Located on 12 acres, the Center provides a variety of services that benefit the community through educational and therapeutic programs for people, and humane care and adoption for animals.
[10] The organization also provided Mike Arms with a home loan amounting to $400,000, as well as paying his membership dues at the University Club in Symphony Towers.
[16] In July 2022, Helen Woodward Animal Center obtained a seat at the table among the world’s most influential non-governmental organizations when awarded special consultative status to the Economic and Social Council of the UNITED NATIONS (ECOSOC).
In the previous six years of the campaign, over 190 countries supported the movement with hundreds of thousands of individuals and more than 700 separate animal welfare organizations around the globe holding candle-lighting ceremonies of their own, spreading the message on social media, visiting the Remember Me Thursday website, or lighting a virtual candle.
Mike Arms, on why he created Remember Me Thursday, “My heart breaks for those beautiful people working in animal welfare who are forced to take the lives of the pets they love.
I believe lighting a candle for the orphan pets will be a way for people to let the world know how much they love them, and the awareness can help in increasing adoptions and decreasing euthanasia.” In 1999, Helen Woodward Animal Center created the Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption campaign including 14 animal shelters in San Diego County, California.
Some Home 4 the Holidays spokespersons include Hilary Swank,[20] Diane Keaton and the canine movie star, Benji.
[21] In 2009, the Home 4 the Holidays campaign included participants from more than 3,900 animal organizations in 17 countries, and was featured on the television series The Doctors on October 23, 2009.