Aiken Teenagers, Making a Difference

If you are one of those folks who despair that the future of America depends upon the self-involved, socially awkward, tuned-out youth who defend the right of Miley Cyrus to twerk and aspire to be the first in line at the opening of Fast and Furious 7, the Art of the Steal, we have a suggestion that will make you feel better.  Come to the Aiken County Animal Shelter at 411 Wire Road on the 2^nd Saturday of each month and watch six volunteers from the South Aiken High School Chapter of the Serteen Club commit their time and energy to making the dogs and cats housed at the shelter happier animals.  It will warm your heart.

The Serteen Club is a high school organization whose national motto is “Making a Difference for Mankind.”  There are no prerequisites for membership in the Serteens except a desire to be of service to their community.   The 72 members of the Serteens at the South Aiken High School Chapter are a culturally and ethnically diverse group of girls and boys, many of whom are four-year veterans by the time they are seniors.

Specific project activities are proposed primarily by the students themselves.  According to Valorie Vance, a Chemistry and Science teacher who serves as the Serteen faculty advisor, in any given month, the Serteens could be volunteering in as many as 10 events around town.  For example, this year the Serteens will have assisted with FOTAS Steeplechase events, Trick or Treat on Pendleton, Habitat for Humanity, the Walk for Alzheimer’s and the Ronald McDonald House, to name a few.

The Serteens have been volunteering at the Aiken County Animal Shelter since 2010.    Forty-two members have completed the Shelter’s volunteer training and orientation program and are eligible to sign up for the monthly service day.  At the shelter, they primarily spend their time socializing the animals through exercise, play and attention.  Serteen volunteers also provide much needed help to the Friends of the Animal Shelter (FOTAS) for special projects around the Aiken County animal shelter, adoption days and fundraising events.

Mary Lou Welch, the Vice President of FOTAS, has been working with the Serteens from the very beginning, and she loves it.  “They are so responsible, so polite and such great fun to be with, and they are so good with the dogs,” she said. “And they are committed.  I've known a couple of these kids since they were freshman and had to be driven to everything, and now they drive themselves.”  

Valorie is articulate about the enormous benefits to the students of community service.  “It is wonderful to watch a kid who may have started out shy and withdrawn grow and mature into a young adult fully engaged in the world,” she says.  But rest assured, the benefits flow both ways - the staff and volunteers at the shelter are equally articulate about the joy these dedicated teenagers bring to the shelter animals so in need of kindness and human interaction. 

So when we observe Phillip running with the big dogs, or Kimberly and her sister Kaytlin spending time at the Cat House, or Joi assisting with every adoption event, or Jada, her father and her brother volunteering on days other than the designated Serteen service day, we can set aside our fears for the future of America’s youth.  We are certain the world will be a better place because they and their fellow Serteens are in it.

FOTAS Volunteers work with the AIKEN COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER, 411 Wire Road.  For more information, contact “info@fotasaiken.org” or visit FOTAS on line at www.fotasaiken.org.

Aiken County Animal Shelter:  “By the Numbers”

Sept. 9 - Sept. 14, 2013

13 dogs and 7 cats -- total 20 pets adopted ... yay!

Jan. 1 - Sept. 14, 2013, year to date

567 terrific pets adopted ... yay again!

CONGRATULATIONS AIKEN COUNTY COMMUNITY!

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week!”

**All adoption fees include:  spay/neuter, heartworm test, all shots, worming, and microchip.

BARBIE

Lab/bull dog mix, female 8 mos., 47 lbs.  Loves to be loved!  Only $70

BOBBY

Male kitten, 8 wks old, domestic short hair.  A cuddly ball of fur!  Only $35

$10.5K is Symbolic and So Significant for SNAP

by JOYA DISTEFANO

“Hello, I got this number from the sign…”

“My name is… I’m calling about the spaying and neutering…”

“…I signed up and no one has called me yet…”

“…I signed up and now my cat is in heat…”

“Hello, my name is...I have all these cats coming to my house! Can someone help me?...”

These kinds of calls come in day after day from people who need help spaying or neutering their pets, or the community cats they support.  FOTAS has been trying to meet this demand, and still rally the community behind “The Year of the Shelter 2013” and the need for donations to “Fit, Furnish and Finish” our new County Shelter.  Both are essential needs.

Aiken County is building a new Animal Shelter, due to open this winter.  It will be a happy healthy place, appropriate to the current demands on County Animal Services.  But if we do not continue to build on spay/neuter assistance programs, the new shelter can easily deteriorate into a bigger version of the old overcrowding problem and the stress, disease and death that accompany it.

In the spring of 2012, FOTAS entered a walk competition and fundraiser in Columbia and won.  The result was not just nearly 100 free spay neuters for Wagener pets, but the beginning of a major FOTAS initiative called “SNAP,” for Spay/Neuter Assistance Program. 

When the money in Columbia ran out, the old Aiken SPCA, now the Albrecht Center for Animal Welfare, stepped in and provided the remaining surgeries on the list with a $15 co-pay.  They understood that FOTAS was currently committed to raising funds for the new shelter.  This was the beginning of a win-win partnership that will be at the heart of the success of both new facilities for the foreseeable future.

FOTAS SNAP is currently working with Aiken County Animal Control, and strategically located towns, to provide targeted spay/neuter assistance.  Already the mayors of Wagener, Burnettown and Windsor are on board, and we look forward to others joining up.  The program offers eligible pet owners a place to enroll, transportation to and from the Albrecht Center’s new high-capacity spay/neuter clinic from targeted sites, and the surgery, rabies vaccine and a micro chip, all for a $20 co-pay.

Here’s where the $10,500 comes in.  The figure represents the average cost to spay and neuter 50 dogs and 50 cats at the Albrecht Center’s high-capacity clinic.  Here’s the grand plan.  Next Saturday, September 21^st the SPCA Albrecht Center is hosting a major fundraiser that offers another opportunity for FOTAS SNAP to compete for funds. Our goal is $10,500! 

The Albrecht Center has agreed to apply every dollar contributed to FOTAS SNAP.  We need your help to reach our $10,500 goal. Every $5, $10, $25 can get us there, if we all chip in. 

Contribute on line to: http://www.crowdrise.com/fotassnap OR

Send a check (must arrive by 9/21 to count) to FOTAS SNAP at P.O. Box 2207 Aiken 29802.

Or, if you are computer-savvy, form your team (UNDER FOTAS, PLEASE) and be a star! 

A retired organizational problem-solver and radical educator, Joya Jiménez DiStefano is an artist, Servant Leader, and co-founder of FOTAS, Inc.

FOTAS Volunteers work with the AIKEN COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER, 411 Wire Road.  For more information, contact “info@fotasaiken.org” or visit FOTAS on line at www.fotasaiken.org.

Aiken County Animal Shelter:  “By the Numbers”

Public Animal Control Numbers

Aiken City & Aiken County FY’13	City of Aiken		Aiken County
	Dogs	Cats	Animals
Impounded	347	236	4,794
RTO*	137	4	219
Transferred/ Adopted	89	58	783/ 798
Euthanized	93	175	3,415

*returned to owner

Aiken County Shelter “Pets of the Week!” 

LITTLE BIT -  7yrs. Male beauty.  Elegant is just the beginning with this guy!  Only $35.    

 

 

PEPPER  – Hound/Lab female 1yr. 44lbs.  Eager, affectionate, intelligent!  Only $70

*All adoption fees include: Spay/Neuter, heartworm test, all shots, worming, and microchip.