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April, 2018



It's Fun To Do Good and Friends for Life Animal Rescue in Gilbert, Arizona knows it!

Arizona Friends for Life began in 1993 – then known as Citizens for Tempe Strays. Within two years our organization had a solid volunteer base, a dedicated board of directors, and was handling hundreds of adoptions per year.

The growth and success prompted the name change to Friends for Life Animal Sanctuary – a name that better described our organization, since we make a lifetime commitment to the animals (animals adopted must be returned to us if for any reason the adoptive environment is not working out, and all microchips list Friends for Life as the primary contact in the event the animal is lost, or surrendered at another facility).

In 1996, after only three short years, Friends for Life was able to lease three buildings in downtown Gilbert – a place that animals call “home” until they find a family of their very own.

In 2010, after re-evaluating our priority of rescue and adoption, and not being a sanctuary facility, Friends for Life Animal Sanctuary changed our name to Friends for Life Animal Rescue. In 2013, Friends for Life was able to purchase all three buildings, so all of our adopted animals are now guaranteed to always have a home to come back to!

In 2017, we broke ground on a brand new facility, designed specifically for the animals and volunteers.  We will move into our new “home” in the first quarter of 2018.

Friends for Life is a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization.

Our Rescue and Adoption Work

Friends for Life Animal Rescue is dedicated to the homeless and stray animals in our community. These animals do not have an advocate and will likely suffer starvation, illness, or injury as they try to survive alone. Animals on the street are often unaltered, reproducing and creating even more unwanted animals. Friends for Life prefers to get to the source of the problem through spaying and neutering all animals we take in, and educating the public about the importance of altering their animals.

Finding Permanent Loving Homes

Cats and dogs rescued by Friends for Life Animal Rescue often need extended care. Donations from the community support veterinarian visits, surgeries, medication, as well as housing. Animals awaiting adoption have no time limit to find their adoptive homes; however, our goal is to find a permanent, lifetime, loving home for every animal in our care.

Adopting a cat or dog from Friends for Life not only gives THAT animal a new lease on life, but also allows our volunteers to rescue ANOTHER cat or dog that may not have had a tomorrow. Friends for Life does not euthanize animals as a means of population control or convenience.

Give a shout out to Friends for Life Animal Rescue or donate to their cause HERE.




It's Fun To Do Good and Helen's Hope Chest in Mesa, Arizona knows it!

Helen’s Hope Chest memorializes the life of Helen Paula Simmons, a former foster child who managed to raise a family of her own despite difficult circumstances.

One day during the depths of the Great Depression, a desperately poor single mother living in Manhattan dropped her two young children off at the New York Founding Hospital. Helen was only 17 months old; her brother Walter a year older. Thus began a long and difficult but inspiring journey for Helen Paula Simmons. Soon after being abandoned by their mother, Helen and Walter were placed in a foster home, where they grew up.

The experience left Helen with a haunting sense of being unwanted, according to her daughters, Debbie Jacobus and Regena Field. It also instilled in Helen a fierce determination that, no matter what hardships life dealt her she would never abandon her own children. She would love them and somehow provide for them, no matter what, so they always would feel valued.

After Helen died in June of 2009, Debbie and Regena took on the sad task of going through their mothers’ belongings. They came across a piece of paper on which their mother had written a single sentence-a simple but powerful thought that their mother lived by: “Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life.”

Debbie and Regena want to share with the community their mother’s legacy of love and determination.

Helen’s legacy will live on through Helen’s Hope Chest, providing our community with a priceless opportunity to help instill in foster children the love, security and self worth that every child needs and deserves. Helen’s Hope Chest honors her memory with a place where children in foster care will have their own “store” where they can pick out whatever they need at no cost. Helen’s family was looking for a way to memorialize Helen Simmons and believes their mom would be proud of Helen’s Hope Chest.

Give a shout out to Helen's Hope Chest or donate to their cause HERE.





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