Helping Our Pets Cross the Rainbow Bridge at Home

                SUGAR’S GIFT – EXCITING NEWS AND UPDATES

WOW!!! 2026 has started off with a bang and we look forward to sharing all the exciting news with our supporters.

We want to thank every single one of you who have helped us in the past as well as those who have to make 2026 our best year yet!  We continue to grow and exceed our expectations in so many ways:

• We cannot forget our incredible 2025 successes, when our July Bonus Day smashed every record we ever had for individual donations on matching events!  We received approximately $30,000 that day because of YOU, our wonderful supporters.Those funds were then matched 100% by 2 Family Foundations to give us $60,000 total!   Later in 2025, during our Giving Tuesday event in December,  we again received approximately $30,000 from those we have helped and those who believe in our mission.  It was also matched 100% by 2 Family Foundations to give us another $60,000!! We cried, we smiled, we laughed, and we all loved every one of your angels during this process. We thank you all for stepping up and making 2025 our most successful year yet in the number of sweet angels and families we were able to help. These events continue to help us grow and provide end-of-life service to our beloved angels. So, mark your calendars! We are aiming to beat that record again in 2026 with our July 15^th matching event!

• To keep up with the growth and to be able to assist as many as we can, our team is expanding as well. We have added Angela M to our team in West Coast FL to help prepare your fur babies’ ashes and lovingly deliver them back to you. We have also added Sara M in our Colorado area to also help bring your sweet babies back to you. Our continued growth and the increasing need for our services is why we are always looking for help and asking for those donations.

• Our volume has markedly increased, and we could not continue to serve without Dr Meredith Cronin, Dr Sara Velic and Dr Margaux Buchanan. We are continuing to see pets 7 days a week thanks to these incredible humans. The genuine compassion and care that they show day in and day out is above and beyond. Thank you for continuing to believe in us and for helping us every day to complete our mission!

• We have provided our two women, with whom you speak to daily and who keep things moving behind the scenes, new titles for their roles in our organization. Paula S is now our Director of Operations, and Sherri S is now our Director of Marketing and Communications. Please join us in congratulating them on their new titles and for the major role they play in assisting your pets every day.

• As we reach more people and continue to build, it seems we are now approaching a level where we are helping 12-20 pets per week, on a consistent basis just on Florida’s West Coast. This does not include our other locations on the East Coast of Florida and Colorado.  When we started Sugar’s Gift®, we hoped that ultimately, we could help 1 pet per day – 7 per week.  We help more than twice that many now and couldn’t do that without your generous donations and help.  The word is continuing to spread about us – we are now in our 11^th year of existence and with word of mouth from you, local veterinarians, groomers, and others on social media, we are becoming the “go to” for in-home euthanasia.  Although it is a very sad and traumatic time for people who need us and ask for recommendations, we are honored that we are near the top of the list for what we do and are recommended by so many.

• We are also extremely fortunate to have been recognized with grants from many of the local Community Foundations, as well as others outside our headquarters area.  This year so far, we have received some significant grants to help us flourish and expand. We will be sharing more exciting news about them soon.  We expect our grants to increase even more as we spread the word about our work, and others continue to see the value in what we do not only for our Sweet Babies but also for you, our pet owners.

OUR NEXT BIG 100% MATCHING EVENT — THAT INCLUDES AN UNLIMITED DOLLAR AMOUNT FOR OUR MATCHING DONATIONS — IS ON JULY 15, 2026 – OUR “JULY BONUS DAY”! ALL DONATIONS BETWEEN 10 AM EST ON JULY 15TH THROUGH 10 AM EST ON JULY 16TH WILL BE MATCHED 100%.

We have 2 Unlimited Donation Matching Events every year – our July Bonus Day and Giving Tuesday.  This year, our July Bonus Day is on July 15 and Giving Tuesday is on December 1. On those 2 days ALL your donations are matched 100% by 2 Family Foundations who are incredible supporters of Sugar’s Gift®!   Are you able to help again? – Or for our first time donors…. will you please help us on during our matching event?  Your funds go twice as far and enable us to help so many more sweet angels! 

