Animal-Kind International | Our Supporters! Thank you!!
Stacey held a mask fundraiser for AKI: for a $25 donation (or more), Stacey sewed and sent a covid-compliant mask with all proceeds to AKI. Thanks to Stacey's talent and generosity, we raised $2000!
Tina, her dogs, and the Humane Education material she donated
Humane Education material -Tina's donation
Humane Education material -donated by Tina
Humane Education material-donated by Tina
Humane Education material-donated by Tina
Humane Education material-donated by Tina
Bilingual Humane Education material
Wow, Tina knows how to put together a care package! These humane education materials are destined for Liberia Animal Welfare & Conservation Society. Tina donated: stuffed animals (4 dozen!); be kind to animals pins; animal bingo game & animal pencils; National Geographic kids magazines-38!; conservation books; 11 mini animal activity books; and coloring books. THANK YOU TINA!
Robin walked 20 miles for AKI and raised over $1300 from over 35 people! Robin organized her own walkathon, going back and forth between her apartment and Alewife (Boston, MA). The route is exactly 5 miles, so Robin walked two round trips. Robin requested donations from her friends, and they came through for her and AKI.
Robin not only had fun doing it and met people and dogs along the way, she also made a real difference for AKI partner organizations who were cheering her on!
Thank you Dori for donating these great gifts for the Ghana SPCA Humane Ed Program! Dori has been donating through AKI for GSPCA for several years, and has always been there when GSPCA needs something.
Thank you very much also to Cherilyn, who sent a boxful of goodies to distribute to Ghana SPCA Humane Ed Program students. All the gifts are animal-themed.
Thank you to Sharon, Mikki, first Unitarian Animal Advocates, and everyone who joined us last night for the AKI benefit potluck! We had great food, great company, great fun, and we raised some money for AKI partner organizations!
Sharon wanted to pay tribute to her brother, Bill Hall, who she describes as, "a very special guy, who so loved his dogs and cats, all of whom were rescues." For some time, Sharon had been looking for a way that her brother's memory and wishes could live on. After learning about AKI and our partner organizations, Sharon decided to make a donation in Bill's memory because she felt that Bill would have appreciated the "worthy efforts of AKI's partner organizations." Sharon's donation to AKI on Bill's birthday, July 4th, will be used by AKI partner organizations to improve the lives of dogs and cats. Thank you, Sharon! Coordinating closely with Sharon, AKI sent the funds Sharon donated in Bill's memory to Tsumeb SPCA so they could renovate their cattery.
Thank you so much to Rouge Valley Veterinary Hospital in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. RVVH held holiday fundraisers for AKI.
Hello! Our family recently traveled to Mostar, Bosnia Herzegovina, where my nine-year-old daughter, Natalie, felt a special kinship with the cats. She also noticed that many were malnourished with visible fleas or other skin ailments. Upon our return to the United States, Natalie decided to send all of her savings to help the Bosnian cats.
She also held a bake sale to collect even more money. This morning we sent her total ($164.00 USD) to Animal-Kind International. We appreciate all you are doing to care for these cats and would love to hear any updates about your foundation. Sincerely, Greg, Nancy and Natalie, Washington, DC, USA.
Awesome African Wildlife
Sarah Clark Powdermaker, AKI supporter & a big fan of Africa and its wildlife, passed away recently. To honor her memory, her husband Mark donated three copies of the book she wrote to AKI. Awesome African Wildlife is a unique collection of poems, information, and paintings of 50 species of Africa's wildlife. The stories are beautifully presented, and the book is a joy to browse and read. We will award a book to each of the top three donors--individuals or groups. For being AKI's longest sustaining monthly donor, Kelly received Awesome African Wildlife.
Animal welfare volunteers often feel pretty battered from dealing with animal issues day after day. But when Beckie decided to volunteer to raise funds for AKI and the Uganda SPCA, she really got battered! Beckie entered the Spartan Race Cambridge (UK) 2012, in which each person runs 5k, with 15 obstacles to overcome, including a couple of 150m barbed wire crawls, tyre lift up a hill, mud, water, fire, long dark tunnels, balance beams, high walls to get over, ice pit and electric shocks.
