Students Spending Winter Break in Atlanta, Helping Homeless Animals

Atlanta, Ga. (December 14, 2010) – This week, while most people will be getting ready for the holidays, 10 students from Ohio State University are spending their winter break in Atlanta as volunteers at Furkids.   Committed to combating pet overpopulation, Furkids operates the largest cage-free, no-kill shelter in the state for homeless cats.  The students are helping Atlanta’s homeless animals as part of the Ohio State University Buck-I-Serv program.

The Ohio State University Students Engaged in Responsible Volunteering (SERV) Team and the Ohio Union developed Buck-I-Serv to inspire student leaders to have life-long dedication to service to others and social justice activism in their current and future communities through extended hands-on service experiences in diverse places around the country and world.  The SERVTeam plans between 60 and 70 Buck-I-Serv trips each year to different cities across the nation and the world.

The December 2010 Buck-I-Serv team is the third Ohio State University group to have chosen Furkids as service opportunity.  The students have a busy agenda:

Sunday, December 12, they had a taste of fundraising activities by helping pet owners having their pets photographed with Santa Claws, the Furkids Santa, at the Smyrna PetSmart, 2540 Cumberland Boulevard.

Monday, December 13, they worked at shelter, cleaning cat rooms and performing overall cleaning, organization and administrative tasks.

Tuesday and Wednesday, December 14 and 15, they will be at the Furkids flea market, the Cat’s Meow Marketplace, 4015 Holcomb Bridge Road in Norcross, accepting and sorting merchandise for sale, staging product displays and helping the sales team.

Thursday and Friday, December 16 and 17 will find them back at the shelter.

Saturday, December 18, the students depart for home.

Furkids is one of the leading animal rescue organizations in Atlanta, with the mission of helping end pet overpopulation in Georgia through sterilization, high-quality adoption and by providing valuable spay/neuter services and pet care education to people in the community.   To that end, Furkids nurses and neuters all of its rescued animals, keeping them healthy and happy in its cheerful, cage-free shelter or in foster homes until it can place them into permanent homes.

In 2010, the organization was awarded with its 6th consecutive Best in America Seal of Excellence, confirming its rank as one of the top charities in America by Independent Charities of America.

Of the top six animal rescue organizations in metro Atlanta, Furkids has the lowest percentage of its budget dedicated to administrative expenses.  In addition, Furkids cares for more animals on a daily basis (more than 500) than any other organization, including the Atlanta Humane Society.   For every $1,000 Furkids accepts in donations, the organization  adopts out more pets than virtually every other organization.

“Furkids is honored to have so many dedicated volunteers, including the students at Ohio State University, who travel to Atlanta to support and care for homeless animals,” said Furkids executive director Samantha Shelton.  “It’s humbling to recognize the numbers of volunteers and donors who help Furkids bring people and animals together.  This organization simply would not function without the generosity of our volunteers and sponsors, and I respectfully thank them.”

Furkids was founded in 2002 when then-Equifax executive assistant Samantha Shelton found a mother cat depositing three newborn kittens in her back yard.  What began simply as a quest to find shelter for four cats in a place where they wouldn’t be euthanized has grown into a nonprofit organization that today operates the largest cage-free, no-kill shelter in Georgia.