FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Furkids Animal Rescue and Shelters announced its dedication of a new event center at Shiloh Gardens for fundraising March 9.
The 3,400-square-foot facility was named after donors Kay and John Giaquinto, and it will host meetings, community gatherings and weddings. The center was rebuilt from an existing barn, and all proceeds from events will directly support the organization.
“We are really excited and motivated about the potential for it to generate ongoing income for the organization to fund lifesaving programs into the future,” John Giaquinto said. “And we encourage people to support Furkids in their own ways, whether it’s fostering or adopting Furkids animals, volunteering time or donating money, materials or talent.”
The opening marked the completion of phase one of the Furkids Capital Campaign, which funded the purchase of the property, two outbuildings for cat intake and an isolation building for sick cats, as well as other projects.
The organization is composed of a cat shelter; a veterinary clinic; care and intake buildings; and the Sadie’s Place dog shelter on Union Hill Road. In the second phase of the capital campaign, the shelter is raising money for new free-standing dog and cat shelters, a medical facility and to repurpose the current dog shelter for intake and quarantine for its TransFur program, which sends animals to no-kill shelters with high demand for adoption.
“Our goal is to make Shiloh Gardens at Furkids unique among animal rescue and shelter organizations,” Furkids founder and CEO Samantha Shelton said. “The Giaquinto Event Center is a powerful fundraising source that helps us fulfill our mission of helping animals. Equally important, it adds a new dimension to our services, giving us connections with people for some of the most significant moments of their lives, whether they are celebrating, planning, learning or even mourning.”
Since its 2002 founding, the nonprofit has rescued more than 65,000 animals, and it is the largest cage-free and no-kill shelter for cats in the Southeast.
