by Cathy Davis
On any given day, there are at least a thousand things to be thankful for – this goes for my personal life, where I am blessed beyond measure, but today I’m just speaking about the animal shelter.
This past week we were informed that the Houlton Humane Society was the top write-in vote recipient in the Bangor Savings Bank Community Matters More annual charitable event. This means that the shelter will be receiving a check for $1,000 to help with the care of the animals. We are so very grateful to all of you who voted for us and to Bangor Savings for their tremendous program, which helps numerous non-profit organizations every year.
Each day someone comes into the shelter with a trunk full of goodies. Sometimes it’s extra food, as we always need canned dog and cat food, sometimes it’s a pallet of litter (we go through litter like crazy, as you can well imagine). Other days it’s bleach and laundry detergent, or paper towels or blankets for the critters.
We are proud of our Director Heather Miller, and our awesome staff, because they take these donations and stretch them just as far as they possibly can. Donated blankets are washed till they fall apart, paper towels are only used when absolutely necessary, we try to scoop the litter several times a day to make it last as long as possible before changing and cleaning the boxes.
Lights are turned off in rooms that are not in use, the heat is kept at a comfortable level for the animals, the staff, and visitors, without being wasteful of the precious fuel.
What you see in the shelter for decorations, and I must say we have one of the prettiest shelters I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been in a lot of them, were all donated.
What I’m trying to say is that a $1,000 donation will go a really long way and your individual donations are cherished and used wisely.
We have a long list of families who foster for us, a growing list of transporters who help us move animals from one location to another when it’s necessary, a wonderful team of grant writers, a young and ambitious board of directors who are always there to lend a hand for a fundraiser, or several.
We have students who collect their change for the shelter, children who have themed birthday parties, asking their guests to bring pet treats instead of birthday presents, and then making a huge presentation to help out the animals.
We have dozens upon dozens of people out there saving their “trash” for our recycle program, which is growing daily. If you haven’t heard about this before, I encourage you to get a box, sit it in a corner of your garage or basement and fill it with clean empty plastic dairy containers, yogurt, ice cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, or your empty shampoo and beauty products containers (and these don’t have to be just plastic, they can be metal, glass, etc), or your used ink cartridges and cell phones. This program has grown so much under the loving guidance of Cara Maples and her family that this is a major source of income for the shelter.
Just so much to be thankful for every day, but most of all, always thankful for each and every one of you who open up your hearts and your homes to take in a homeless animal. An aging pooch who is left homeless when his mother passes away, a lost kitty who was found injured and nursed back to health, and the dozens upon dozens of beautiful healthy animals who end up in the shelter day in and day out.
Thankful for the foundations like Bangor Savings who support charitable work, thankful to the individual donors who continue to mail in checks to help us pay the bills. People are always surprised when they see how much it costs just to have the trash hauled away!
If you would like to have some fun, and I guarantee you we have a blast, join us for a meeting. Our next shelter meeting is Tuesday evening, April 30, right at the shelter at 6 p.m. It’s often standing room only, I think we may have to invest in a few folding chairs! Don’t be afraid to get involved, we won’t nominate you for anything you don’t want to do, I promise, and meetings are not long and involved. We will meet four times a year to discuss major business and then sometimes between if something comes up we need to talk about, so a commitment to come to meetings won’t tie you up or drain your energy.
Thanks to all of you who are doing what you do for the animals, not for me, not for Heather, not for some “entity” but for Scruffy and Shannon and Boo and Ellie and Holly and all the thousands of critters who depend on you year in and year out. You’re the best and we love you all.
