January 15: Blog the Change Day

BTC4animals.com is a website dedicated to sharing one cause per week and providing information on how individuals can help. By banding together like-minded folks with a strong, collective voice, the goal of BTC4animals is to ignite and accelerate the change we can make as individuals at a pace that doesn't overwhelm.

The “Be the Change” movement originated at the very first BlogPaws conference in April 2010 and inspired bloggers Kim Clune and Amy Burkert to found BTC4animals. Amy and Kim decided that the best way to “Be the Change” was to build a website for people passionate about animal causes. The premise was simple. If you can commit just a few minutes a week, you can “Be the Change!”

In addition to posting a Cause of the Week, they also instituted Blog the Change Days, which are held on the 15th of January, April, July and October. Blog the Change Day provides bloggers with an opportunity to write about a cause near and dear to their heart, inspire the involvement of their readership, and share their vision with the BTC community. The event positively impacts animals and advocates at a local level, one-on-one.

BTC4animals.com went live on June 28, 2010; and the first Blog the Change Day occurred on July 15 with 75 bloggers participating in the event. Since then Blog the Change Day has become a regular event with over 50 bloggers coming together on a quarterly basis to read, write and share their personal causes.

As BTC4animals grew, Kim and Amy reached out to fellow pet bloggers to contribute in various ways. The members of Team BTC have included A.J. Postiglione, Kim Thomas, Kristine Tonks, Peggy Frezon, Mary Haight, Maggie Marton, Mel Freer, Shauna Stewart, and me. Over time, various BTC members have moved to less active roles, but they will always be a part of our BTC family.

In early January 2013, Kim Clune approached me about stepping into a leadership role. In 2012, she co-founded Dog House Adoptions, a rescue that serves the dogs and people of Rensselaer County, NY. Working as communications director and web designer, as well as helping to rescue and rehabilitate stray dogs, was much more than a 9-to-5 commitment and she needed someone who was willing to take on the ongoing maintenance of BTC4animals.com and continue to grow the BTC community.

I told her I would be willing to take on that role if my BTC teammates, Kim Thomas and Peggy Frezon, would assist me. Luckily for me, they were more than willing to take on the challenge! My fellow BTC team members supported the decision, and the transition (so far) has been surprisingly easy.

But BTC4animals.com cannot continue to grow without constantly bringing in “new blood” – people who are willing to give a bit of their time to find new causes, write blog posts, and share them on various social media channels. If you have a talent you’d like to share, please contact us at admin@btc4animals.com. We’d love to have you!