Remember your pets, loved ones by buying a memorial brick from C.A.R.E.
By LOIS KINDLE
Penny Smith, president of the C.A.R.E. board, shows a memorial brick she purchased to honor her beloved dog, Honey. The nonprofit organization is selling bricks to area residents and businesses that wish to support the effort with a $100 donation.
wish to support the effort for a $100 donation.
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
The Critter Adoption and Rescue Effort no-kill animal shelter in Ruskin is in the midst of a capital fundraising campaign to build a larger, more modern facility in Ruskin.
As part of that effort, the shelter is now selling memorial bricks to residents as a way for them to remember and honor pets or people who have passed away. The bricks will be used to build a memorial wall in front of the new shelter facility, once it is built.
“This is a lovely way to memorialize a pet or loved one or to acknowledge a business (like Pearson Capital) that supports our mission,” said C.A.R.E. Board President Penny Smith. “It acknowledges your donation in support of our efforts to raise the $3 million we need to build a new, bigger shelter.”
In May, the 501(C) 3 nonprofit organization kicked off the campaign in Sun City Center. Having outgrown its aging facility, it needs to build a larger, more modern shelter on its 3-acre property to improve its operational efficiencies and increase the number of animals it can take in and, subsequently, place in permanent homes.
The shelter currently provides housing for up to 17 dogs and puppies, depending on their sizes, and 30 to 40 cats and kittens.
C.A.R.E. receives no government funding. It does get occasional grants from other nonprofit groups, like the Interfaith Council of Sun City Center and the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay. But its mission mainly is supported by area residents and businesses through direct or in-kind donations and C.A.R.E.’s occasional fundraisers.
To raise the large amount needed for its proposed shelter, the small, all-volunteer shelter especially needs benefactors who are willing to leave funding to it through bequests and large donors of $1,000 or more, but donations of any amount are appreciated. Significant donations will be commemorated with a plaque in the new building.
During the summer, donations for the new building have slowed to a trickle. “While we appreciate these, many more are needed,” Smith said.
The bricks may be purchased for $100 at the shelter or by emailing penny.smith55@gmail.com. Forms are also available inside the newest edition of Critter Chronicles at the Sun City Center Area, SouthShore and Greater Riverview chambers of commerce. Each brick can contain three lines or 20 spaces of text. Businesses and organizations can include a logo and 15 spaces of text.
To learn more, call 813-645-2273, email penny.smith55@gmail.com or visit www.careshelter.org. Donations can be sent to C.A.R.E., 1528 27th St. SE, Ruskin, FL 33570.