As painful as it was, losing my beloved dog to cancer, in November 2011, was the spark that ignited a new passion within me, but I didn't know it at the time.

About 6 weeks after he crossed the rainbow bridge, I saw a video of these 2 Akita brothers, on a Facebook fan page for an over-crowded shelter, in South Carolina. I thought it was crazy that I was going to try to adopt 2 big dogs... especially since I lived in an apartment that didn't allow pets. After several grueling weeks of searching for a foster for 2 months (I was planning to move), one of the brothers being adopted, and the remaining Akita nearly being put to sleep, a rescue in Kentucky agreed to pull him... and the shelter was going to transport him for FREE!

I thought it was so cool that the shelter would transport my dog for free, I volunteered to help with a transport of theirs, in my area of North Carolina. My emotions were still pretty raw, from losing my dog, so I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing by adopting. When the transport started, I fell for the little guy that rode up front with me and I knew I was ready to adopt, again. It, also, made me realize what an important role transporters play in the life saving process of shelter dogs and cats. If animals aren't transported away from over-crowded shelters and into less crowded rescue organizations, they're killed... due to no fault of their own.

Since January 2012, Rico (the Akita I adopted) and I have traveled more than 40,000 transport miles and have helped to save more than 100 dogs and cats. As great as that may sound, I know we could have done more. That's why I'm making it official and applying for our 501(c)3 nonprofit status.

Our goal is to raise $50,000 by the end of 2016, for various aspects of starting, running, and planning for the future of our transport charity. The breakdown is as follows:

$3,000 - Business/nonprofit application fees, insurance, and other business expenses
$6,000 - Repair Expenses for our current transport vehicle
$11,000 - Transport expenses, through the end of 2016
$30,000 - Down payment for a new transport RV

I'm working with a custom RV designer to come up with a transport vehicle that will allow us to improve transport efficiency (take more animals at the same time; improve gas mileage; provide sleeping space for me so hotel expenses will be reduced or eliminated; etc). Having a more efficient transport vehicle will allow us to be on the road for longer periods of time and create regular transport routes/schedules. Not only will that help us, but it will help rescue organizations save more lives because they'll know when reliable transportation will be available to move their animals. They can spend less time scheduling "relay" transport runs and spend more hands-on time with the animals.

As you can see, I have big plans for the future of MRM Rescue Transports and I hope you'll be a part of that future. Donations of any amount would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,


Maggie Giamalvo
MRM Rescue Transports, Founder