Submitted by The Animal Protection Society – Friday Harbor

The Animal Protection Society – Friday Harbor would like to acknowledge the San Juan Island Community Foundation for the many opportunities it provides for San Juan Island nonprofit organizations to receive support from the foundation and its donors.

On March 9, 2021, APS-FH received two grants through gifts from the SJICF Healthy Community Grant Fund, the Robert and Rebecca Pohlad Family Donor Advised Fund; the Peg Gerlock and Phil Johnson Donor Advised Fund; and the 1st Saturday in June Fund, a fund of Charles Anderson and Pamela Gross. The donor-advised funds are all funds of the SJICF. The first grant provides for the purchase of heavy steel drain covers to replace plastic ones that have been in the shelter’s dog kennels. The plastic covers proved to be a safety risk to the dogs as they slipped and slid out-of-place when dogs walked on them causing minor injuries to the dog’s feet and legs. Shelter staff recognized that it was only a matter-of-time before a significant injury occurred and it was decided that the grates had to be replaced immediately. Thanks to the SJICF, the new, metal grates are now in place and we are very relieved. The second grant supports APS-FH’s Transport Program. APS-FH works to save hundreds of pet lives through a network of transport and rescue organization partners across Washington, California, Texas, and Mexico. Cats and dogs are transferred out of, often, high-kill shelters and brought to the APS-FH shelter to find their forever homes. The current APS-FH van is no longer road-safe and is not repairable. This grant from SJICF will help APS-FH purchase a used cargo van so we can continue to save animal lives through our Transport Program.

SJICF Healthy Community Grants are just one way the foundation provides avenues of support for SJI nonprofits. APS-FH has also been a past-recipient of SJICF Fair Grants which, through the foundation’s generation of community giving, provided APS-FH funds in 2020 to purchase a second water tank to separate the shelter’s irrigation water from its potable water to protect our water supply. A 2019 Fair Grant provided APS-FH funds to purchase a shelter software program that has revolutionized our ability to record, track and provide pet records and other important data to staff and adopters.

The foundation’s grant programs have been instrumental in APS-FH’s ability to save hundreds of precious pet lives and provide community support programs. APS-FH is deeply grateful to the San Juan Island Community Foundation’s staff, board, and donors for the numerous ways that you support APS-FH and other SJI nonprofits.