Operation: Year 20 & Beyond — Help MARS Build What Comes Next
- Jun 12
- 4 min read
For nearly 20 years, Midwest Animal Rescue & Services has helped lost, left-behind, and forgotten animals find their way home.
But “home” has never meant adoption alone.
It means helping a frightened rescue pet feel safe again. It means providing veterinary care when a family has nowhere else to turn. It means giving a dog and their person the training and support they need to stay together. It means partnering with communities, impounds, foster homes, adopters, volunteers, and supporters to create better outcomes for pets and people.
As MARS approaches its 20th year of service, we are looking ahead.
Operation: Year 20 & Beyond is our campaign to raise $200,000 and unlock
the next phase of MARS.
Hear from Camille about where MARS has been—and what we’re building next.
Because of You, MARS Is Still Here
One year ago, our community rallied around MARS during an incredibly difficult moment.
You donated. You shared our story. You fostered. You adopted. You volunteered.
You reminded us just how much this organization means to the people and animals it serves.
Because of you, MARS is still here.
That support gave us the opportunity to stabilize, rebuild, and begin imagining what could come next. Operation: Year 20 & Beyond is not an emergency campaign. It is an investment in the future—and in a MARS that is better equipped to serve our community for years to come.
More Than Rescue
MARS began with a commitment to saving animals who had nowhere else to go. That commitment remains at the heart of everything we do.
Today, however, our work reaches far beyond traditional rescue.
Through our nonprofit veterinary clinic, adoption center, training services, foster network, and rescue partnerships, we support both ends of the leash.
Sometimes that means welcoming an animal from an overcrowded impound and placing them in a foster home.
Sometimes it means helping a pet receive medical care before a manageable condition becomes a crisis.
Sometimes it means giving a family the tools and guidance they need to work through behavioral challenges and keep their dog at home.
Every animal’s road is different. Our goal is to make sure more of those roads lead home.
What Your Support Will Help Build
Funds raised through Operation: Year 20 & Beyond will help MARS strengthen and expand the services that make lasting outcomes possible.
Expanded Veterinary Services
Veterinary care is essential to both rescue animals and community pets. Campaign support will help us invest in veterinary staff, medical supplies, clinic equipment, and the resources needed to serve more animals.
For rescue pets, that care may be the first step toward healing and adoption. For community pets, accessible veterinary support can help families care for the animals they already love.
Training and Behavior Support
Behavior challenges are one of the reasons pets may be surrendered, returned, or struggle to find permanent homes.
By strengthening our training services, MARS can support rescue dogs, adopters, and community members on both ends of the leash. The goal is not simply to place pets in homes. It is to help them stay there.
Stronger Rescue Partnerships
MARS is often contacted when an animal has few options left.
The ability to say yes depends on foster homes, medical capacity, supplies, transportation, staffing, and trusted partnerships. This campaign will help us strengthen the foundation behind every rescue so we can respond thoughtfully and sustainably when animals need us.
A Stronger Future for MARS
Operation: Year 20 & Beyond is also about moving away from operating crisis to crisis.
It is about building the stability, capacity, and infrastructure MARS needs to continue serving animals and people well into the future.
The Next Chapter Starts With Our Community
MARS has never done this work alone.
Every foster home that opens its doors, every adopter who chooses rescue, every volunteer who gives their time, and every donor who believes in our mission becomes part of an animal’s journey home.
Now, as we prepare to enter our 20th year, we are asking our community to help write the next chapter.
A gift to Operation: Year 20 & Beyond is more than a donation to a campaign. It is an investment in veterinary care, training, rescue partnerships, stronger families, and brighter futures.
It is a commitment to keeping pets and people together whenever possible.
It is a promise that animals who are lost, left behind, or forgotten will still have somewhere to turn.
Because of you, MARS is still here. Now, help us build what comes next.
Learn more and support Operation: Year 20 & Beyond at:
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