President’s Letter – April 2021
Dear RCHS Friends and Family,
Is this really happening? Am I dreaming? Pinch me. . . Ouch! Ouch! Okay, stop!
In December 2014, I contributed to a capital campaign to fund new buildings at Rancho Coastal Humane Society (RCHS). 0n September 12, 2016, an Application was filed with the City of Encinitas and preliminary drawings, site plan and several essential reports were processed. Then, certain environmental issues stalled the project. At several Board meetings, we heard about these issues and found no solutions. On May 3, 2018, when I assumed the role as your President, I promised – myself, mostly – that I would find a way. . . I just could not accept a No!
Nearly three years after I made my promise, RCHS appeared before the Encinitas Planning Commission on March 18, 2021. There are 196 pages supporting our Application – I knew them backwards and forwards, but there was no need. The Commission moved our matter to the consent calendar and unanimously approved our building project, leaving me to say, “Thank you! Thank you!” like Sally Fields famously said at the 1985 Academy Awards. “They like us. . .they really like us!”
We are moving forward – at last! There will be a new medical center with state-of-the-art equipment, surgery and dental suites, ICU recovery kennels for cats and dogs, and a special wing for Animal Safehouse Program (ASP). There will be a new Learning Center that will accommodate an all-staff meeting (finally!), a 200+ person reception, training or community program, and a full kitchen and bathrooms for Animal Camp kids! There will be a new Community Pet Food Bank impervious to mold, rodents and heat, a new K-9 office for our favorite Doggie DayCare, and even a facelift for our Welcome and Adoption Center – after 60+ years!
RCHS has done so much with what we have. We can do so much more with modern structures designed to meet the growing needs of our pet-loving community. So excited, I cannot stop talking about it!
Join me for a Zoom Coffee with the President, Thursday, April 15th at 10:00 am. Let me share with YOU preliminary designs, a proposed timetable, a capital campaign rollout plan, and how we breathed life into this project. It takes a team and, as with animal care, we have the best!
RSVP’s are required to access the Zoom link, and questions must be submitted in advance.