You will receive more notices and announcements coming up as we get closer to these events, so please don’t forget these important dates…. We only have 2 of these unlimited donation Matching Events each year, so please help us if you possibly can!  (We don’t apologize for the number of notices you will receive between now and then…. We need everyone to remember these dates.) And, when you donate, PLEASE unclick "Anonymous" so we know who you are! We want to be able to thank you properly for your kindness and for thinking of us, and we cannot do so if you are anonymous.

We are now helping between 12-20 pets per week just in West Coast FL, which is higher than ever before> So we really, genuinely need your help!  We have tripled in size since April 2025, when our office staff and our 3 wonderful vets joined us and gave us the capability to work 7 days a week, morning, afternoon and evenings.  We love them dearly, but we need the funds to pay for them and to help even more beautiful babies!

Let’s work together for another amazing Matching Day!  LET’S DO IT AGAIN!  We want to help as many angels as we can, and we need your help to do it!

 WE ASK FOR YOUR CONTINUOUS HELP NOW MORE THAN EVER AND HERE IS WHY…

1. Our organization is continuing to expand and grow in leaps and bounds again this year; this is due to our growing team as well as:
   • We now have 4 wonderful veterinarians working with us in the Sarasota/Manatee County areas – we cover every square inch of both counties! 
   • Thanks to Little Boy’s Legacy, we can now do same day/next day appointments)
   • Again, now we are beginning to see an increase consistently where we are helping 12-20 pets per week.  That is wonderful, but to be able to continue at this rate we need help with funding – we have never been able to help this many pets before and to see the impact we are making is something that brings us the utmost joy!
2. Our East Coast of Florida expansion of operations continues!  As mentioned in the past we have partnered with Safe Passage in Home Euthanasia and Pet Crematory in Indiantown, which has helped take our business to new heights and to grow on the East Coast and, recently into the Orlando area as well.  We have 11 veterinarians able to service Jacksonville, FL, through Homestead, FL, as well as the Orlando area!  .  Safe Passage schedules our East Coast appointments, performs the cremations and delivers our urns and other items back in person to our pet owners on the East Coast.  They are wonderful, and we look forward to continuing to grow with them!
3. We are thrilled to continue our work with Lifetime Veterinary Center and Dr. Dack in the Jupiter area – we love them and look forward to working with them forever!  They schedule their own euthanasia in their office and return our urn and other items to each pet owner, as well. 
4. We have continued our expansion to the Ft. Collins/Loveland, CO, areas with our wonderful vet there, Dr. Emilea Burton, and your help will now aid us in assisting with more in-house pet euthanasia in CO, as well. We are blessed to work with such a great team at Western Skies: Emily, who does the scheduling and coordinating, and now Sara, who will be assisting with delivering our Colorado angels back to their loving owners.
5. Anyone in our service area should call our office directly at 941-718-5066 and we will be happy to discuss their situation with them.  We do not take requests through email, texts or through Facebook messenger.  We must speak with each pet owner directly.

 A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO THE FASSY FAMILY FOUNDATION FOR THEIR GENEROUS DONATIONS AND HELP IN 2026

We have a wonderful, generous benefactor and Partner in the Fassy Family Foundation, started by Dr. Lynn Fassy, who was on the Sugar’s Gift® Board and who unexpectedly passed away earlier in 2025.  His son, Christian Fassy, is carrying on the tradition that his father started and has joined our Board of Directors!  The Fassy Family Foundation is Sugar’s Gift‘s Angel Partner as long as they’ll continue to have us! 

We truly could not do what we do without the help of this foundation, their generosity and trust in our mission is unsurpassed!

So, a huge Thank You to the Fassy Family Foundation for your help with a new vehicle, your match for our 2025 July Bonus Day as well as our Giving Tuesday Bonus day, too!

The Foundation has committed to and has already been helping Sugar’s Gift® so graciously again in 2026 – so we send big hugs to them and thank them from the bottom of our hearts for their generosity and belief in us!

