Holiday Donations

MASTER GARDENERS IN THE GIVING SPIRIT

“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in our hearts.”
-A.A. Milne

Master Gardeners are very generous people!  This holiday season we encourage you to get into the spirit of giving on behalf of our four-legged friends by donating to the Southside Animal Shelter, Friends of Indianapolis Dogs Outside, and Boulevard Place Food Pantry at our December 9^th MGA holiday gathering.  

Leave items in your cars until after the meeting when they will be placed in the appropriate vehicle for delivery.  Further instructions will be provided.

Southside Animal Shelter is unlike most other animal welfare organizations. The mission of Southside Animal Shelter is to rescue at-risk dogs and cats and nurture and restore them to happy healthy lives in loving homes.  SSASI is a 501(c)3 non-profit and accepts both monetary and product donations.

As one of the largest “limited admission” shelters in Indianapolis, SSASI remains committed to the philosophy of not using euthanasia to control population. Once an animal is accepted at SSASI, there is no limit to the amount of time that animal can spend at the shelter. SSASI will also accept pets knowing they may need extensive medical or behavioral care.

Once accepted, SSASI becomes responsible for the animals taken in for the duration of their stay. This includes providing for the animal’s basic needs such as routine and sometimes special veterinary care, spaying and neutering, microchipping, food, and shelter.

The Southside Animal Shelter happily accepts the following donations:

–canned dog and cat food (pate preferred)
–Science Diet dry food for both cats and dogs
–Iams kitten food
–Purina Kitten Chow
–Newspapers for animal cages
–Paper towels
–Bleach, laundry detergent, Fabuloso, & dish detergent all for cleaning
–Pet toys
–Pet treats
–Slip leads
–Money/checks

Thank you for your continued generosity and community spirit!

FIDO, which stands for Friends of Indianapolis Dogs Outside, is a volunteer-based animal advocacy group that helps people improve the quality of life for their outside dogs—with a focus on chained and neglected dogs. FIDO helps residents of Indianapolis find alternatives to continuous chaining as a method of dog containment while promoting proper care and treatment with guidance and assistance to residents who are willing to work with us.  FIDO works in partnership with other organizations to provide spay/neuter assistance, which we require, for the dogs we serve. We have multiple programs to assist the community:
-ALLEY OUTREACH, in which we partner with Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) every week driving alleys in at-risk neighborhoods to address care and treatment ordinance violations for outside dogs
-FENCE PROGRAM – FIDO assists clients with fencing and fence repair, straw, and dog houses in order to provide secure containment for dogs when outside, as an alternative to continuous chaining as well as training crates, collars and leashes for taking pets in and out.
-PET FOOD PANTRY – Each month we open up our warehouse to provide dry dog and cat food to those in need for $2.  In addition, we offer low cost canned food, flea and tick           prevention, dewormer, straw, treats, and cat litter.
-SPAY AND NEUTER ASSISTANCE – Not only do we find spay and neuter services for free or low-cost for our clients, but we assist those without reliable transportation by               transporting their pets to the spay/neuter clinic and returning them back to their homes afterwards.

We can’t do what we do without the generous support of donations!  We graciously accept the following with those items at the top of the list our most needed items:

–Bales of straw
–Dry cat food: any brand, even opened is welcomed
–48 in indoor training crates
–Heavy duty large buckle collars
–Heavy duty leashes
–Dry Dog food: any brand, even opened is welcomed
–Canned cat or dog food
–Empty litter buckets – like the Tidy Cat yellow ones, with the lids
–Igloo dog houses: medium, large, and extra large
–Plastic box dog houses: medium, large, and extra large
–6-foot tall chain-link kennel panels

Boulevard Place Food Pantry

The Boulevard Place Food Pantry serves clients who live within the boundaries of its 5 contributing parishes: St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Joan of Arc, Christ the King, St. Luke, and Immaculate Heart of Mary. Responding to God’s call to “Feed the Hungry,” we strive to manifest God’s love by providing a selection of food and self-help programs to those in need in an atmosphere of dignity and respect for client and volunteer alike.

Cindy Brown, the volunteer director of the Pantry states  “Each MONTH the Boulevard Place Food Pantry serves 930 households in our geographic area, which is about 3400 people monthly, including all ages — infants through 65+ — and 200 disabled veterans.” 

Mary Durkin will be coordinating the collection for The Boulevard Place Food Pantry.