We have news that has had our whole FOHA family smiling all week (and, if we’re honest, a few of us happy-crying in the kennel hallway). Our Senior Care Plan, the program that helps our gray-muzzled canine friends find loving homes, is fully funded thanks to an incredible anonymous donor. In honor of that gift, we are absolutely thrilled to introduce the Aldielawn Fund!
If you’ve ever loved an older dog, you know why this means so much to us. Senior dogs have a way of settling right into your heart. They lean their whole weight against your leg, snore through movie night, and love you like they’ve known you forever. They lived whole lives before they ever met us, and they still have so much love left to give.
They can also be the hardest dogs to place. Many come to us through no fault of their own: an owner passed away, moved into assisted living, or couldn’t keep up with their care. Families fall for these sweet souls, then pause when they think about the vet bills that can come with age. That worry is exactly what our Senior Care Plan was built to ease, and it’s why we are so deeply, overwhelmingly grateful that the Aldielawn Fund will keep it going strong.
A Gift With No Name Attached
The Aldielawn Fund was created to honor a donor who stepped forward with remarkable generosity and asked for nothing in return, not even recognition. This person chose to remain anonymous. They didn’t want their name on a plaque or a thank-you post. They just wanted to make sure the senior dogs at Friends of Homeless Animals (FOHA) could keep finding homes.
The fund lives right here at home, on FOHA’s 40-acre no-kill shelter in Aldie, Virginia, where every dollar goes straight to the senior dogs in our care.
We wanted a way to say thank you that respected that wish. So we gave the gift a name of its own. The Aldielawn Fund is that name, and will stand behind every senior dog this year supported by our Senior Care Plan. When you see it on our website or on a gray pup’s adoption profile, we hope you’ll think of it the way we do: as a quiet act of kindness from someone in our community who saw a need and simply took care of it.
There is something really beautiful about giving that way. No spotlight, no fanfare. Just a decision that older dogs matter, and that they shouldn’t have to wait longer for a family because of what their care might cost.
Making “Yes” Easier for Senior Dogs
The Aldielawn Fund now covers the expenses of FOHA’s Senior Care Plan, a program we care about deeply.
FOHA created the Senior Care Plan in 2018, and the idea behind it is simple. We want people to say yes to a senior dog with their hearts, without their wallets talking them out of it. The plan waives adoption fees for senior dogs aged 8 and older, and adopters can be reimbursed for up to $1,500 in approved medical expenses. Our seniors also receive senior-specific preventive care before they go home, so they start their new lives as healthy as possible.
Just ask Echo. He’s a 10-year-old, 82-pound shepherd mix who is absolutely convinced he’s a lapdog. Echo loves car rides, snuggles, his oversized ball, and claiming every couch he meets. His favorite spot is the adoption office after hours, soaking up attention from staff and volunteers. His care is supported by a grant from the Aldielawn Fund, so while he waits for his family, he gets everything a senior dog needs. When he does go home, his adopters won’t be facing his golden years alone.
Without this support, some of these adoptions simply wouldn’t happen. The Aldielawn Fund makes sure they do.
Frosted Faces, Full Hearts
First and foremost, the Aldielawn Fund serves our senior dogs. These are the dogs with frosted faces and slower walks, the ones who might need a daily pill or a softer bed. Some came from overcrowded shelters where their age put them at real risk. Others lost the only home they’d ever known. Every one of them deserves to spend their golden years curled up on a couch rather than waiting in a kennel.
When a senior dog finds a home, it also opens a space at FOHA for another older dog who needs rescue. So the fund isn’t only helping the dog in front of us today. It’s helping the next one, and the one after that.
The fund serves our adopters, too. Choosing a senior dog is a big, generous decision, and we never want cost to be the thing that stands in the way. Knowing there is help with medical care gives families the confidence to open their homes to a dog who has a lot of love left to give.
And in a bigger sense, it serves all of us. Every time an older dog goes home, our community gets a little kinder.
When One Door Closed, Another Opened
To understand why this gift means so much, it helps to know a little history.
For more than five years, FOHA was fortunate to receive grant funding from The Grey Muzzle Organization, a national nonprofit devoted to improving the lives of at-risk senior dogs. Their support helped us build and grow the Senior Care Plan into what it is today. Countless senior dogs went home because of their belief in this program, and we will always be grateful for that partnership.
This year, despite applying again, FOHA was not selected for funding. We’d be lying if we said that news didn’t sting. Grant funding is competitive, and there are so many worthy organizations doing good work for senior dogs across the country. Still, our first thought was for the dogs. What would happen to the program they depended on?
Then something wonderful happened. An anonymous donor stepped forward and offered to cover the expenses of the Senior Care Plan. Just like that, a program that might have faced an uncertain future was secure. In recognition of that generosity, we established the Aldielawn Fund, and it now supports the Senior Care Plan directly.
That’s the heart of the connection: the Aldielawn Fund exists because one person cared about FOHA’s senior dogs enough to make sure their path home never paused. We are still deeply thankful to The Grey Muzzle Organization, and we plan to apply again next year. But thanks to this donor, our seniors don’t have to wait while we do.
From All of Us, Thank You
To our anonymous donor: we may never be able to thank you by name, but please know the impact of what you’ve done. Every senior dog who leaves FOHA with a new family, a full belly, and a car ride home is part of your story now. Every grateful adopter who sends us a photo of their old dog snoozing in a sunbeam is thanking you, too. You made sure that a program our community relies on didn’t skip a beat, and that is a gift we will never take for granted.
To everyone reading this, here’s how you can be part of it:
- Meet our seniors. Look for the Aldielawn Fund name on our senior dogs’ adoption profiles, and consider coming by to meet one in person. You might be surprised how quickly an older dog settles into your heart.
- Share their stories. A single share of a senior dog’s profile can reach the person who has been looking for exactly that dog.
- Give in your own way. Whether it’s donating, volunteering, fostering, or simply telling a friend about FOHA, every bit of kindness adds up. Our anonymous donor has shown us just how far one generous heart can go.
Older dogs have so much love left to give. Thanks to the Aldielawn Fund, more of them will get the chance to give it.