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO AN ANONYMOUS FAMILY FOUNDATION FOR THEIR GENEROUS DONATION

A HUGE thank you to an anonymous Family Foundation who will also generously help match the donations received on our July Bonus Day in 2026!  They understand how much good we are doing in the community and they are proud to be associated with us and help us with our mission.  You know who you are….and we love you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

WE WANTED TO GIVE A HUGE THANK YOU AND SHOUT OUT TO LUCY'S BAKERY AND SPA FOR ALL OF THEIR SUPPORT AND FOR ALWAYS THINKING OF US! CHECK OUT SOME MORE INFORMATION ON THIS AMAZING BUSINESS FOR ALL OF YOU DOG OWNERS OUT THERE. 

In this newsletter, we wanted to shine a spotlight on one of Sugar’s Gift’s biggest retail supporters: LUCY’S DOG BAKERY AND SPA. For all of you dog pet parents, we hope this family-owned business will become “your one stop shop for all your dog's needs."  For Nikki’s own pups Pita, Noodles, and Chou Chou and Paula’s Gigi, they are the best groomers in town. Plus, they carry gourmet dog treats and cakes for special occasions, along with a great selection of food and toys.

Owners Joe and Lynnette Naughton have hosted Pet Pictures with Santa, an annual fundraiser for Sugar’s Gift; plus they make sure to have a donation jar at the register. We are so grateful for the $273 they raised for us recently!  The store, located at the Shoppes at UTC, was originally Three Dogs Bakery, but earlier this year, Joe and Lynette renamed it in honor of Lucy, the rescue black lab/chow mix that belonged to them when the shop first opened.

We encourage our dog owners to please support this wonderful business that has truly been so good to our pups and our organization.

Here’s how to reach them:

address: 8455 Cooper Creek Blvd. Bradenton

email: tdbsrq@outlook.com

phone: (941) 355-0399

Instagram: @lucysdogbakeryandspautc (https://www.instagram.com/lucysdogbakeryandspautc/)

FaceBook: (https://www.facebook.com/threedogbakerysarasota/)

           TRADEMARKS FOR SUGAR’S GIFT®!

Good News Continues for Sugar’s Gift®!  We have now been awarded 5 Trademarks from the US Patent and Trademark Office!  Here is what we have received approval for and have begun using!

1. Our Name!  Sugar’s Gift® - very important to us.  Now we are not only the ONLY 501(c)(3) organization in the country who does what we do, but no one can take our name and identity!
2. Our Logo – it is now trademarked, too!  Big thanks to our supporter Sue Young for her design.
3. One of our taglines – Until We Meet Again® - We did it!  This was close to some others, but the officer in charge of our applications worked hard to make it happen!
4. Our other tagline – Because love never leaves. ® - This was our first trademark! 
5. Our tagline that we love – Comfort, Dignity and Peace…. Right Time, Right Place….  At Home. ® Our latest trademark!

 THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR TEAM – AND WE ARE A TEAM!

The people at Sugar’s Gift® who make our operations possible deserve a special section of their own!  We have a very special team of people who work so well together to help your babies cross the Rainbow Bridge peacefully from home.  We would like to highlight everyone who makes us the terrific organization we are!

• Dr. Sara Velic and her nurses Sara and Angela – Dr. Velic volunteers her time to help Sugar’s Gift®, while still maintaining her position with The University Animal Clinic in Sarasota, FL.  Dr. Velic is amazing, and she helps us in the evenings, weekends, and with day appointments as she is available.  Her clinic, The University Animal Clinic, is now spreading the word about our work and is a wonderful partner of ours.  Please visit them at https://www.theuniversityanimalclinic.com/

• Dr. Margaux Buchanan with Avalon Veterinary Services – Dr. Buchanan joined our team in 2025 when she started her in-home euthanasia services.  She had a similar business where she lived in MA previously, and we are thrilled to have her on our team.  Dr. Buchanan is also a veterinarian with Sarasota Equine and has assisted us with 4 horses we have helped cross the Rainbow Bridge.  She helps us in the evenings and the weekends, and any days off from Sarasota Equine.  Please visit her on her Facebook Business Page for Avalon Veterinary Services LLC.  And, during Polo season, go watch Dr. Buchanan play at the Polo Field in Sarasota – she is incredible!

