Humane Society cat, Twinkle, watches Zoom meeting, announcing a $1.5 million grant from Golisano Foundation. Photo courtesy of Chautauqua County Humane Society’s Facebook

This week, the Chautauqua County Humane Society had a surprise when they were told they would be receiving a $1.5 million grant from the Golisano Foundation.

The Golisano Foundation was started by Tom Golisano, owner of the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres. Golisano supports multiple types of nonprofits through his organization, including nonprofits for education, medicine, and animal welfare organizations. The animal welfare side of his support comes in the form of a component of the Golisano Foundation, called Bailey and Friends, named for Golisano’s two dogs, Bailey I and Bailey II, both of whom passed away.

Director of Fundraising and Communication for the Chautauqua County Humane Society, Brian Papalia, said that the Humane Society only found out that they were getting the grant on the morning it was announced.

“As far as we know it was a surprise for all 83 branches that were given this grant,” Papalia said. “We only found out that morning because of a miscommunication and were sent the Zoom link to see the announcement being made.”

The $1.5 million grant is an unrestricted grant, allowing for the Humane Society to use it for many different things throughout the next few years as needed. The grant will be distributed to them in chunks over the next four or five years. While they do not know what exactly they will use it for at this time, Papalia said it will help with upcoming legislation that the Humane Society expects will force them to change some things.

Additionally, Papalia said having this grant on the horizon for the Humane Society will help as a good stepping stone for any larger projects that they end up needing to do. Down the road, he said they may have to look to add things to the building or move, and having this grant would help with something like that, but at the moment that is all speculation.

“This means a lot because with the Shelter Standards Act coming in December 2025 there will be a lot we have to add or change to meet these standards,” Papalia said. “And we also have our basic everyday needs to consider. We plan to utilize this grant in the best way possible over the next few years.”

The Humane Society also has fundraisers coming up, including the Community Through Hockey Benefit Fundraiser on October 5 at the Northwest Arena. Papalia invited everyone to come out to that event, saying there will be other fun things happening besides the game.