2024 Annual Review
The Gregory J. Reiter Memorial Fund, established on Earth Day 2016, supports programs that both promote animal rights and benefit people.
Greg would have been 61 years old in 2024 — and during this year, the Fund issued a total of $61,000 in grants.
2024 grant recipients were:
- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
- Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)
- Mercy for Animals
- Woodstock Farm Sanctuary
Below are details of the Greg Fund’s 2024 grants to these organizations, followed by a long list of thank-yous to those who supported the Fund’s work during the calendar year.
1 – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) — Norfolk, VA and worldwide
a – The Fund made a grant to PETA’s Global Compassion Fund for the 4th consecutive year. These grants have helped PETA Deutschland to partner with Animal Rescue Kharkiv (ARK) since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, moving some 20,000 animals out of the country or to the safest possible internal locations, while delivering millions of pounds of supplies. The Fund also helped support Eduxanima, which received PETA’s 2024 9th Annual Gregory J. Reiter Animal Rescue Award for multiple initiatives in Romania — including companion animal sterilization, vaccinations, and other veterinary care; humane education programs; legislative work on animal protection; and ongoing support for people fleeing Ukraine with their animal companions. The Global Compassion Fund also provided low-cost companion animal sterilization services in other countries including Mexico.
b – The Fund made a grant to support PETA’s Research Modernization work — the 7th year of support for multiple organizations’ campaigns to both prevent the suffering of animals in the experimentation industry and produce better outcomes for people. One of many 2024 victories came in June, as a result of PETA’s investigative work, when the US Department of Justice ordered Inotiv, a breeder of beagles for experiments, to pay a record $35 million in criminal fines for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act and Clean Water Act at its now-closed Envigo facility in Virginia. Another victory came In September, when PETA’s advocacy with a Texas community prompted Charles River Labs, the world’s largest breeder of animals for experiments, to cancel plans for a facility that would have housed 43,000 primates on ecologically sensitive land.
c – The Fund made a grant, for the 9th consecutive year, to PETA’s Equine Matters campaign that works to end many forms of horse abuse around the world. A current focus is combatting 200 known illegal “bush tracks” across the US, which not only kill horses and jockeys, but are also intertwined with criminal activity. In September, a PETA investigation and complaint led the Texas Department of Public Safety to raid an unsanctioned track in the state.
2 – Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) — Washington, DC and worldwide
a – The Fund made a grant to the Physicians Committee in 2024 for the 9th consecutive year, and was a sponsor of the Exam Room Podcast / Exam Room Live Videocast for the 6th consecutive year. The program has recorded more than 600 episodes with nutrition experts, highlighting how plant-based diets improve human health while also sparing animals and the global environment. The Fund sponsored more than 20 episodes in 2024, including: Foods for Happiness, Five Foods to Eat for Weight Loss, Autoimmune Diseases: Foods That Help, and Bird Flu: Is Your Milk Safe?
b – The Fund made a grant, for the first time in 2024, to support the Physicians Committee’s Clinical Research in humans. For more than 20 years, this program has conducted and published animal-free studies, highlighting the benefits of healthy plant-based diets for conditions ranging from type 2 diabetes to cardiovascular disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
3 – Mercy for Animals — Los Angeles, CA and worldwide
The Fund made its 2nd consecutive grant to Mercy for Animals in 2024, to support The Transfarmation Project, which helps farm families transition away from raising animals under contract to large corporations, converting instead to growing crops for human consumption. The first demonstration hub in North Carolina, which opened in September, showcases one family’s transition from raising chickens to growing vegetables and mushrooms.
4 – Woodstock Farm Sanctuary — High Falls, NY
For the 6th year in 2024, the Fund made a grant to Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, which is now in its 20th year of providing lifetime refuge for hundreds of cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys and other animals. This year’s grant, for the 3rd consecutive year, was for the Fair Campaign that Woodstock leads, in partnership with We Animals Media and with other sanctuaries across North America, to end cruel treatment of animals at state and county fairs.
THANK YOU …
To The Foundation for Enhancing Communities (Harrisburg, PA), one of the earliest U.S. community foundations, which has served as this Fund’s manager since New Year 2022.
And to everyone who donated into the Gregory J. Reiter Memorial Fund and the above partner initiatives in 2024! While the Fund runs primarily on assets Greg left behind, it has also expanded its reach through donations from friends and supporters like you.
- Scott Anderson
- Jennifer Bailey
- Pavel Belau
- Ting Yi Bell
- Judy Coldren
- Jennifer Barbara Congdon
- Jeana Curro
- John Di Leonardo
- Shannon Gilmore
- Rob Haworth
- Anita M Herrera
- Joni and Paul Jablansky
- Susan Johnson
- Steven Kehrli
- Keith Kemplin
- Christine Kestner
- Deborah Kula
- Jim North
- Diana Ok
- Mary Pauli
- Holly Melinda Pepper
- Emily Perryman
- David Lee Red
- Masha Skuratovskaya
- Emily Parker Slough
- Lawrence and Zoray Spielvogel
- Quincy Tang
- Yi Ting
- Daisy Warin
- Kristy L W
- Anonymous (4)