It’s a celebration befitting 25 years of drastically reducing the euthanasia rate around the country, improving the lives of animals around the world, and setting the stage for a time of No More Homeless Pets. From July 19 to 25, Best Friends will be hosting a weeklong 25th anniversary party at our sanctuary in Utah to celebrate all of those achievements and more.

Check out the calendar of visitor events during Best Friends Week.

But if you aren’t able to attend the festivities at the sanctuary, you can still partake in the silver anniversary celebration and help us achieve our goal of No More Homeless Pets by hosting your own “Party for a Purpose” on the day Best Friends Week culminates—Saturday, July 25. We’re calling it National House Party day, and the theme is, “One party, 5 million reasons.” The latter number refers to the approximate number of homeless pets euthanized each year in the U.S.

The gist of the party is to gather up as many friends, family and neighbors as possible and introduce them to the work Best Friends is doing and the necessities for it. The goal is to engage as many people as possible in our cause and sign them up for Best Friends memberships.

The National House Party day is part of a larger campaign to sign up 25 people an hour (on average) during Best Friends Week, boosting our membership by 4200 and invigorating our cause all the more. The National House Party is one of the vehicles we’re hoping will deliver that many more new members in what has already become a record-breaking year for new membership.

We make having a party for purpose easy by supplying you with just about everything you need (short of refreshments and hors d’oeuvres, of course) to help give your guests a thorough understanding of who Best Friends is, what we do, and why we do it.

The items we send you to get the party started and get your guests enthused about Best Friends include:

• Best Friends green tote bag
• Silver 2009 planner
• DVD about Best Friends Animal Society
• DVD sanctuary slide show featuring beautiful, one-of-a-kind photos from our sanctuary, all set to ambient music
• New-member flyers and sign-up forms
• Thank-you gift for new members who sign up at your party
• Copies of Best Friends magazine

If you manage to sign up five or more new members, we’ll also send you (after the party is over) a 25th anniversary commemorative gift package, which includes a mug, t-shirt, and pin all designed by Best Friends co-founder Cyrus Mejia.

For more information on how to host your own Party for a Purpose, click here.

As part of Best Friends’ 25th anniversary in 2009, our goal is to double our membership so we can double our efforts to bring about a time when all companion animals have a forever home. What can you do to help? Give the Gift of a Best Friends membership to family and friends.