Kindness to Animals has no Boundaries June 2023 Dear Animal-Kind Friends,
We’re usually pretty stoic here at A-KI and we’re always diligent about how we use your donations. But sometimes the donations we receive just don’t cover the the needs of our Partner Organizations, the animal welfare organizations in resource-poor countries that very much rely on us.
We are forever grateful to our monthly supporters—about 65 of you(!)—when in really bad months like this one, recurring donations may be the only ones we receive (or almost). So in these difficult times, we find we need to be more direct and come right out and explain the needs and ask for your help.
If you love horses and want to improve their care and welfare in Ghana, we need your help: On the A-KI website, read what A-KI Partner, The Six Freedoms-Ghana, is doing to improve the way horses are trained, handled, and treated. And in this AKI Blog post, there’s more about why your support is so needed now:
If you believe as we do that one of the most important things we can do is educate the next generation to care for and protect animals, we need your help. A-KI Partner, Sauvons nos Animaux, doesn’t yet have the money they need to cover the costs of their Animal-Friendly Kids Camp scheduled to begin on July 10. In 2022, about 250 Congolese kids participated in the 8-week camp that takes place at the SnA shelter.
If you agree that bringing free animal care and information about good pet care to remote, impoverished areas can not only change the lives of cats and dogs who directly receive the care, but can also change the way entire communities behave towards cats and dogs, we need your support to keep A-KI Partner Liberia Animal Welfare & Conservation Society on the road, visiting far-flung communities, providing the only professional animal care available.
If like we do, you have a special affinity for Uganda SPCA and are amazed that in 2022 they helped more than 1100 animals at their shelter and about 1000 dogs and cats living in remote and/or poor communities (see their 2022 annual report here), we need your help. The USPCA is feeling the effects of inflation and the still ongoing impacts from the pandemic. Donations to the USPCA have plunged (as have ours!) Thanks to A-KI supporters, we’ve been able to cover a good portion of the operating costs of the USPCA-rent, staff salaries, cat and dog food, shelter utilities, and more. But the money has run out and won’t cover all of June’s costs. That means that by the end of June, the USPCA will be delinquent on salaries for 10 of the 12 USPCA staff (AKI funds will be covering salaries for 2 staff through June) and won’t be able to pay the bill for cat and dog food (for about 350 shelter animals) for the full month. We need your help!
More Animal-Kind International News
Thank you so much to Animals Today (“Your home for serious talk about animals”) for interviewing me about Animal-Kind International. You can listen to the interview here (it starts at minute 21.5, or listen to the entire show-Lori and Peter do a great job at giving interesting, less known stories their due).
Thank you also to a supporter who had a great idea! For everyone who starts a birthday fundraiser on Facebook in support of Animal-Kind International, this generous donor will contribute $50 to A-KI in honor of your birthday. The catch is that the donor wants to see people stepping up and helping A-KI and he will continue to help as long as he feels others are doing their share (or until the money runs out).
Our popular pie charts, showing how each of our Partner Organizations used your donations in the 1st half of 2023, are now on the A-KI website. Select a Partner Organization’s page to view their pie chart (like this one for Bam Animals Clinic-Uganda).
Do you have a good idea for a name for the Sauvons nos Animaux shelter in the Democratic Republic of Congo? If you do, we want to hear from you. Read about SnA at the link above for some inspiration and then send me your ideas.
The proposal submission period for our 6th annual Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program closed on June 15. We received 55 proposals from organizations in 16 countries. Currently, our external proposal evaluation committee is reviewing the proposals. We’ll announce grant winners on August 1 on our website, on our Facebook and Instagram pages, and in our newsletter. The more donations we receive for our grant program, the more worthy organizations and impactful projects we can support. We are so grateful for your donations, which in the past 5 years have funded 45 grants (this of course is in addition to our ongoing support to our Partner Organizations).
Please donate to A-KI!
Again, I want to give a special thank you to our monthly donors. Some of you have been with us from the start—since 2007! Some of you only recently became monthly donors. No matter how long you’ve been with us, your commitment to helping animals in some of the most difficult places; your investment and belief in A-KI; and your generosity give us and our Partners the inspiration and motivation to continue on…for the animals and people who rely on us.
We Are Grateful to You,
Karen Menczer, Founder/Director & the Animal-Kind International Board
A-KI has Partner Organizations in Uganda (2 partners), Namibia (2 partners), DR Congo, Ghana, South Sudan, Liberia, Honduras, Jamaica, and Armenia. You can donate to AKI’s general fund or designate your donation to one or more of our Partner Organizations. We’ll announce winners of our 2023 Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program on 1 August!
A-KI: Since 2007, helping animals and the people who care for them in some of the poorest countries.
We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; donations to A-KI are tax deductible in the US to the extent the law allows. 100% of your donations are used to support our Partner Organizations & our Africa-Based Animal Welfare Organization Grant Program.