Forgotten Animal Shelter

A dream is a funny thing. It enters the world like an infant, covered with the blood, sweat, and tears of its mother, swaddled in hopes, and fed on love. It ventures into a world of uncertainty, protected by those that adore it and in the blink of an eye, it seems, the infant has begun moving forward, crawling on hands and knees without any sense of direction. A dream takes on a life of its own. Without warning it shifts from a crawl to a sprint at breakneck speed. Before anyone who tries can stop it, the new being has reached its destination; the child has transformed; the dream has been realized…and its parents are proud!

Forgotten Animal Shelter (FAS) is the shared dream of over 90 dues paying members who seek to do their part in bringing an end to the suffering and destruction of the lost, neglected, and abandoned animals of our society. The primary goal of FAS is to construct and operate a no-kill, no-time-limit animal sanctuary to serve Medina and the surrounding counties. Established as a non-profit organization in April 1999, FAS received federal tax exempt 501(c)(3) status in June of 2000 and has been steadily growing in numbers and in vision ever since.

2002 and 2003 have been momentous years for our young organization. As any toddler would, FAS has learned, changed, and developed new talents and abilities. 2002 brought with it the addition of many new members and ideas. It saw a shift from a focus on creating a foster program, to creating and maintaining a Fundraising Committee in an effort to fulfill the organization’s principal objective: shelter construction. 2002 was truly a banner year for fundraising. FAS’s income for 2002 was more than double what had been made in 2001! Such an increase would have been impossible without the incredible efforts of the Fundraising Committee, and they have shown no signs of slowing in 2003. New and innovative fundraisers were planned and implemented by a core group of dedicated individuals. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Easter Festival, Dog Bowl, and Rally In The Alley first annual fundraisers were all successful. These new fundraisers, along with old favorites, such as the Yard, Tent, Barn Sale & Adoptathon, the Medina County Fair booth and two COSCA Horse Shows expand our fundraising efforts into ten months out of the year. Never before has FAS held events so often. This youngster has a packed schedule!

Another growth spurt has spawned a desire to be in the lime light. The Publicity Committee, which is now being formed, shall work hand in hand with the fundraising committee to promote fundraisers as well as events that encourage awareness, such as the Medina County Adoptathon, the Medina Home Horse Show booth, and the 4th of July Parade. The Publicity Committee’s goal is to not only promote such events, but also to make FAS a “hot commodity” and create media interest by always having information and stories available just in case such a story is needed, (even if it does only end up as filler!). Publicity is the path to widespread recognition, public awareness of the goals and needs of FAS, and access to potential fund-raisers who reside within the local populace. We have a future media darling on our hands!

A dream, however, does need a place to reside other than in the minds of the dreamers, and finally, after nearly four years of determination and hard work, FAS acquired such a place. January 1st, 2003 saw Forgotten Animal Shelter take possession of twelve acres of land in Litchfield, the future site of our modern sanctuary. An initial site plan is included in this program. The layout may change, since the Board of Trustees is actively discussing animal housing arrangements and policy options, but the basic idea should stay very much the same. In gathering information related to shelter design, Board members have toured a variety of animal shelters including the Medina County SPCA (Medina), the Animal Protective League of Lorain County (Elyria), Angels for Animals (Canfield), Precious Lives Animal Sanctuary (Akron, now closed), The Berea Animal Shelter (Berea), Geauga County Humane Society (Russell Township), and Best Friends Animal Society (Kanab, Utah).

Needless to say, this child, our dream, is being raised with utmost care, using a broad spectrum of information, talent, initiative, ambition, and plain old elbow grease. Our only chance for success, however, lies not only with current dreamers, but with all of those who are able to embrace our vision, as well. Continued support in the form of volunteers; donations in the form of money, office supplies, and merchandise that can be sold or used as prizes; as well as word of mouth advertisement is needed now and will be needed in the future. Please help us continue to create our dream, for within it lies a bright future for countless forgotten animals. They deserve a better future. They deserve what we have to give, the gift of a child-like dream.

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