AFL - 10 days after the shelter fire

From the AFL Newsletter

It has been over a week since the night in which a devastating fire killed 40 animals and destroyed the Animal Friends Shelter. It has been a sad and emotional week for everyone involved. As dark as our future has seemed, a beam of light has begun to emerge from the end of this tunnel. For the last 9 days, the outpouring of support, the messages of condolences and the offers of help has been inspiring. The media coverage of our disaster has been widespread and extremely effective. Our story has appeared in newspapers, blogs, radio and TV. Thank you to everyone who has been spreading the word and gathering support. This public support for Animal Friends is heartwarming, and we hope it will continue not just for the next few days or weeks, but well beyond this crisis. Indeed, it is our goal that the growing support for Animal Friends will continue for years and years to come.

Here is an update of what we have all achieved so far…

Fundraising

We have received many generous donations over the last week and they all add up to KD 28,456.696!!

Your generosity has been amazing. But we need more help to rebuild the shelter…KD 21,543.304 to be exact. We will also be approaching large companies this week about sponsorship opportunities, so if you work for one of these big businesses, or own one, please contact Olivia at olivia@animalfriendskuwait.org or call 9737 7867. We hope that during the reconsruction process, with the permission of our donors, we will also be able to not only rebuild what we had but will also be able to make it bigger and better than it was before. If you have already donated money and do not want it to be used for expansion, please let us know. We want you to be comfortable with how your donation is spent.

Our Animals
Thus far we have held four fostering sessions at the Royal Animal Hospital.
Already, 29 dogs, 16 cats and 2 bunnies have found loving foster homes.

We still have 15 dogs that need to be fostered. We will be holding another fostering session on Sunday, April 4 from 10am to 12pm and again from 4pm to 6pm at the Royal Animal Hospital.

Volunteers
The sheer number of volunteers that have turned up to help with care of the animals as well as demolition has been tremendous. Agility sent out a team of about 10 peeople that have been working for an entire week. We certainly owe them a debt of gratitude. Individuals have showed up both in Wafra and RAH prepared to do anything. Men have turned up with a tool box and shovel asking how they can help. The show of support has brought tears to our eyes at times so thank you to all of you that have put aside time to help. We still need volunteers both at RAH and Wafra. If you are interested in volunteering at RAH, please call Lynda at 66724485 so she can schedule you in. Please do call first because we actually have run into the problem of having too many volunteers there at once. In Wafra we still need people to walk the dogs that are here as well as to help us save as many of our belongings as possible and prepare the building for renovations. We still have plenty of clean-up to do around the shelter and we are trying to erect a second corral for the donkeys. We need strong men and women to help us dig holes and get the fence up. If you are able, please plan to come on Friday, Saturday, or both.

The Shelter
Most of the salvage work is nearing completion. We have been able to save many of the interior doors and fittings. Volunteer groups have demolished the ceiling, removed all doors and windows including frames and removed, washed and stored most loose items.

The remainder of the demolition will start early next week and repairs of the main steel structure of the building has already started. We feel hopeful that things are moving along in a timely manner and we will have an operable shelter in the next few months.

We also need help with donations of construction items and materials. If you own a building supplies business or know someone that does, here are some of the things we will need…

• 40 2 ton split reverse AC Units that can be switched to heat
• 2,500m2 Insulation
• Electrical Wiring and Supplies including Conduit
• Electrical installation
• Industrial lighting
• 4 Large chest freezers
• 4 large refrigerators
• Fire retardant foam to cover insulation
• 4,000m2 bricks
• Mortar
• Kitchens including cabinets
• Kitchen taps
• Toilets
• Sinks
• Tile
• Kirby
• Metal girders, beams, trusses
• Steel
• 50 Small bathroom ventilation fans
• Epoxy based industrial paint
• Industrial shelving
• Galvanized steel gates
• 2 Industrial washing machines
• 2 Industrial dryers
• Plumbing supplies
• Windows
• Aluminum doors

We will try our best to stay in touch on a regular basis. We truly appreciate your support and generosity and hope you will all be part of Rebuilding AFL.