Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
One young Yellowknife resident decided to donate her time - and her singing voice - to raise money for the SPCA shelter that is currently being built in the Engle business district.

Yellowknife SPCA president Nicole Spencer, left, stands with eight-year-old Kathryn Geraghty, centre, and her younger sister, Andrea, who will be seven in March. Kathryn, with the help of her family, raised nearly $140 caroling over the holidays and as a result donated about $280 to the new animal shelter. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo

Eight-year-old Kathryn Geraghty wants to be a veterinarian, or anything that involves working with animals, when she grows up. When her family was organizing to go out caroling on Dec. 23, she came up with the idea to ask for donations to give to the animal shelter that is still $180,000 short of its near $900,000 fundraising goal.

"Let's raise money for the animals," she said.

Kathryn's mother, Deanna Black, made a deal with her daughter that the family would match the money she raised.

Over two hours of caroling, Kathryn raised $138.48 with the help of her younger sister, Andrea, and her parents. Her family's matching funds brought the donation to nearly $280.

"I was absolutely flabbergasted. That's a fair amount of money," said Black.

While Black does not take credit for her daughter Kathryn's dedication to animals and the Yellowknife SPCA, she said she and her husband both try to instill good values in their daughters and make sure they appreciate the blessings they have.

"We've been so lucky to live in Yellowknife; it's a beautiful place and we can really effect change here," said Black. "We want to raise responsible, beautiful young women and we want them to know that. So take care of your animals, take care of yourself and take care of the world - we only have one."

Yellowknife SPCA president Nicole Spencer was thrilled by the donation.

"I think it shows just how sweet and what a good character the child has to think of others and to think of animals, too," she said.

"Every once in a while we get kids who donate their birthday money or something like that," said Spencer. "It always warms my heart. It feels good."

Just after Christmas Day, Kathryn and her family had to put down their dog, a 13-year-old malamute/golden retriever named Berkeley. While they are dealing with the death of their dog as well as can be expected, Black said they were still "struggling with how much we love him and we can't just replace him."

Yellowknife's first SPCA animal shelter is currently in phase two of construction, said Spencer. This phase involves installing windows and completing most major structural components. When phase two is complete toward the end of February, the building will be sealed and heated, but will not be ready to house animals until late-spring to early summer.

"We're pretty sure it will be open for the summer," said Spencer.

While the shelter is still about $180,000 short of its funding goals, Spencer is hoping that the third and final phase of construction will be a real community effort where Yellowknifers will donate their time to help with finishing construction projects.

"It started out with the Aviva contest, which was a huge community effort and I'd like to end it that way," said Spencer.

Until the shelter opens, the Great Slave Animal Hospital will remain the only animal shelter in Yellowknife. Currently, the SPCA runs a foster program for animals it brings in both from outlying communities and from Yellowknife. Many of these animals eventually make their way south to other no-kill shelters where they have a better chance of being adopted.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.