Hercules, in his forever home.

Photo courtesy of Huron Valley Humane Society

It's been quite a year for the Humane Society of Huron Valley, and it just got better.

HSHV has learned, after a vigorous campaign that was fueled by word-of-mouth and social media, that they had won a new Toyota Sienna to expand their services.

Toyota's new philanthropy project, 100 Cars for Good program, awarded the vehicle to HSHV.

After applying to be in the running among thousands of applications submitted by fellow non-profits nationwide, they were eventually chosen by the public in a national vote on the social media utility, Facebook.

Social media is a driving force for many organizations, and in this case, it was no exception. Mobilizing people to help get the word out and urging others to vote was important, and HSHV's Facebook page was instrumental.

"Social media played a huge role in this process. In fact, it's an important tool that we use with everyday support and outreach," says Tanya Hilgendorf, executive director of HSHV.

After being selected as one finalist out of 500, HSHV was profiled along with four other non-profits for one day on the 100 Cars for Good Facebook page, which allowed people from across the country to vote for them.

Toyota's 100 Cars for Good Program began accepting applications earlier this year. Beginning on March 25, an independent panel of six judges, including experts in the world of philanthropy and nonprofits, reviewed the applications they felt were the most powerful. Each application was judged, and 500 organizations — ranging from those that work to support the environment to those involved with education, animal welfare and other areas — were announced as finalists on April 25.

What is done at HSHV is good, important work, but it can be difficult. Seeing the trauma and pain that some of the animals experience can be so hard. But, times like this, when the staff sees the effort the public put forth to show they believe in the organization, do the hearts of employees and volunteers good.

"Support from the public and their partnership is so important to us," notes Hilgendorf. "When the community wraps their arms around us like that, it's so heartwarming."

Toyota spokesman, Javier Moreno notes that the car manufacturer felt that it was important to expand their current philanthropic efforts and wanted to do so in way that would have a ripple effect. After some brainstorming earlier this year, Toyota came up with the idea to give away new vehicles to deserving non-profit organizations — in an effort to help the people in the thick of things, doing the hard work to help their communities. From that, 100 Cars for Good was born.

Nonprofits face challenges serving the communities that they strive to help, despite having talented employees and volunteers sharing their collective talents to attain a positive result. In some cases, a new vehicle — a financially out-of-reach tool for most organizations — can be that catalyst that helps them over that hump.

As Moreno puts it, "It's a real game-changer for them."

More than 90 cars have been given away to date, and several nonprofits from Michigan, including Camp Casey, Cascades Animal Shelter in Jackson, City Rescue Mission of Saginaw, Jewish Family Service of West Bloomfield and Kids Food Baske  in Grand Rapids.

Voting for remaining nonprofits continues until Aug. 15.

As part of their respective campaigns, each organization had to submit a video, under the guidelines that Toyota set forth. With resources from the company, the videos were taped by the nonprofits, submitted and then reviewed by the judges.

When asked what made HSHV stand out, Moreno offered, "HSHV is exactly the kind of organization that we enjoy see winning, because of their their ingenuity and wise use of resources. The video detailing Hercules' progress that was possible with the help of these caring people was compelling."

If you're not familiar with Hercules' story, he is a pit bull that was brought to the attention of HSHV's cruelty and rescue department, found in a too-small crate in his own waste. Abandoned, emaciated and lying in a pool of his own blood, he was taken back to the facility where he healed, thrived and was eventually adopted from HSHV.

Animal cruelty takes many forms, and isn't all that uncommon. AnnArbor.com has reported on several incidents HSHV has investigated just in the last year.

Sadly, there are lots of pets like Hercules. And that keeps the Cruelty and Rescue department — a very special group of people — busy. They see things that most of us never will.

And to do that sort of work, these passionate cruelty investigators, like Matt Schaecher, supervisor of Cruelty and Rescue, need a reliable, apt vehicle. Their days consist of doing tasks off-site, like retrieving scared animals from the side of busy road, transporting multiple pets back to their facililty in Ann Arbor and, yes, working in some very dangerous, crime-ridden areas. So, having a vehicle that they can not only count on mechanically, but that can also transport the animals, is crucial.

The Cruelty and Rescue department is integral to HSHV's work. This past year, the organization ramped up their efforts to address the problem of animal cruelty and neglect. Dedicating the new van's use in that department will keep that momentum going.

Animal cruelty investigation has fallen on Humane Societies because of their expertise and understanding of animals and animal crimes — not to mention the financial struggles that law enforcement agencies are experiencing.

With several cases getting attention, Hilgendorf emphasizes that HSHV intends to send a strong message to the community: treating animals cruelly will not be tolerated, and those who do so will be prosecuted.

An important aspect of rooting out animal cruelty cases might not be so clear to most people.

Besides animal cruelty just being wrong, it's been shown that those who are cruel to animals are, in many cases, participating in other crimes as well, like dealing drugs and being cruel to people. In some instances, issues like domestic violence and child abuse that might otherwise go unnoticed are discovered when a cruelty investigator is called to tend to an animal.

So, HSHV works as a peripheral set of eyes and ears to law enforcement. And now, with the van at their disposal, they will be better able to do so, benefiting all of us.

View the video that got the ball rolling for HSHV.

Lorrie Shaw is lead pets blogger for AnnArbor.com and writes about pet health, behavior, pet culture and more. Catch her daily adventures as a dog walker and pet sitter or email her directly.