Supporter Beckie told AKI that she managed to get an electric shock to the head, but other than that only a few bruises! But it was all for a good cause--to raise money for the Uganda SPCA's shelter, the Haven.
Beckie's Spartan Race team of 4 (Beckie's friend, Beckie, friend's mum, and Beckie's dad).
Tebbe and Beckie at the USPCA Haven
Beckie decided to raise funds for the USPCA after volunteering there earlier in 2012. After searching for somewhere to volunteer online, Beckie found the USPCA on the AKI website. Beckie was there for around 2 weeks. She told us, "I love Uganda and the staff at the shelter were great.
There were so many lovely dogs needing homes, and I was determined not to take any home, just help them, but then Tebbe latched onto me, following me to every corner of the shelter and after i named him, he responded to his name very quickly. I could call his name and he would come running! So i gave in and said I would take him home!
The Stop Injustice & Cruelty (SIC) Club in Long Island, New York contacted AKI because the club members were interested in raising money for an animal welfare charity. They chose AKI partner organization, Kingston Community Animal Welfare in Jamaica, run by Deborah Binns. Julia, the co-president of SIC, told us that, "Everyone in the club loves being involved in a place we donate to."
The SIC Club was also happy to know that 100% of all the funds they send to AKI will be sent to KCAW; and as Julia told us, "they are happy to know that the amount they raise will go a long way."
The first fundraiser was at Barnes & Noble on December 11. The club members stayed there all day and they offered to wrap people's books for contributions.After the fundraiser ended, Julia sent this message: "hey! the fundraiser went great, a bunch of people stopped by and lots of them donated. we were able to raise 85 dollars for kcaw!"& THANK YOU JULIA AND SIC CLUB FOR THE GREAT WORK YOU DID IN SUPPORT OF ANIMALS IN KINGSTON, JAMAICA!
Author Lawrence Lindner is an AKI supporter. In his latest book with Nicholas Dodman, Good Old Dog: Expert Advice for Keeping Your Aging Dog Happy, Healthy, and Comfortable, he used two AKI photos, and credited AKI, including our website, in the book.
Before buying this freezer, Nune (Save the Animals-Armenia) had to go to the shelter every day with many kilos of meat to feed the +200 dogs. She couldn't buy meat at the best price--she was at the mercy of those selling it. Now she can store meat, and when she goes to the shelter she can enjoy her time with the dogs instead of lugging food from taxi to kitchen several times over!
Supporter Myra sent a check to AKI to cover the cost of a freezer for Nune at the Save the Animals' shelter in Yerevan, Armenia.
Myra heard about Nune's need, and jumped right in to help. AKI supporters are the BEST!
In the summer of 2010, while on safari with her father, Nicole visited the USPCA's shelter, The Haven, and brought gifts for the shelter pets. But Nicole didn't only make this one-time stop at the Haven, she encouraged her tour operator to bring other tourists to the Uganda SPCA.
Supporter Victoria, a British Airways flight attendant, brought food and other dog and cats supplies for Deborah/Kingston Community Animal Welfare whenever she flew into Kingston. Victoria told us: I have just entered into a marathon for April 10th next year. It is 26.2 miles!! And I want Animal-Kind International to be the charity I raise money for. Training is going well. Have got myself a very good pair of trainers, which I am sure I will be needing! I have been keeping a close eye on the website, it is looking fantastic!
Supporter Juan is originally from from Chihuahua, Mexico, and came to the US in 1976. He now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Juan first heard about AKI when he picked up our brochure at an Earth Day event. It's easy to understand his interest in AKI once you know some of Juan's story.
Juan told us that when he was young, his family in Chihuahua always had pets. But one of his fondest memories is of the neighborhood dog, Oso. When the kids went out to play each day, Oso went with them. Oso followed the kids around, he cared for them, he watched over them. Juan and his friends felt safe with Oso around, and he was a lot of fun too! When the kids went home, Oso went back to his own home too. Oso belonged to the community, and the community watched out for Oso. Juan tells us that there were always dogs in the neighborhood. It was a close community, and when someone was asked to watch the kids in a family, it was just expected that they'd also take care of that family's pets.
