Thanks, Cutler Management!!

Breakers pet fees fund donation to Peninsula’s no-kill shelter

Mike Litawa gives check to SPCHS Treasurer Jane Holeman

Cutler Management, Inc., managing agent for the Breakers, a beachfront condominium resort in north Long Beach, made a donation of more than $1,000 to South Pacific County Humane Society (SPCHS) in Long Beach this week. The ceremony was marked with a check presentation and photos Monday afternoon.

After deciding at the end of last year to donate a portion of collected pet fees, the total sum of the fees for the first half of 2009 have been rounded up by Cutler Management to present to the no-kill shelter. Fees are collected by most pet-friendly lodging establishments, ranging from $10 to $50 per night on average.

“Pet fees here on the Peninsula are typically lower than we find elsewhere in the state,” noted Una Boyle, executive director of the Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau. “We are a very pet-friendly community, with many merchants welcoming dogs in their stores and providing biscuits and water for their canine customers. Having a no-kill shelter is something this community should be very proud of and the Breakers sets a great example by donating their pet fees.”

Said Mike Litawa, president of Cutler Management and second vice president of the shelter: “It is great to be able to welcome dogs onto our lawns, dunes and beach and at the same time generate money that goes towards helping homeless pets in our local community.”

From data entry to event planning, management and execution, board service, paperwork, fundraising and more, Cutler Management offers up hundreds of staff hours each year to the cause of finding forever homes for lost and surrendered pets in need of a new family. Cutler Management Business Manager Michelle Zinkevics is new to the SPCHS Board of Directors this year, “I’ve been involved with shelters in other communities and I am really impressed with the way this community supports its Humane Society. It costs a lot to keep the doors open and, month after month, from coins dropped in donation jars to writing checks, to supporting events and fundraisers, this community pays the bills.”

“Every dollar makes a difference” is written across the bottom of the hand-written thank-you notes board members Keleigh Schwartz and Harriet Cavalli send out weekly. Based on the many avenues this organization works to receive funds, it would seem to be true. Bequests and planned giving are boosts to the bottom line and the organization holds a number of events throughout the year, as well as an annual raffle, to raise the nearly $11,000 per month it costs to operate frugally. Donors sponsor pets for adoption and many of these are ‘paid forward’ with the pet’s adopter paying the fee for another pet before taking their new family member home. Memorial plaques hang on the wall of the shelter’s lobby, another fundraiser. Donations of hand-crafted goods are often at the front counter for sale and donation jars can be found throughout the community.

In addition to cash donations, a wish list can be found on www.beachpets.com, the shelter’s Web site. Board President Keleigh Schwartz is quick with an answer, when asked what is needed at the moment. “Kitty litter and pet food, especially kitten and puppy food and milk. We were so fortunate last year that 100 percent of our pet food was donated. One bag, one dollar at a time, SPCHS donors, staff and volunteers get the job done.”