The Cherryland Humane Society in Traverse City is in line to receive a $250,000 gift from a Saginaw couple with strong connections to the area. The announcement was made late last week and as of yesterday morning Executive Director Mike Cherry had not heard the news.

"I'm in awe," he tells The Ticker as we deliver the news.

B.J. Humphreys, co-trustee with John Kunitzer of the Carl and Sandra Werth Testamentary Trust, confirms the donation and says the hope is to have the dispersement to the Cherryland Humane Society by the end of the year. Humphreys says Kunitzer had previous conversations with someone at the Humane Society about the gift. Sandra passed away in the fall of 2013; Carl this past January.

This gift is 2.5 percent of $10 million left to several Saginaw-area charities, including nearly $7 million to the Community Foundation for an endowment to benefit education. They also gave $1 million to St. Mary's of Michigan and Covenant HealthCare foundations for cancer care, $500,000 to the National Cancer Institute and $250,000 to the Humane Society of Saginaw.

Sandra was a native of Traverse City and she and Carl built a house on the Old Mission Peninsula and also had a condo in the area. They spent time here following Carl's retirement, though continued to be residents of Saginaw, where Carl was born and raised.

The donation comes at a time when the Humane Society has been facing a desperate financial situation. As of early August, it had raised some $50,000. At that time, Cherry told The Ticker the $500,000 fundraising goal includes “a couple hundred thousand” to sustain operations and assist with restructuring for long-term sustainability, as well as to build up its cash reserves. He said getting to December and end-of-year-giving – a time when donations have historically been “heavy” – is critical for the nonprofit.