The Many Faces of Rescue Annual Report 2015
THE SHELTER CONNECTION OUR MISSION STATEMENT Established in 1999, The Shelter Connection is a 501 c3 volunteer organization at the Town of North Hempstead Animal Shelter. Our mission, in partnership with the Town, is to improve the quality of life for the dogs at the shelter and increase adoptions through training and socialization. A secondary mission is public education to shift the public perception about shelters and dispel the myth that shelter dogs are damaged goods. Board of Directors Robert Slifkin MD President Jeff Rosen Treasurer Marianne Sikora Secretary Rosanne Palumbo Wellmaker Director of Training Regina Lagrasta Volunteer Coordinator Denise Waters Special Events Coordinator Newsletter Editor Paula Hornak Kellner Education and Public Awareness Coordinator Advisory Board Sue Hassett Former Asst. Director, North Hempstead Animal Shelter Erik Tallbe, CPA Accountant Chantelle DiLorenzo Attorney
What We Do and Why We Do It The Shelter Connection is so much more than adoption advisors and dog handlers. We are active in our community, keeping the dogs and our mission in the public spotlight. This is how we are able to raise funds and awareness. Without constant active involvement in the community, we fade into obscurity. If we become a forgotten entity, our dogs don t get adopted, and we are not able to fund the many progressive shelter improvements that enrich what would otherwise be an institutional life, a true dog pound. Please.be a TEAM player. Attend our functions, sign up for outside events; spread the word spread the love! A Brief History of The Shelter Connection The Shelter Connection was established in 1999 by a group of dedicated volunteers determined to improve the lives of the homeless dogs in our Shelter. An active Board of Directors worked tirelessly to reach the high standards set for their organization. The first set of volunteer training classes gave us educated Meeter/Greeters and Dog Walkers which soon progressed to knowledgeable Adoption Advisors and Dog Handlers. They created the "White Books' which provide helpful information on the dogs in our care to help with adoptions. Shelter improvements began to take shape with the cooperation of the Town Administration. 2002 Fenced in exercise area 2003 Agility equipment added to exercise area / Garage mural painted 2004 Website - we go online for the first time / Real Life Room completed 2005 Playthings for Pups- yearly toy drive 2006 THE TRAIL - built completely by volunteers - Roc Waters Trail Master 2010 Exam Room / Nursery - Redesigned including new floors 2011 The Progressive Pit program - 98 Pit Bulls adopted to date 2012 Remembrance Patio built 2014 Side play yard New Kennels - supported The Shelter Connection has also sponsored numerous events including: Open Houses, Meet the Breed Days, PAWS for Golf, Puppy Reunions, Kids Safety Days, National Night Outs, Trail Days, Garage Sales, Health and training lectures and countless community education programs.
Activities in the Spotlight: FUN DRAISERS AND FRIEND RAISERS These events are our lifeline to funding the quality of life improvements we make for our dogs, and provide an opportunity to get to know fellow TSC volunteers. They help our image and help our organization. YOU can make more adoptions possible by participating, showcasing our dogs, our outstanding shelter programs, and raising needed funds. These are opportunities to do good for the dogs and have a terrific time meeting people. We need people to manage events and help man tables with set ups and clean ups. We need you to educate the public. Halloween Pet Parade Manorhaven Street Fair Rabies Clinics National Night Out Puppy Reunions Garage Sale Vince. & Champions for Charity Kids Safety Day
Pure Breed Rescue Day Pure Breed Rescue Groups were invited to our shelter to meet the public and educate people about their specific breeds. Here are some of their comments about our shelter: It was good for my heart and soul to know that there are shelters like yours out there It was great to see such a progressive animal shelter. You have a lot to be proud of. Initiatives and Shelter Improvements RESCUE OUTREACH The Shelter Connection is always looking for new ways to save animals so, in 2005, with the support of the shelter and the Town Board of North Hempstead, we offered to sponsor dogs from overcrowded open admission shelters. As shelters go we are very lucky because most our dogs seem to fly out doors. It has been over 15 years since we had to euthanize an animal because we ran out of room! This is not the case in many shelters across the United States. As of February 2015 the number of dogs rescued is over 600 (the cover picture shows 81 of them). These dogs are wonderful, adoptable pets. Their only crime is that they ran out of time. We sponsor the old, the sick and those whose time has just run out. The Shelter Connection takes on all of the financial responsibility for the dogs that we sponsor, including medical expenses. So as not to overwhelm the shelter s capabilities, we only sponsor dogs when the shelter has lots and lots of room. We would like to acknowledge all of our loyal supporters. Thanks to your kindness more than 600 dogs like Blue (left) and Daisy (right) have been or will be given a second chance at life and love.
