4 Paws 1 Heart wins The Detroit News' Holiday Cheer for Charity contest

It's doggone good and the cat's pajamas at the same time.

A St. Clair Shores nonprofit that works to reduce the number of homeless cats and dogs has won this year's grand prize in The Detroit News' annual fundraising contest for charities, its business agent said.

4 Paws 1 Heart claimed the top spot in the 2022 Holiday Cheer for Charity campaign, which awards a charity $20,000 based on readers' votes, according to Michigan.com.

The group raised $36,760 in donations during the contest, which began Nov. 10. The Detroit News will award it an additional $20,000 as the top finisher for a total of nearly $57,000.

Diana Rascano, 4 Paws 1 Heart's president and founder, said the charity will use the money it raised and won to continue its mission — reducing the number of stray animals on the street by paying for their needed medical treatment and helping rescue groups place them in permanent homes.

"We're going to keep doing what we've been doing for 12 years," she said. "We're so excited we won."

Rescue groups, animal clinics, and individuals contact the group when they need financial help with medical treatment, Rascano said.

She said the donations and the prize money couldn't have come at a better time for 4 Paws 1 Heart.

"We were very close in the last couple of months of actually having to close down," the group's founder said. "We were only able to cover some very minor procedures for animals at low-cost clinics because that's all we could afford."

"But then this came along and everyone just seem to rally together," she said. "It was just amazing."

She said it really took a village for the charity to win the contest. The nonprofit's board members and the veterinary clinics the group works with spread the word about the contest and urged people to vote for it, she explained.

"I'm looking forward to writing all of the thank you notes that I have to send out."

Second place in the contest went to the WAVE Project, which raised $20,830. Founded in 2018, the charity operates a mobile shower service, a mobile clothing closet, and food pantries to serve people experiencing homelessness and others in need across Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties.

Each of the nonprofits that participated in the contest keeps the money they raised during the campaign, which began with nine charities.

Overall, the contest raised $68,166 in donations for five charities.

Last year, more than $115,000 was raised in the competition. Detroit PAL, an organization dedicated to connecting the Detroit Police Department with the city's youth for academic, athletic, and leadership development programming, won the $20,000 prize after raising more than $73,000.