There is something sadly ironic about the fact that the Suffolk Humane Society has operated for its first two years without a home. After all, one of the organization’s primary activities is finding homes for unwanted animals. That work ultimately supports its mission of reducing the rates at which animals in Suffolk are euthanized.

That the group has been able to accomplish so much without a central office, without an official shelter and without a true home base for its volunteers speaks volumes about the level of commitment they have for protecting Suffolk’s helpless four-legged residents.

Members have run the organization from home offices, from garages and from spare rooms scattered across the city. Even with the handicap, the group’s 80 active members and more than 300 registered members and supporters have made an impact, working with the city to have more than 1,300 animals spayed or neutered and starting an adoption program in conjunction with the Chesapeake Square PetSmart that has resulted in the adoption of more than 115 cats.

Imagine what the organization will be able to accomplish now with a three-acre, high-profile property on Pruden Boulevard to call home. Thanks to a generous private donation, the Humane Society will be setting up house and stepping closer to its goal of “building an environmentally friendly animal shelter in Suffolk,” Executive Director Angela Chandler said in announcing the donation.

Generosity is a core value for most volunteers, and never more so than with the three Suffolk SPCA founding members who sacrificed their land for the good of the organization and the animals it seeks to protect. What a great Christmas gift for all involved.