The local humane society has been overwhelmed with an outpouring of support from the community, the organization’s executive director said Monday.
On Friday tbnewswatch.com reported that the Thunder Bay and District Humane Society will be forced to close its doors on Dec. 31 unless it could come up with $15,000 monthly to make up for its $180,000 deficit for the year.
“The crisis is real and imminent,” said executive director Maryann Kleynendorst.
Since Friday, the phones have been ringing non-stop and donations have started flowing in. As of 3:30 p.m. Monday, the organization had received $5,265 in general donations and 70 people had signed up for their Pad for Paws program, a monthly $10 pre-authorized debit donation.
Three Pad program participants also called in to raise their monthly donation and the shelter saw three cats and four dogs adopted over the weekend with three more adoption applications filed.
“The response has been nothing short of amazing,” Kleynendorst said. “We made this announcement not really expecting this kind of response. We expected sadness and people to ask how they could help, but the response has been completely overwhelming.”
The humane society has also received offers for third-party fundraisers, from shags to gourmet dinners. Artists have donated artwork and people have offered to go door-to-door asking people to sign up for Pads for Paws.
One individual offered to write grant proposals and a local financial organization offered to help them form a fundraising committee.
“That’s only stuff we know of; we don’t know what’s going to be arriving in the mail this week,” Kleynendorst said. “Things have been arriving by email, by fax. It’s pretty amazing … this city is pretty neat.”
The society’s $400,000 budget is entirely donation-driven. They receive no funding from any levels of government and have been relying on the generosity of an individual donor. Anytime they ran into financial difficulty, he would step in and bail them out, time after time, Kleynendorst said.
“That’s not really sustainable in the long-term. Things have gotten to such an extent that that’s not really an option for us anymore,” she said. “There’s no one individual that can sustain that kind of shortfall for us.”
The president of their board of directors has met with the city’s mayor and some councillors to see if the city might be able to help with the funding crisis.
And despite rumours in the community, the humane society will not be making a deputation at Monday night’s council meeting.
“Some information and packages have gone out to councillors and the mayor; not all councillors have that information yet,” said Kleynendorst, adding they will have that information by Thursday and a deputation might be made at next Monday’s council meeting.
To donate, visit the Thunder Bay and District Humane Society website www.tbayhumane.ca or call 475-8803.
A Facebook campaign has also been organized in an effort to help the Humane Society reach its goal.
