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Mari (furthest to the right) is one of our wonderful team members who has been with us since close to the beginning of our opening. She is authentic, intelligent, and incredibly compassionate. This August, she’s starting her vet school journey (woo-hoo!) (and also, boo-hoo!). She’s been working her butt off and was invited to the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!). We are so inspired by her perseverance! In January, Mari lost her mom to breast cancer. During her mom’s final months of treatment, Mari used nearly all her savings to help pay for procedures, including multiple paracentesis procedures and corrective eye surgery to keep her comfortable. Since then, she’s been working at Eastwood (and other clinics) to rebuild those savings. A few weeks ago during her garage sales, she was the target of a coordinated, multi-person scam and lost almost $4,000. Her bank denied her fraud claim and won’t refund the money, despite her having gone through the correct channels to recover it (i.e. filing a police report, etc). Anyone who knows Mari knows she’s hardworking, honest, wildly generous, and absolutely the last person to ask for help. When we mentioned wanting to do ‘something’ for her, her response was that she would only accept help as long as she could earn it. Then, she proceeded to offer to spend her remaining Sundays deep-cleaning the clinic.
(No, ma’am!) Eastwood wants to refill her stockings before she heads off, but we’re a brand-new business and don’t have the reserves to do it on our own. So we’re asking the community to help us help her. Our goal is $4,000, a little more than the amount that was stolen. Whatever isn’t covered by donations, Eastwood will pay the difference ourselves. And if we hit our goal, we'll add funds on top of what was raised. We’re going to miss Mari a lot when she leaves, but we want nothing more than to see her succeed. If you’ve ever worked with her or been on the receiving end of her care, you know exactly why we’re doing this: This is about supporting someone who we know will, one way or another, continue to bring incredible care to the critters and families in our world (regardless of whether she receives our support).
In a couple weeks, we’ll be having a little “send off” for Mari (and end-of-summer party for our small but mighty team who have been rockstars through the first few months of operation at Eastwood). We would love to surprise Mari with a generous check and a huge hug from this neighborhood. We’ll sneak a video or snap a pic of the surprise and, with her permission, share that with you all after she receives it.
Thank you for considering a donation. We are forever grateful for this community.
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