HELENA — The start of July was the deadline for nonprofits to have at least 400 of their specialty license plates registered with the state to remain in the Motor Vehicles Division program.
"We made the cut off, which is a huge relief for us, because that typically is between $5,000-$7,000 a year for us," says Cassidy Cook, the Director of Development and Communications for the Lewis & Clark Humane Society.
The Lewis & Clark Humane Society was one of many organizations scrambling to have the minimum 400 specialty plates registered to maintain their membership with the Motor Vehicles Division.
In February 2020, M.V.D. granted an extension period for organizations to reach 400 plates by July 1st, 2020.
The division said they will release the results next week. However, the humane society is happy to announce they reached the number and sold 409 license plates but not without generous support from the community.
"We had people wait in line for 5+ hours just to get our plate just because they knew we needed it,” says Cook. “We had people offering to pay the fees for other people just so they could get our plate because they support us and they care about us and they love us. More than anything, we were fully blown away by how amazing and supportive our community just continues to be for us."
Prickly Pear Land Trust also said they reached the 400-plate minimum by the deadline but predict the same struggle for next year in 2021.
