Wyndmoor, PA -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/09/2014 -- Sam’s Hope, a nonprofit animal welfare organization, was recently awarded a $10,000 grant from Banfield Charitable Trust (BCT) to support its Veterinary Care Assistance Program.

Sam’s Hope will use the award to assist elderly, disabled, ill, unemployed, and low-income pet owners facing economic hardship in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties in Southeastern Pennsylvania, in an effort to reduce the number of pets surrendered to shelters due to financial reasons.

“The funding from Banfield Charitable Trust will certainly help us double the impact we had in our first year of operation,” says Marianne Iaquinto, founder of Sam’s Hope. “Thanks to prior funding from BCT, other foundations and supporters, Sam’s Hope was able to provide veterinary care assistance to 38 pets, (27 dogs and 11 cats), since it commenced operations in July 2013.”

Each year, millions of companion animals are surrendered to shelters by their owners. Of these surrenders, approximately 1 million were due to the owners’ financial inability to provide for their pets basic needs, veterinary care and pet food.

The goal of the Sam’s Hope Veterinary Care Assistance Program is to reduce pet suffering, abandonments and surrenders to shelters due to pet owners’ financial inability to provide care for their pets; keeping pets and people together.

For more information about Sam’s Hope and its pet assistance programs, or to learn how to support these programs, please visit our website at www.samshope.org.

About Sam’s Hope
Sam’s Hope is a 501(c)(3) non-profit animal welfare organization dedicated to saving the lives of companion animals by keeping those facing economic and health challenges and their pets together through food and veterinary care assistance programs.

Founded in 2013, Sam's Hope was inspired by the founder’s beloved dog Samantha, and her awareness of the current economic climate, which forces many pet owners to surrender or abandon their pets.

Our mission is to save the lives of companion animals by keeping them out of shelters, where they face a very uncertain future, and with their families.

Our vision is a world where all pets are well cared for and in a loving home for life.

About Banfield Charitable Trust
Banfield Charitable Trust is the largest nonprofit solely devoted to preventing the separation of pets from their people. Our mission is to fund and administer programs to keep pets and their people together and to facilitate solutions to ensure that no pet owner will ever have to surrender their pet.

Banfield Charitable Trust programs provide financial assistance for emergency and preventive veterinary care and pet care programs such as pet food grants, temporary foster care, and behavioral training assistance to struggling pet owners. Learn more about us at http://www.banfieldcharitabletrust.org.