Juan's family had their own dog, a little dachshund. "In my family, we all came together because of that puppy. We all worked together to make sure he had food and shelter." Juan's family also had chickens and rabbits, and they shared the care of those animals too.
Now, as an adult, Juan still finds that pets bring people together. He and his wife Lily have two dogs, Princess and Chiquita. Chiquita (pictured with Juan) has diabetes and is blind. Together, Lily and Juan provide for their dogs, and this has brought husband and wife closer together. Juan believes that "pets sense how we are in our spirit and they are protective of us. It's like you have your own little guardian angel."
When Juan read about Victoria's intention to run a marathon and collect funds to benefit AKI, he was inspired to also do something for AKI. Juan trained for a 10 k to raise money for AKI. Juan tells us that he is an AKI supporter because AKI is helping animal welfare organizations in poor countries that may not be able to continue without AKI support. Juan knows that in poor countries, having a role model who encourages kindness to animals can mean the difference between someone who grows up and protects animals and someone who grows up and is indifferent, or even cruel to animals.
Supporter Kelsey Van Dyke of Rockville, Maryland created a birthday wish on Facebook requesting donations to AKI, in hopes it would inspire people to not only donate but also learn more about animal welfare in less developed countries. Kelsey earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Family Studies, with a secondary major in Spanish Language & Literature, from the University of Maryland in 2008.
After nearly two years of working in educational research and evaluation for a DC area federal contractor, Kelsey decided to pursue her dream of becoming a social worker and will be attending the University of Maryland School of Social Work to begin working toward her MSW in fall 2010. She is pictured here with her dog Ellie.
Thank you very much to Ellie and the SIC Club for raising $500 for AKI. Ellie and her friends with the SIC Club headed off to college the fall after their AKI fundraising efforts, but we hope they won't forget AKI; we won't forget them!
Supporter Ellie at Ward Melville High School in Setauket, Long Island, New York tells us her club, Stop Injustice and Cruelty, is working hard to raise money for Animal-Kind International. She sent us the following message:
Sorry this took so long! I have been very busy. SIC (Stop Injustice and Cruelty) has been working very hard this year to send money to Animal- Kind International. So far, we have done a "Helping Hands" fundraiser. We set up huge pieces of paper and a ton of paint. For one dollar, each student would dip their hand in paint and put their hand on the wall. For Thanksgiving, the hands were in the shape of turkeys. This was a hit and many kids were lining up to get their hands dirty. We are planning many more events in the future like movie nights for children featuring movies like Madagascar and Finding Nemo. We are very interested in your organization and can't wait until we can send the checks!
Supporter Nicole from Toronto held a garage sale to raise money for Animal-Kind International. She received donations from friends and family, and buyers were really happy to know the money was going to AKI. She requested that the $320 she raised from the sale be split between Helping Hands for Hounds of Honduras and Jamaica's Kingston Community Animal Welfare.
For Deborah in Jamaica, $160 covered about 2 weeks of dog and cat food for low income families with pets and for street dogs and cats; for Pilar in Honduras, $160 paid for spaying five dogs. Nicole tells us that she "loves all the new updates on the AKI website and the adoptable dogs are fantastic! It shows me what's going on right now and I love to see what I am donating to."
Supporter Miles in Santa Fe read the article about AKI in the Santa Fe New Mexican and checked us out online. When he saw April, an AKI featured pet, who had diabetes, he knew he wanted to help her. He requested that instead of holiday gifts, donations should be sent to AKI to help with Pilar's (Helping Hands for Hounds of Honduras) care of April.
WE ARE SO SAD TO REPORT THAT APRIL DIED ON 2 MAY. SHE HAD BEEN VOMITING DURING THE DAY, AND WHEN PILAR GOT UP TO CHECK ON HER AT 2 AM, SHE HAD DIED. PILAR TELLS US, "SHE WAS SUCH A SWEET, LOVABLE, HAPPY SOUL. SHE LOVED HER FOOD AND LOVED ALL PEOPLE. SHE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE RIGHT NEXT TO ME OR WHOEVER WAS HERE. I WILL MISS HER. SHE WAS HERE 8 MONTHS."