Notable Gifts: Richmond SPCA gets $230,200 Lifesaving Award

A soaring adoption rate for healthy dogs and cats has secured a $230,200 Lifesaving Award for the Richmond SPCA and the city's Animal Care and Control Division from Maddie's Fund, a national pet-rescue foundation in California founded by software executive Dave Duffield.

Richmond is the fourth community nationwide to receive the Lifesaving Award.

In 2007, the SPCA and the city animal shelter found homes for 76.5 percent of the more than 7,000 dogs and cats they took in. That number is a big improvement from 2001, when Richmond's euthanasia rate for animals was 40 percent, said Robin Robertson Starr, executive director of the Richmond SPCA.

Maddie's Fund President Rich Avanzino said the relationship between the nonprofit Richmond SPCA and the city agency "is an incredibly successful model we hope others will follow."

The grant will be divided based on performance, with $160,350 going to the Richmond SPCA and $69,850 to Richmond Animal Care and Control.

Starr said the SPCA will use its grant money to support its services for the pets of low-income families.

She called the partnership "an example that shows what a very typical city like Richmond, with problems and challenges and scarce resources, can accomplish with mutual commitment and respect between government and private agencies."

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If you bought a Shamrock Against Dystrophy this year, you contributed to a record $157,004 donation to the Muscular Dystrophy Association in Central Virginia.

Of that amount, $63,657 came from record-breaking sales at 19 Lowe's stores in the region. That's more than triple the $18,090 raised last year at Lowe's stores.

Other large contributors included Kroger stores, $32,665; Hardee's, $12,916; and Stop In convenience stores, $11,776.

More than 1,600 Lowe's stores across the U.S. accounted for $4.3 million of the record-breaking $18 million in Shamrocks Against Dystrophy sales nationwide. The contributions at Lowe's stores were nearly double the previous record of $2.3 million from a single retailer two years ago.

Central Virginia Lowe's stores held special events such as car washes, bake sales, raffles and pizza parties to raise more money for the local MDA.

Shamrocks Against Dystrophy donations of $1 and $5 help fund research, support group sessions, clinic fees, MDA summer camp, and mobility and communication devices.

. . .

E. Claiborne Robins Jr. has donated $100,000 to the campaign for St. Bridget School.

The first phase of the $3.75 million campaign will install new central heating and air-conditioning systems, new windows, a fire-suppression system, and wiring for technology improvements in the school. Construction is scheduled to start when the school closes for summer vacation.

A 1957 graduate of St. Bridget School, Robins said: "I have on occasion over the years reminisced while driving by St. Bridget. I have very fond memories of the school and still hold it in high regard."

Contact Katherine Calos at (804) 649-6433 or .

Staff writer Joe Macenka contributed to this report.