Have a Heart Fund.

Not interested in creating your own page? No problem! You can still help us by liking and sharing our social media posts on Facebook and Instagram between April 7th and April 22nd.

How can you donate?

• Credit Card: Visit the Great Community Give Page to donate by Credit Card between April 7th and April 22nd.
• Check: Stop by the shelter Monday-Saturday 10am-4pm or Wednesday 5-7pm between April 7th and April 22nd. OR Mail your check to RHSPCA PO Box 413, Harrisonburg, VA, 22803. Please write “GCG” in the memo section so that we process your donation accordingly.
• Cash: Bring your cash donation to the shelter during the hours listed above between April 7th and April 22nd. Please let staff know that the donation is for Great Community Give so that we process your donation accordingly.

On behalf of RHSPCA, thank you for supporting this lifesaving program! If you have questions about Great Community Give or any of the programs RHSPCA offers, please feel free to reach out to Madison Spiess at Mspiess@rhspca.org