In July 2021, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on NASCAR’s Alex Bowman, driver of the Ally sponsored No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE of Hendrick Motorsports, and their efforts to team up with Best Friends Animal Society to help improve animal welfare across the U.S.

For each race, Ally and Alex each donated $1,000 to a local shelter, and Ally increased its donation to $10,000 in the four communities where Alex won races. These funds are set to provide a boost to dozens of no-kill shelters, including Planned PEThood, 2860 Buford Highway in Duluth.

In addition to their own animal welfare services, Planned PEThood, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, provides the medical services for Gwinnett Animal Welfare & Enforcement, 884 Winder Highway in Lawrenceville.

In all, Ally and Alex donated a total of $123,000 to 32 Best Friends’ network partners.

A leader in the no-kill movement, Best Friends works in collaboration with its nationwide network of members and partners to “Save Them All.” The nonprofit’s goal is to ensure that every shelter in the country is no-kill by 2025.

Turning his love of professional racing and his own best friends, Roscoe, a rescued beagle mix, and Finn, a charcoal Labrador retriever, into a philanthropic effort to help other animals has been a natural fit for the promising young driver.

“The partnership with Best Friends was awesome,” said NASCAR’s Alex Bowman. “I’m appreciative of Ally’s support in wanting to team up with Best Friends. I didn’t know a lot about Best Friends before this year, and learning about their program, and the sanctuary and everything that they do is amazing, so it’s been incredible to learn about them. It’s been an incredible partnership, and we’ve raised a ton of money to help animals which has been really cool.”

For Planned PEThood this donation means an additional $2,000 to aid efforts like spaying and neutering, educating the public about animal welfare, foster and adoption events and more.

“Since Planned PEThood of GA manages the veterinary services contract for Gwinnett County Welfare, we are in a unique position to help animals with significant medical needs,” stated Lauren Frost, Development Coordinator Planned PEThood of Georgia. “We plan to put this money aside to help animals in need of urgent medical care outside of the county’s capabilities.”

Details about each organization working to save cats and dogs: BestFriends.org/AlexBowman, https://pethoodga.org, and https://www.ally.com/go/allyracing/.