Animal rescue says grant is ‘gamechanger’

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This article was published 04/08/2023 (1053 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Steinbach and Area Animal Rescue (SAAR) received a grant that will allow them to proceed with building their first facility in Steinbach.

Andrew Smith, minister of municipal relations, made the announcement alongside Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen, SAAR board members and local municipal politicians at the Keating Road property slated for the new facility on Monday.

A grant of $225,000 was announced and will come from the Building Sustainable Communities funding stream.

“To get this grant, it’s like a huge gamechanger for us,” SAAR president Michelle Neufeld said. “It means our mortgage being less, it means us being able to help more animals because we have less bills to pay. It’s huge.”

The facility has an estimated cost of $450,000. Prior to receiving the grant, the group had raised $110,000.

But despite raising 74 percent of their goal, Neufeld said they must continue to get support to cover potential project cost increases, and the operating costs that will come with the building.

“We still need to do a lot of fundraising,” she said. “Any support from the community is greatly appreciated.”

The new facility will be 1,600 sq. ft. with a basement and include dog kennels, cat rooms, quarantine rooms, a grooming room, and an outdoor dog run.

Construction of the RTM will begin in the next couple of weeks and completion is expected for this fall.

Steinbach council approved a conditional use on Tuesday to allow the RTM to be moved to the site. Any building moved into Steinbach must be approved as a conditional use.

Neufeld said it’s been quite a journey, beginning as a Facebook page in 2013 dedicated to homing strays, to a group that met around her kitchen table, and finally to becoming an organization with charitable status poised to begin construction on their own building.

Goertzen, who was involved in a number of funding announcements recently, including one that will see the Southeast Event Centre get $1 million in additional funds admits he’s aware of the criticism that they are increasing funding because of the fall provincial election.

“I suspect there’s always going to be criticism whenever you get close to an election that announcements are all about the election, but the alternative is that government can stop operating for a year before the election and nobody likes that either,” he said. “The reality is government is always engaged in announcements.”

He admits it is a fulfilling part of his job as MLA.

“It’s not just about bringing money to the community, which is part of my role, I understand that, but I see the fruition of other people’s dreams, which to me is more rewarding than anything because I’ve had the opportunity to see people work towards these things,” he said.