CASTAWAYS
Animal Shelter & Sanctuary
A letter from the President
Dear friends and supporters of Castaways,
As newly elected Board President and on behalf of the Castaways Board of Directors, I would like to formally and excitedly announce that Castaways has been officially granted its shelter license for operations from the State of Kansas. What has been accomplished over the last 20 years has now paved the way for this moment. A moment that took time, but Castaways is going to be able to open its doors with zero liabilities. In the realm of non-profit animal shelters, this will be our strong starting point in the never ending and the already hard task of meeting monthly operational budgets. Not having to pay a loan, and instead focusing on providing care to animals and building a robust shelter and adoption program, will be one less worry we have in the challenges we must meet. The important focus now is where we are now and where we want to be. The question many will have now is…when? This letter will outline what needs to be accomplished but first, some hard earned thanks and highlights are in order.
Castaways started with a vision, a vision of a safe shelter and sanctuary for neglected or unwanted animals. A shelter that would keep them from harm, nurture them and most of all, keep them safe while waiting for their forever home. The group that formed with this vision in mind could not know how long it would take to achieve such a goal but undaunted and unafraid of time, they knew they had to start somewhere, so they did.
Humble but steadfast, this organization has had many individuals make their impact as evident in the progress made from a shared and common goal. The story of past and present board members, supporters, volunteers and donors is unmatched with the time, effort, money, frustration, laughter and happiness they have given for Castaways. Without any of these individuals, Castaways would not be where it is today. And so with that said, on behalf of Castaways, we thank you from the bottom of our heart for the support you’ve given at any point during this journey. None of this would have been possible without you. We will look only onward and upward into this exciting new phase.
The Castaways strategic plan is underway. In full transparency, what we need now is YOU. In order to officially open Castaways, volunteers must be trained and scheduled to meet day to day needs. While our goal is to hire a Director and staff, we estimate that labor costs will account for around 40-45% percent of monthly operating expenses. Unfortunately, that isn’t a monthly cost we can take on just yet and would threaten longevity right off the start. Along with some of our volunteer board, outside volunteers will fill the necessary tasks and duties required to initially open the shelter. With that said, we will open at a capacity that is directly proportional to the volunteer and financial support we have. This means the shelter will grow as support grows and a soft start will be beneficial for several reasons.
Opening at a limited capacity, at first, will ensure financial reserves are in place to sustain full operations. While we cannot sustain full shelter operations immediately based on our monthly expense estimates, opening in a limited capacity will allow us to take in animals and sustain operations at the capacity we can support while simultaneously fund raising and building partnerships that will be needed for longevity.
Opening, in any capacity, will also allow us access to start applying for grants, something of which was not available to us until now. Grant applications are currently being researched and something that will be underway as soon as possible.
The board will be able to start taking the monthly budget estimates and see them take real form in order to accurately project forward. We can better forecast what will be needed and how we are meeting monthly expenses at the capacity we are serving.
The funding and hiring of a Director position will be essential in order to effectively, efficiently, and safely run a successful shelter at full scale. As funding grows with adoption fees and the soon-to-be boarding facility, we will be able to take on this much needed element of Castaways.
During this time, we as a Board can learn the process ourselves, and put forth our policies and procedures and work out improvements all with manageable numbers.
We have every hope to be running at full capacity sooner than later but only with strategic steps and the necessary resources in place.
What challenges do we face now? Manpower!
As stated, we need you! While we have asked for volunteers in the past, outside of fundraising assistance, we haven’t had a great placement or set of outlined needs for the shelter itself so apologies are in order if you have reached out before without any meaningful follow up. This is something we want to improve upon. We will need volunteers who can be available to assist with day to day tasks, and if so willing, the care of the animals. This need will grow as the shelter grows.
We need to grow our Board of Directors. Now with an operational shelter, increased board members will allow committees to be formed and focus our individuals on more specific tasks suited to their strengths while simultaneously decreasing burnout. If you are interested, know someone who might be, please have them reach out to us via email. You don’t have to be an expert in animal shelters or animal welfare but simply someone who might have great ideas or give insightful input to conversations and projects that keep moving the needle forward. Please consider coming to the meeting simply as a visitor and supporter. You don’t have to be considered a board member in order to help.
Now and always, challenges faced will be meeting our financial needs to stay operational. This includes but is not limited to utilities, supplies, veterinary costs, monthly medications, food, and the biggest budget allotment- salary for a Director and one day, extra employees if possible. Your financial support now and always is much needed. Other diversification of funding will include our pet boarding facility. 100% of income generated through the boarding facility will flow into shelter operations. Our first goal is to open the shelter and then schedule the inspection needed for the boarding facility.
Thank you for reading this far! I cannot stress this enough, we cannot open without the necessary volunteer support in place. It is our absolute hope that by our April board meeting we will have garnered enough response and have trained volunteers in place to open May 1st, but if we cannot get enough people involved, this cannot occur. A volunteer form is available at our website castawayschanute.com. Head to the volunteer tab on the website for more information. Our first volunteer orientation will take place March 14th, 2025 at 10:30 am at the shelter (21909 Harper Rd, Chanute, KS, 66720). If you would be interested in serving on the Board, please reach out to cstwys@yahoo.com. Simply curious? Join a meeting as a visitor. Our meetings are, and always have been, open to the public on the first Tuesday of every month at 6:30pm. The sooner we can gear up volunteers and train them, the sooner we can open our doors.
Thank you!
Castaways Board President,
Elizabeth Wehlage