• Dr. Meredith Cronin with Dr. Meredith’s Veterinary In Home Euthanasia and Acupuncture – Dr. Meredith joined our team in 2025 when she contacted us!  She gave us lots of referrals, then decided she should see if we need help – boy, we are glad she did!  She helps us 7 days a week, morning, afternoon and evenings.  She is very special and her love for animals is unsurpassed.  We are so lucky to have her on board, and please visit her at:  https://meredithdvm.com/

• Angela M – Not only is Angela one of Dr. Velic’s nurses that assists in home with the euthanasia, but she is also now taking her compassion to another level and assisting with delivering your sweet angels back home to you in our West Coast FL areas. We had a great need, and Angela feels love for your babies as much as we all do and has been a perfect fit to assist in this area.

• Lori J -  lost her boy, Bravo, in 2024, and offers to help us with transporting when we need it.  There are many instances when we do need extra help and Lori is there for us!  Thank you, Lori, for volunteering your services!

• Cheryl Brady and Vet Care Express – Cheryl and her own team are some of the most compassionate people on the planet….and everyone we have helped agrees!  They are always there for us and the pets we help, and we appreciate them so much!  Please visit them at:  https://www.vetcareexpress.com/

• Drs. Wendy and Kyle with Holistic Veterinary House Calls – our cherished veterinarians on the West Coast of Florida are our lifeblood!  Again, everyone we have helped certainly believes that, too.  We couldn’t be here without them!  Please visit them at:  https://www.drwendyying.com/dr_wendy_ying_holistic_vet.html

• Dr. Dack and the Lifetime Veterinary Center in Jupiter, FL – another incredible veterinarian whom we are fortunate to have on board!  They help so many babies on the East Coast and we love them, too!  Please visit them at: https://www.lifetimevet.com/

• Dr. Emilea Burton of Western Skies End-of-Life Veterinary Center in Ft. Collins/Loveland, CO and surrounding areas – Dr. Burton contacted us through Dr. Kathleen Cooney in the Loveland area.  She joined our team in 2024, and we are limited in the number of pets we can help there because we need more funding for that area.  That said, we do as many as we can, and we want to do more!  She is incredible and we are lucky to have her on our team.  Please visit her at:  https://westernskiesvet.com/

• Sara M. – Sara just recently joined our team in the Colorado area. She will be assisting in getting deliveries together and delivering sweet angels back to their owners in the CO area. We are so lucky to have her join our team.

• Safe Passage In Home Euthanasia and Pet Crematory on the East and West Coasts of Florida, as well as the Orlando area, are special partners to us.  They go above and beyond for our pet owners, pets and us.  We are incredibly excited to be a partner with them for our in home euthanasia’s and their vets on the East Coast, as well as our expansion by using their crematory services on our West Coast.  Thank you so much to the Safe Passage team – Cristin, Justin, Matt and the other wonderful people on your staff – we couldn’t do this without you!  Please visit them at:  https://www.safepassagepetcremation.com/

• And, last but certainly not least – thank you Paula S. our Director of Operations and Sherri S. our Director of Marketing and Communications Many of you have spoken with Paula and Sherri and understand their compassion for each of your individual situations.  Paula lost her Ollie in 2025 and contacted us because she wanted to give back. She wanted to help all of you because she understood what you are going through. We are so grateful she did because we could not do it without her!  Sherri worked with Dr. Buchanan for many years in MA for her in-home euthanasia business. She continues to work in the veterinary field. She completely understands your pain and grief - and now we are blessed she works with us too!  We are so thankful to have Paula and Sherri on our Team!

 LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE AND FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM AND NEXT DOOR!

