‘Betty White Challenge’ kicks off what would’ve been her 100th birthday

A new community challenge is taking hold to honor a Hollywood icon. Donations are pouring in in honor of a cause near and dear to Betty White’s heart.

WINK News reporter Asha Patel explains how the “Betty White Challenge” aims to help four-legged friends.

They call these special animals “Golden Girls and Guys.” And Betty White’s fans are celebrating the actress’s 100th birthday by challenging each other to champion Betty’s favorite cause – adoption from animal shelters.

Liz McCauley is the executive director of the Cape Coral Animal Shelter. “Everyone knows she was a huge animal lover and advocate her whole life, and we wanted to take this opportunity not only to honor her but help raise money for our senior,” said McCauley.

McCauley says in the days since Whtie’s death. Her fans have donated more than $10,000.

The donations that the Cape Coral Animal Shelter is receiving will be used to help animals like Toby. Toby is one of the 15 senior animals the shelter has right now.

McCauley explains why these senior animals may need extra attention and love. “Almost every senior that comes to us needs a dental, which is expensive to do. Many of them are heartworm-positive because they never had any kind of preventative. Many of them need lumps and bumps surgery,” said McCauley.

She says she’s been overwhelmed by the amount of support. And McCauley says there has been this level of support since the shelter opened not too long ago.

“We’ve done, I’m proud to say, 2,025 adoptions since we opened less than two years ago, so a lot of people are supporting us by adopting and donating,” McCauley said. 

The goal is to reach $15,000 in donations by the end of this week.