
Donations
Our services are not called on often. But when they are, they are usually true emergencies.
– a senior citizen becomes disoriented and wonders off,
– a mentally challenged individual has run away,
– an autistic child has become fixated on going somewhere and takes off into the night,
– a hunter twists or breaks an ankle while tracking a wounded deer,
– a flood occurs or a tornado touches down causing wide spread damages,
– a person has an auto accident, dazed and confused they stumble off into the woods,
– a gas explosion levels an apartment building,
– a canoeist overturns and is lost in a creek,
– a person has a psychotic break and disappears into a state forest
– a hiker miscalculates their trip and in trying to bushwhack a short cut becomes lost in the dark and their cell phone dies or has no signal.
All of these incidents have actually happened in Southeastern Pennsylvania and our immediate neighboring states.
All of these required search and rescue teams and the K9’s that assist them.
Can you honestly say that you or your family will never, ever be touched by a similar incident?
We are a 100% volunteer service. We do not charge for any of our services. All costs are borne by the members of the team and the organization. Members purchase most of their own gear, boots, backpacks, supplies, and radios. They pay their own tolls, gas and food. Many times for searches they will take off work and lose vacation days or income. In addition, K9 handlers provide their own dogs, do their own training, pay for all vet services, pay for attending seminar’s, and pay for their certifications and testing. Their four legged partners often suffer cut paws, cut ears, scratches from briars, twisted joints and sprained ligaments and muscles. In some cases, these dogs can suffer severe injuries. All medical treatment is borne by the handlers. The insurance alone for the team is approximately $5000.00 a year. We would like to help pay for instructors and seminars. We would like to acquire some basic team equipment and supplies. Some day we would like to cover veterinarian bills for our K9’s by providing some pet insurance to our members. We’d also like to cover gas and tolls for members responding to searches. Ideally, we’d like to have steady funds of $12,000 – $15,000 a year. After team members spend hundreds of hours in training, it is difficult to ask them to spend hours every month to do fund raising activities.
We would like to help members defray some costs but that all depends on you!
We rely on private donations by generous individuals like yourself to keep the team functioning. We do not get any government funding. If we are awarded grants, the grant monies are typically designated funds and must be used specifically for what the grant was written for. Most grants are for specific items and cannot be used for general expenses of the team such as insurance, gas, tolls, vet bills. We are also trying to provide for the long term future for the team. While it is very difficult for us to currently do at this stage, our goal is that 50% of all non-designated funds will be deposited into a trust fund that benefits the team. Once deposited into the fund, the main principal will never be withdrawn. Only a portion of the earned interest will be dispersed to the team. We estimate that we need to grow the fund to about $150,000. At that point, we’ll have a reliable, and stable source of income to support the team. We must make sure we provide for the future. We know this will take years to accomplish. But the sooner we start, the sooner we will reach that goal. All donations to our team are fully tax deductible as we are a 501(c)(3) charity. As a donor to our organization you can receive a yearly accounting of all our financial activity so you can see exactly where our money is spent and how it is used. We promise 100% transparency to our donors. Compared to most charities and organizations, our costs are minimal. Your donation makes a real impact to our team and is greatly appreciated. We hope you will consider providing our team with a yearly contribution to help us be there when a family needs us to find their loved one.
Info about our 501(c)(3) Non Profit Organization
Our non-profit parent organization is the K9 Detection & Search Foundation, (The Foundation). It is a 501(3)(c) non-profit, incorporated in the State of Pennsylvania and based in West Chester, PA. The corporation was incorporated on December 31, 2011. The Foundation registered “ChesCo Search Dogs” as a DBA, (Doing Business As – Fictitious Name Registration), with the State of Pennsylvania on June 1, 2016. The service mark “ChesCo Search Dogs” was registered with the US patent office on 12/04/2018 but was used in business for several years prior to registration. It is now federally protected and owned by the Foundation. The ChesCo Search Dogs name is the face of the organization We use this in daily interactions with the public and for fund raising. When you see us out and about on trainings, searches, or community events we will usually be operating under our DBA of ChesCo Search Dogs. The K9 Detection & Search Foundation is the legal entity behind ChesCo Search Dogs. The Foundation provides the insurance for the team to operate and otherwise, is financially and legally responsible for all operations of the ChesCo Search Dogs. The Foundation is run by a board of directors. All funds are managed and controlled by the foundation. The Foundation and the ChesCo Search Dogs have two separate accounts. The Foundation primarily handles big ticket purchases, insurance, and overhead costs. The ChesCo Search Dogs account typically covers daily operational expenditures as well as grant monies or donations specifically earmarked for the ChesCo Search Dogs. The ChesCo Search Dogs funds are managed and utilized by the team members. The K9 Detection and Search Foundation’s directors manage and utilize the Foundation funds and provide high-level oversight of the ChesCo team accounts. The Foundation’s primary goal is to provide stable, funding for the ChesCo Search Dogs to operate. Aside from the legal oversite of ChesCo Search Dogs, the Foundation is the primary financial base for ChesCo Search Dogs. The Foundation also manages an endowment fund that we place all memorial donations, donor directed funds, and sometimes a portion of excess general donations into. The Foundation hopes to grow the endowment to a point that it can fully support all the financial costs of the ChesCo Search Dogs. Your donations are used 100% for the benefit of ChesCo Search Dogs. You may donate to either ChesCo Search Dogs, or the K9 Detection and Search Foundation via our web page. If you wish the funds to be used in the endowment fund where they will work in perpetuity supporting K9 search and rescue, please indicate on the info line or memo line “ENDOWMENT FUND”. The foundation can also handle donations of stocks, bonds and most investment instruments should you need to donate them to assist your financial plan goals.
We are 100% volunteer and receive NO government funds at any level. Your support, no matter the amount is critical to our ongoing ability to serve our community. Please consider a donation today!
Please send all check or cash donations to:
K9 Detection and Search Foundation
1255 Buck Lane
West Chester, PA 19382