11 Jun 2019 Bringing New Hope to Southwest Florida’s Homeless Pets
by Pamela Aubuchon, Member, Board of Directors, Cape Coral Animal Shelter
Cape Coral is the second largest city in the state of Florida. Growing every year, the population is now reaching 200,000 residents. Despite the city’s ever-growing population, Cape Coral does not have an animal shelter within the community. Recognizing this important issue, a group of leading ladies and one gentleman, headed by JoAnn Elardo together with Jacque Miloff, Gloria Tate, Yvonne Werline, Alvaro Sanchez, Annette Carasquillo Judy Sowers and Pamela Aubuchon founded the Cape Coral Animal Shelter and embarked on the journey of bringing a dream to reality. The Cape Coral Animal Shelter is now a 501 (c) 3 Non-Profit, No-Kill shelter organization dedicated to the community of Cape Coral and animals in need in Lee County Florida.
The Mission: To make a marked difference in our community through leadership and dedication by encouraging the special bond between people and animals by means of adoption services, medical and dental care, education and training for the prevention of cruelty, neglect and abandonment.
The Cape Coral Animal Shelter will bring hope to Southwest Florida’s homeless dogs and cats by understanding their needs and bringing an increased level of awareness to the intolerance of animal abuse in our community. Animal guests in our care will receive excellent medical care and rehabilitation training whereby upon readiness these pets can be placed in a qualified and loving forever home.
During the three-year journey, the Board of Director Leadership Team has grown welcoming Susan Thrasher, Nancy Monteith, and Tami Cindrich. This focused team of eleven and has been blessed with opportunities to meet and form bonded relationships with a grand group of donors, government officials, local business owners, other supporting non-profit organizations and dedicated volunteers. All working together to create and help build a new state-of -art animal shelter with Medical Clinic. Many new programs and fundraising events are being planned in support of the Shelter. All designed to make a marked difference in our community as well as exhibit a leadership role in other communities.
The Cape Coral Animal Shelter has been recently awarded a generous grant funded by the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. The grant proceeds will be used to purchase the very first mobile unit van for the Shelter. The new vehicle will enable the Shelter Team to transport animals in need to the Shelter as well as adoption events and other future mobile events. In the grand plan, the Shelter will offer low cost medical and dental services in addition to other educational training programs to residents and their pets within the Cape Coral community.
The unique ideology which makes the Cape Coral Animal Shelter special is that it has a part of everyone in the Cape Coral community built into it. From the smallest gesture to the grandest donation, all who desired to be part of this very special and much needed Shelter has been welcomed to join the wonderous collaboration of building a better tomorrow for the two legged and four legged alike!
The Grand Opening for the Cape Coral Animal shelter is expected to be in the Fall of 2019. The Shelter is located at 325 SW 2nd Avenue, Cape Coral, FL 33991. To make a donation, receive our monthly newsletter or additional information about the Cape Coral Animal Shelter, please visit our website: www.CapeCoralAnimalShelter.com or call 239.800.9752
This summer, Florida Weekly has graciously allowed us, the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, to spotlight the nonprofit organizations funded through the Foundation’s 2019 competitive grant cycle. We have asked these grantees to share their stories. We are pleased to partner with these change-makers.
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation, founded in 1976, cultivates regional change for the common good through collective leadership, social innovation and philanthropy to address the evolving community needs in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. The Foundation partners with individuals, families and corporations who have created more than 400 philanthropic funds. Thanks to them, the Foundation invested $6.8 million in grants and programs to the community. With assets of more than $126 million, it has provided $78.2 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves since inception. The Foundation is the backbone organization for the regional FutureMakers Coalition and Lee County’s Sustainability Plan. The Southwest Florida Community Foundation’s regional headquarters are now located in the historic ACL Train Depot at Collaboratory in downtown Fort Myers, with a satellite office located in LaBelle (Hendry County). For more information, call 239-274-5900 or visit www.floridacommunity.com.