HELPING PAW SMBI

About Helping Paw SMBI Inc.

How it started

The idea behind Helping Paw SMBI Inc. came from a news article on the ABC. It pointed out that, in the current cost-of-living crisis, people were going without their own food to ensure that their pets were fed. It offered a simple solution for anyone interested in helping – starting up a pet food bank, where people could get free food for their pets, thereby saving their money to feed themselves.

We approached a couple of people on the islands who are active in the welfare space for advice. We also contacted Ned from Aunty Alice’s Cafe, who happily agreed to support us by letting us use her annex as a drop-off location. After the great response we received from the community after the first event, we approached 8th Sense Kitchen who were also happy to support us.

We have since had monthly collections at each location. We’ve also had some generous donations from Loveable Pets, Special Pets, Macleay Pets Plus, and Bay Islands Veterinary Service.

We’ve been distributing our donations at the monthly community hubs on Russell Island and Macleay Island. We also accept referrals from pet shops, vets, local politicians, police, and other welfare organisations.

What we’re doing now

We always suspected that we’d reach a point of ‘donor fatigue’, and with that in mind, we became an incorporated association at the end of September. As such, we still accept donations of pet food through local businesses, but can now also conduct fund-raising activities and apply for grants. We have also applied to be registered as a charity under the ACNC, and beyond that, are hoping to obtain DGR status with the ATO.

Our first big fund-raiser is ‘Santa Paws’ at Aunty Alice’s on Sunday 15 December. Sue and Donna from Property Centre SMBI have sponsored our first prize in the raffle that will be drawn that day. Our other sponsors include Loveable Pets, Oasis Direct, Talking Heads, RIBS and the Russell Island Servo. We’ll be selling tickets between now and then, so please grab a couple when you have the chance!

We will also have a dunking machine, a best-dressed dog competition and Christmas pet photos, and Ned will be donating $1 from every coffee old to our cause.

Our future plans

Our goal for this financial year is to continue the pet food bank and to set up and fund a pet desexing program. This would be available to people on low incomes. As desexing is something that is encouraged by all levels of government, we’re hoping that we can get a grant to match our other fund-raising efforts. The National Desexing Network has offered to support us with this.

We would also like to set up a temporary foster program. This would provide short-term care for pets whose owners have been admitted to hospital, are escaping domestic violence, or who are struggling to find affordable, pet-friendly accommodation. This would rely heavily on volunteers, so we would need to expand our organisation and its human resources considerably before this could happen.

Want to help?

If you like what we’re doing and would like to help, you can contact us at helpingpawsmbi@gmail.com