SHELTER IMPROVEMENTS Shelter mural by Tom Forgione The most ambitious achievements of our group are demanding of time and money. Mend-a-Paw literally saves lives and vastly improves adoption prospects. We pay for medical costs that the Town would not. It s an expensive program made possible in large part by our fundraising efforts. With hand painted murals and specially treated floors, the garage became a spacious indoor playground for our dogs to blow off steam and train. Fencing and agility equipment created an outdoor play/training area in what had been asphalt parking space. A storage room was transformed into a warm home-like setting for our dogs, The Real Life Room. Our crown jewel is the nature trail. Carved from an overgrown, trash strewn piece of Town property, this scentillating walk-in-the wood for our shelter dogs took weeks of hard labor by a small group of volunteers and staff, and was financially supported by generous donations by individuals as well as our fundraising efforts. The trail needs constant maintenance. We need your help whenever you can spare a bit of time to pull weeds, spread wood chips, and keep it clean. Creating the nature trail then enjoying it with the dogs Indoor and outdoor playgrounds for training and fun
THE PIT CREW AND LIFE SKILLS PROGRAMS Faced with a growing population of pit bull terriers in our shelter, a small group of our dog handlers developed The Progressive Pit program. Being in existence for several years now, we see that the constant benign exposure to other dogs for the fearful and/or reactive Pit has paid off with most of the dogs now able to train, play and just exist in the company of other dogs. The Pit Crew led by King We now take our "show on the road", bringing the dogs out in the real world, to generalize their good behavior into real life settings. So, they learn to ride in the car with good car manners, to walk down the street with cars and people and dogs, and they get exposed to many other normal life experiences. All these life enhancing skills On the Road at Sands Point Preserve only serve to ensure that our dogs will meld easily into a real home. Every new idea we try to expand our program teaches us something new about ourselves, our techniques and mostly, our dogs. The best part of it all is that dogs always surprise us...in a good way. Stay tuned as we are always on the move to improve! Riding in a car a life skill Two of our shelter pits romp together in a playgroup Rollie and Ozzie have a day out by the sea
HUMANE EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND SERVICE LEARNING Playthings for Pets holiday toys and treats drive a service learning project Children are one third of our population and all of our future. An early mandate for TSC by our shelter director was to expand the shelter s youth outreach programs. In the past several years our humane education programs have grown with exciting and diverse projects. The staff and volunteers have developed presentations for Scout, school & summer camp groups, teaching dog bite safety and responsible pet ownership while educating young people that shelters are a safe place, a place of hope. The annual Playthings for Pets Holiday Toys and Treats Drive is an example of extending our education programs to include a service project that benefits shelter dogs while giving young people a sense of pride in their ability to make a meaningful contribution to society. Our participation in the Operation Outreach National Humane Education Literacy Program brought us to classrooms with an at risk student population. We used the picture book Buddy Unchained to help these children relate to pets as living, feeling beings. By meeting the NY State Education Standards for Health Education and Service Learning, teachers have embraced our programs in their classrooms. What have we accomplished? Tomorrow s adults will have a better understanding of the responsibilities of pet ownership, sensitivity to our pets view of the world around them and an appreciation of what animals do for people.
MORE WAYS YOU CAN BE INVOLVED Your time and effort has enabled our Town shelter to give a better quality of life to homeless dogs so important to their wellbeing while waiting for a forever home. It takes a team effort to bring the amenities and progressive training methods to our shelter it takes continuing commitment to keep them going and growing. Our Newsletter is a major source of public awareness and fundraising. Writing descriptive entries, richly illustrated, for Petfinder.com and Adopt-a-Pet.com make our dogs more appealing. Local newspaper stories give our dogs more public exposure providing them with a better chance of adoption while further dispelling the myth of shelter dogs as damaged goods. Social media has become a major source of publicity for our dogs, our shelter and our organization. We encourage your involvement with these activities and ideas for new ways to help. Photo by Margaret Trumino Mills Pitch in be an active part of the team be proud of our group and our shelter. The future of The Shelter Connection is in your hands.our dogs are counting on you!
