River Valley Aktion Club members present a check for $1,171 to Robin Plourde, center, founder of the Whp City Animal Sanctuary.
Reminder Publishing photo by Amy Porter
WESTFIELD — The River Valley Aktion Club gathered at Whip City Animal Sanctuary on July 15 to present a check to the farm animal rescue for nearly $1,200 that the club raised from a bottle & can drive on June 14 at Westfield Feed.
The Aktion Club is a Kiwanis service club. “Aktion club is a club for adults with disabilities or who identify as disabled. Its intentions are to build community between us and our local area through charitable work and outreach,” said club President Milo Berrien.
The River Valley Aktion Club was launched at last year’s Pumpkinfest in Westfield, where they sold mugs for club start-up costs. This year, they plan to have a sand art booth and raffle off baskets at the festival.
Club members were very excited about the success of the can and bottle drive for Whip City Animal Sanctuary. “We were all surprised and astonished by the wonderful Westfield community support that allowed us to fill cars and send them to our holding location throughout the whole event. Many Whip City volunteers even brought filled bags to us and checked in on our club and thanked us for the support which was motivating to keep going,” Berrien said.
“Due to that support, there were quite a bit more cans than we were expecting to have to redeem, and as a club of disabled adults, things moved a little slowly getting them to a bottle redemption center just over the border in Connecticut,” Berrien said.
“A few community members came together to donate some time and the funds to rent a box truck from U-Haul, which was promptly filled to the brim and brought to the redemption center. Due to that extra effort and support, we raised more than anyone of our club members could have ever expected or hoped for. $1,171.00 was the total amount earned from the cans at the bottle redemption center,” he added.
With the donations they accepted at the can and bottle drive, the club also purchased an additional $50 gift card to the Westfield Feed & Tractor Supply on Union Street, where the animal sanctuary buys all of its supplies. “It has been an honor for myself and all the club members and community members who volunteered our time to help,” Berrien said.
To celebrate the success of the fundraiser, Aktion Club members gathered at the Whip City Animal Sanctuary on July 15 to present the check to founder Robin Plourde, who took them on a tour of the barn and yards.
Whip City Animal Sanctuary at 232 Montgomery Rd. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that relies 100% on donations and volunteers.
Plourde said the sanctuary started in September 2019, and became a nonprofit the next May. Public visiting hours are on Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to noon.
Plourde said they have taken in multiple animals, and introduced the club members to some of them, including Gabriel and Molly, horses rescued from a kill pen; newly surrendered horse Willow, mini-horses Sonny and Lucy, Randall the mule, who’s quite attached to Molly, Donkey — named after Donkey in Shrek, Petunia the sheep, Oakley the goat, who is the daddy to the goat herd and various barn birds, among others.
Most of the animals are in the barn for the heat of the day, and are let out at night. Plourde said a recent donation of 11 acres from William Reed, the farmer from whom they purchased the original 12 acres, will allow them to build a new barn and paddock, and take in more animals.
She said they get calls every day asking them to take on more animals, a lot of them goats and pigs. “Horses always, when they get older and they’re sadly no use to humans.”
She said they will be undertaking a capital campaign to build the new barn. People can also sponsor an animal through monthly donations, which go towards veterinary care, food and shelter for the animals. The names of sponsors are written on horseshoes nailed to the shed.
More information on the animals and ways to help is available at whipcityanimalsanctuary.com.
After the tour, club members gathered in front of the barn with Whip City Animal Sanctuary volunteers to present the check.
“The animal sanctuary is a labor of love for all who volunteer and support it. That love is something you can feel in tail wags from goats and pigs. I could feel it when five plus volunteers came to drop off cans at the drive, taking even more time to support a great cause. It’s why the club wanted to support them. Whip City Animal Sanctuary is a shining example of good nature in Westfield,” said Berrien.
Another upcoming fundraiser for the Whip City Animal Sanctuary is the Happy Hour Music Bingo on July 23 from 6-9 p.m. outdoors at the Italian Fraternal Club on 57 Katharine St., presented by Good Thomas Entertainment. Tickets are $20, and include six raffle tickets.
Participants will have a chance to test their knowledge of all types of music to win prizes. For more information, email Sonia Henderson at whttygre@email.com.
