Unistress Volunteers Build Shelter For Dogs At Sonsini Shelter
The shelter will be finished next weekend.
Some 30 Unistress employees were at the volunteer-run shelter this past weekend to build a cover to protect the dogs from the elements. The project allows the dogs to be outside without overheating from the sun that beats down onto the kennels.
"This is going to be a structure to provide shade and protection from the elements for the dogs when they are outside," said Krista Wroldson Miller, chairman of Sonsini's board of directors.
"It is has been a project we've been working on for three years."
Wroldson Miller said the construction of the 128-by-20-foot structure has been in the works for a while but costs prohibited it from going forward. Then Unistress contacted them and asked if there was anything they could help up.
"We've done some smaller stuff in the community in the last couple of months where we could get a couple of guys. But didn't have a lot of room to get a lot of guys. We've done stuff with the Berkshire United Way. This project was big enough that I could engage a lot of the guys at work," said Terry Billington of Unistress said.
"Unistress is out in the community and trying to help out the best we can. And the guys are behind it 100 percent."
Billington sent e-mails to the some 400 plus employees and placed signed up sheets for volunteers, some of which were on site after working a shift. Three crews totaling around 30 Unistress workers were setting up the structure on Saturday and will return next week to shingle the roof.
"I was really impressed with the turnout we had," Billington said. "They are willing to give 110 percent. If you ask these guys when are you going home? They'll say when we're done. They are determined to get the roof on."
The workers all spent their Saturday volunteering to help.
"I adopted two of my dogs from here so it made it easy to help," Rocha said. "I like animals just like some of the other people here. Unlike some other places they are kind of left out on their own and depend on volunteers to get things done."
Rocha worked with White Engineer to design the structure, put together a materials list, and then communicated with LP Adams who offered a deep discount on the material, which was partly paid for by Sonsini and partly from a donation from the Berkshire County Board of Realtors. Meanwhile, Lanesborough Pizza donated lunch. Dunkin' Donuts provided coffee and doughnuts for the 7 a.m. crew. And Ice River Springs provided water.
"It's been a whole bunch of people coming together for this project to actually go forward," Wroldson Miller said.
If those companies hadn't come forward, the project would be a number of years out still, she said.
"It's been almost impossible to get the help that we needed. We never were able to find someone to help us put it up. To build something that goes over the dog kennels and the fences, and to drill into the landfill, that was also an issue. This isn't the easiest place to build in. We had to hire an engineer to design the structure. Everything we did just presented a new challenge," she said.
"We were unable to put together this project until Unistress came along."
In a week, the dogs will have the shelter they need to run around outside even on those hot or rainy days.
"It is hard on them to be out. The other option is to be sitting in the shelter. To be able to be outside and run around is awesome but we need to be able to provide them protection," Wrodlson Miller said.
Tags: animal shelter, donations, unistress, volunteers,
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