INCOME AND EXPENDITURES Financials
THE SHELTER CONNECTION - 115 year budget (explanations next page) Year 2000 to 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 TOTAL Income Source: Direct donations from the public(1) 172,189 30,328 29,746 32,453 29,453 33,142 327,311 Donations from Foundations 14,222 2,696 3,423 1,100 6,200 3,024 30,665 Charity collection box income(2) 38,649 6,200 8,899 7,262 5,593 7,009 73,612 Barnes & Noble fund raiser donations(3) 19,388 3,899 4,347 4,317 2,810 0 34,761 Garage Sale (all donated merchandise) 17,030 0 0 0 0 0 17,030 Donations at events(4) 8,239 1,402 4,258 2,765 1,542 3,210 21,416 TSC volunteer shirts & T-shirt sales(5) 3,586 850 130 210 70 0 4,846 Checkbook interest 920 64 44 33 34 35 1,130 Golf Event Income(16) 0 1,500 25,220 0 0 0 26,720 TNH reimbursement paver expense(18) 0 0 0 0 5,080 0 5,080 TOTAL INCOME 274,223 46,939 76,067 48,140 50,782 46,420 542,571 Expense: Mend-A-Paw Fund(6) 67,344 19,358 11,520 12,535 5,596 14,032 130,385 Insurance- Liability, Accident 11,324 2,743 2,417 2,227 2,753 3,163 24,627 Postage & P.O. Box(7) 10,897 2,175 2,155 2,163 4,034 3,398 24,822 Dog Food budget supplement & Treats(8) 21,682 4,486 4,417 5,975 6,885 7,643 51,088 Shelter Improvements(9) 43,681 21,028 13,261 11,922 2,716 18,230 110,838 Telephone 3,570 360 360 360 360 360 5,370 Training equipment(10) 3,818 605 2,617 1,973 593 2,321 11,927 Garage Sale Expenses 2,157 0 0 0 0 0 2,157 Web Site Expense 2,498 699 346 259 199 289 4,290 Checking Acct. Service Charge 435 89 123 89 99 61 896 Training class & event refreshments(11) 1,948 131 352 26 86 29 2,572 Books & videos for public & volunteers(12) 5,773 149 526 354 147 211 7,160 Office supplies(13) 26,313 5,025 6,389 3,493 8,565 6,886 56,671 Promotional materials(14) 7,115 1,136 0 217 2,305 693 11,466 Organization costs(15) 5,696 3,105 301 267 262 366 9,997 Golf event expenses(16) 0 451 14,240 0 0 0 14,691 Donations to another 501c(3) (17) 0 0 500 990 0 0 1,490 TOTAL EXPENSES 214,251 61,540 59,524 42,850 34,600 57,682 470,447
TSC= The Shelter Connection (1) Donations at shelter or via mail (2) Collection boxes at local merchants establishments (3) Donations collected for gift book wrapping by Shelter Connection volunteers at local Barnes & Noble bookstore (4) Donations collected at Shelter Connection tables set up at events sponsored by local dog groups or charities (5) TSC monogrammed shirts sold to volunteers for cost & T-shirts with TSC graphic sold for donation. See (15) for expense (6) Fund to pay for medical and surgical expenses of shelter dogs that are not covered in shelter budget (7) Non-profit stamps for newsletter mailings, regular postage for letters, bulk mail permit fee, P.O. box rental (8) Shelter food budget supplement to purchase premium food and training treats (9) Improvements to the shelter physical plant. Does not include services and equipment solicited by the organization and donated directly to the shelter by vendors and individual volunteers.. Includes paver expenses for shelter pavilion per contract with the Town of North Hempstead. See (18) for reimbursement. (10) Leashes, collars, agility equipment (11) Coffee, cake and cookies for public at shelter and off premises events. Also for new volunteer classes (12) Books, DVD's, & pamphlets purchased to give to new adopters (dog care, dogs & children, etc.). Books & videos for library at shelter for staff & volunteers. Equipment such as projectors for public, staff & volunteer education. (13) Newsletter printing, copy machine service contract, parts and supplies, coin wrappers, volunteer handbooks, etc. (14) Magnets, can covers, collection boxes, plaques, banner, pamphlets (15) Start up costs, fees for filing (IRS, NYS Atty. General), Operation Outreach- purch. Books for school classes re: humane education, animals & responsibility, volunteer shirts & T-shirt cost. (16) Golf event held 6/2011- expenses and income (17) Donation to TSC designated for helping Paw (2011) & Pay-it-forward to two organizations (2012) (18) Reimbursement from Town of North Hempstead for pavers for shelter pavilion per contract with Town.
THE SHELTER CONNECTION P.O. Box 226 Greenvale, New York 11548 www.theshelterconnection.org at THE TOWN OF NORTH HEMPSTEAD ANIMAL SHELTER 75 Marino Avenue Port Washington, New York 11050