By Ashley M. Casey
Associate Editor
If you’re freshening up your wardrobe for spring, your old kicks could translate to treasure for the Animal Alliance of Greater Syracuse. Now through the end of May, AAGS is collecting new and gently used shoes in a fundraiser toward its goal of building a low-cost, high-volume spay-and-neuter facility.
“I was searching for ways in which the Animal Alliance could do some fundraising that was different from the ways other organizations are doing it,” said AAGS Executive Board Member Jacqui Foss.
Foss came across Funds2Orgs, a social enterprise which buys shoes from nonprofits and in turn redistributes them to small business owners in low-income countries so people can refurbish and sell the shoes.
“It seemed like they were a great company to work with from what I could see on paper,” Foss said.
AAGS held its first shoe drive fundraiser in 2018, raising $3,500. Foss said AAGS is hoping to raise even more this time.
“It’s helping locally raise money for the [clinic] and environmentally keeping shoes out of landfills,” she said. “And it’s helping [small businesses] globally.”
People will be able to donate shoes at more than 35 drop-off locations across Central New York.
A full list of locations is available at animalallianceofgreatersyracuse.org/locations.
Most types of shoes, sneakers, boots and sandals are accepted as long as they are clean and in good condition. No ice skates, roller skates, roller blades or ski boots will be accepted.
AAGS has a variety of animal welfare initiatives in the area, including its court observers program in which representatives attend animal cruelty court hearings; the Keeping Faith fund, which offers rewards for information about unsolved cruelty cases; and the Leg Up fund, which goes toward medical expenses for strays in the city of Syracuse.
The nonprofit’s next goal is to build a spay-and-neuter clinic. Syracuse is home to one such clinic, Spay and Neuter Syracuse (SANS).
“They do a great job, but there’s so many animals in our community that need to get fixed that there just are not appointments,” Foss said. “People are sending animals as far down as Cortland to get fixed at a place called SNAP.”
According to the AAGS website, more than 40,000 pets live in poverty in CNY. Often, lower-income families cannot afford to have their pets spayed or neutered, and when those pets get loose and breed, it contributes to the overpopulation of stray cats and dogs.
“People might argue if you can’t afford it, you shouldn’t have a pet, but everyone deserves the companionship of a pet,” Foss said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the benefits of having a pet include reduced stress, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and increased opportunities for social interaction and exercise.
Having another low-cost, high-volume spay-and-neuter clinic in Syracuse would also help local shelters and rescues spay and neuter animals waiting to be adopted, and it would help address feral cat populations in the area.
“We would be doing hopefully 30 to 40 animals a day and be able to keep the cost down through grants and donations,” Foss said. “It would be a win/win all across the board.”
AAGS is looking for businesses to sponsor the clinic, and direct monetary donations are also accepted.
To learn more, visit animalallianceofgreatersyracuse.org, facebook.com/AnimalAlliance or follow AAGS on Instagram @animalalliancesyracuse.
“Hopefully once we get up and running our jobs will be obsolete because everyone would be getting their animals taken care of,” Foss said.