Thank you to all of you who have encouraged others to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Threads and Next Door…. We continue to increase in followers to over 2,300 as of today on Facebook.  We want to build even more Facebook Likes, so please Like Our Page and share this with your friends! Share our stories and memorials so others can see the impact Sugar’s Gift is having in the community and  the angels being helped every day. The more we share the more we can help and the more donations  can be made.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO SHARE WITH US AND LEAVE THOSE GOOGLE REVIEWS FOR SUGAR’S GIFT®!

We cannot tell you what these heartfelt messages mean to us, and they also help to share what we do with others, so more can benefit from the love and kindness we have for all our sweet angels and those who love them. 

KEEP US IN MIND FOR YOUR ESTATE PLANNING GIFTS WITH LITTLE BOY'S LEGACY

We always have people reach out to see how they can assist Sugar’s Gift and give back and there are so many ways. One of those ways and a very important one is if they can include Sugar’s Gift® in their estate planning.  Recently, we have had people enquire about this and we are very appreciative of the gesture.  If you have a Will or a Trust and wish Sugar’s Gift® to receive funding upon your demise, we thank you for thinking of us.  Your gifts will keep us sustainable for many years to come! 

If you need help or have questions regarding this situation, please contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss options with you.  We have a new program we are beginning to roll out this year called Little Boy’s Legacy – watch for more information to be released on that program soon!

   OUR MISSION – WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO

Our mission is always worth repeating: Our mission is to provide euthanasia and end-of-life veterinary services for terminally ill pets in their own homes.  We at Sugar's Gift® do not charge for any of our services to help your terminally ill baby.  Why?  Our mission from the beginning has always been all about the Little Ones, not about how much money someone has.  We don't charge you on a sliding scale.  We don't charge you based on your income.  We believe this: Every one of you who has a terminally ill pet has something in common with all of us - the love for our pets, our companions, our Little Angels and the need to have them pass in the most comfortable surroundings.  That is something sacred to us.  We share that love and respect you for that love, as well.  That is why we do not charge you for our services.  It is the last Gift you can give your baby, and it is Sugar's Gift® to both of you.

So, when we say every dollar counts…...EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS.  CLICK HERE TO DONATE

REMEMBER….

Sugar’s Gift® is the only non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization in the country whose mission is to help terminally ill pets cross over the Rainbow Bridge from home with comfort, dignity and peace. 

      WHAT WE NEED NOW FROM YOU

• Please consider helping us on July 15 and December 1, 2026, when we have 100% matching funds available to us!  Log in to our link here to help us with our largest matching event of the year!  Again, we have our wonderful Partner, the Fassy Family Foundation, and another Anonymous Family Foundation who will match 100% - dollar for dollar - of all money raised during those events!  CLICK HERE TO DONATE

• We are still getting calls in our Sarasota/Bradenton location at the rate of 15-20 pet owners per day to help their beloved pets cross the Rainbow Bridge from home.  And now that we have opened more locations, that number is increasing.  It is wonderful that we can help so many, but that takes funding....so we need more generous souls like you to help us pay for the expenses of each euthanasia and cremation for all these Little Angels. Remember to think of us year-round so that we can continue our mission as the word spreads.  CLICK HERE TO DONATE

• We want to remind people: If you work for or with a Corporation or Foundation, let us know.  We would love to talk with them to form a partnership and help these Little Angels together.  It will also help to know if they match employees' donations. (We are happy to speak with your Human Resources Department, if you would like us to inquire about this for you.)

• We are always looking to add experienced Members to our Board of Directors and to our Advisory Board.  If you are interested, or know of someone who is, please contact Nikki at 941-320-1524 or via email at nikkistewart@sugarsgift.org.  You must have experience on another Board of Directors, preferably with a non-profit organization.  There are other qualifications, but please email or call if you are interested.  We are accepting applications nationwide.

So, when we say every dollar counts…...EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS.  CLICK HERE TO DONATE We apologize, in advance, if you receive a duplicate of this report.  We are sending this through our email server, too, so you may get 2 of the same reports.  Just simply forward one to someone you feel would like to read it!  Thank you.

                                    Sugar’s Gift®…. Because love never leaves.®

Links:

• How Do I Know It's Time?
• Rainbow Bridge
• Sugar's Gift Website