PAS launches Donation Station drive

PONDERAY — A donation and sorting facility at Panhandle Animal Shelter will commence with a groundbreaking event on Wednesday.

The Donation Station will aid the organization's thrift store, which provides 84 percent of the operating revenue for the shelter. The success and growth of the thrift store is the result of the community helping the animals through donations and sales, said Mandy Evans, PAS executive director. As the building nears fruition, the shelter is once again looking to the community to help retire the note on the new facility.

"Opening the donation station 100 percent debt free would be an amazing gift to our community animals," Evans said in a statement. "The monies saved on rent alone could vaccinate almost 10,000 animals, alter over 2,000, or provide 1,200 40-pound bags of high quality food annually. The impact would be tremendous.

"More animals would be helped, and services would continue to be provided to the community by way of spaying and neutering, our helpline, the community cat Trap-Neuter-Release program, and Home-Home.org. All of this would allow us to continue to bring innovative, cutting edge programs that benefit the people and animals of North Idaho, such as the leading '2025 Idaho No-Kill Coalition.'"

The new building will be 4,500 square feet with a parking lot and a streamlined drop-off donation area, which includes overhangs to protect donors and donations from the "finicky" Idaho weather, Evans said in the statement. The shelter has secured the construction loan, the necessary permits and the builder. Of the projected $270,000 needed for the project, Evans said PAS has raised $150,000, leaving $120,000 still to fund.

"I am so excited about having the sorting facility on-site," Evans told the Daily Bee.

The thrift store currently accepts donations at the shelter, she said, and then the items are transported by truck to an offsite facility where they are unloaded, sorted, tagged, put back on the truck and taken back to the thrift store.

The Donation Station will be built this summer on the west side of the shelter, on a parcel owned by the shelter that will also, someday, be home to a dog park.

The dog park has been in discussion for some time, and as a recent attempt at grant funding fell through, Evans told the Daily Bee it is going to be a community effort. The fencing alone will cost nearly $30,000 for the half-acre parcel, she said, and the ground will need improvements as well, as it is mostly weeds. Evans said the park will likely be done in phases, so when the money is raised for the fence, it will go up as the first phase. And then water, electricity and ground improvements will follow.

"I was hoping to do it alongside the sorting facility project, but because we didn't get the initial funding, I don't know when it's going to happen," Evans said. "... We are looking for a group of people who would like to spearhead the effort."

The city of Ponderay is supportive of the effort and has agreed to manage the park, as part of its parks system, after it is completed, Evans said.

As for the new sorting facility, PAS and the thrift store will be launching a Donation Station fund drive and groundbreaking with a "golden shovel" celebration from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday with light refreshments. Meet the board of directors and staff to discuss the building project and plans for the dog park.

Anyone wanting to donate to "Operation Donation Station" can visit the Animal Shelter or the PAS thrift store during business hours. Donations can also be made online at bit.ly/2L7cCSw. 

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.