First and foremost, I hope you and your families are staying safe and healthy, both mentally and physically. For those who are taking care of pets, people, or patients: please remember to take care of yourselves too.

I wanted to take a moment to close the social distance and tell you all how proud I am of this community. That has always been the case, but never more than now. Even in this dark and distressing time, there are bright spots, like the stories of Volunteers going above and beyond to support their communities. That is especially true of one of our newest Volunteers, Alma, from West Athens, CA. While sheltering in place, she has tirelessly volunteered hours every day to help her neighbors reunite 21 lost dogs and mend many more hearts.

Shadow was founded on a simple but audacious premise: that people want to help other people. This pandemic has tested many aspects of our society and values, including the limits of empathy. And on that count, the Volunteers in our community have risen to the challenge, doubling their average time spent helping on our platform since February. Similarly, our amazing and dedicated team, driven by our core value to “First Align Purpose,” has delivered every planned product improvement, on time, and provided uninterrupted support to every single person who has lost or found a dog. They have done this while themselves living in a hotspot of our country’s coronavirus outbreak.

Technology only matters when it enables human beings to be our best, which is why our mission is to Help People Help People. Shadow at its core is not an app or an algorithm, but a fellowship of people, for whom the problems of others become opportunities to make things better. Your empathy and generosity make it possible for us to run entirely on tips and remain 100% free to use, while reuniting over 500 dogs across New York, LA, Dallas, and Houston since the pandemic began.

On behalf of myself and the 4,680 dogs we have reunited since inception, thank you. 

Cyrus Massoumi
Founder & CEO