ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — On Sunday, Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando volunteers began to unload and store the tons of pet supplies and food donated by the Central Florida community, after the nonprofit's Orlando shelter was devastated by an overnight fire last week.
Officials say 13 cats died in the fire, but 45 others and 26 dogs were saved.
What You Need To Know
- The Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando building caught fire on Sept. 15
- The blaze caused massive damage at the facility and resulted in the deaths of 13 cats
- Since then, community members have donated tons of food and supplies, as well as more than $500,000 in donations
"We have received truckloads and truckloads of donations," said Pet Alliance spokeswoman Cathy Rodgers. "We’re so grateful, but there is not that many of us and we have some volunteers coming down to help, but we’re trying to sort through all this stuff that we received in just a short period of time.”
She said they also received help to store the tons of donated goods.
"We’ve been very lucky to have some generous partners reach out and offer us some free warehouse space, Stanley Steamer is one of them," she said. "We have eight pallets at Stanley Steemer and then this here is Megan Moving. Megan Morris reached out to us about some space she had so we’re using this. It’s great we can get everything moved to a dry and safe location.”
The cash donations — which have topped $500,000 so far — will go toward building a new location, a campaign they started several years ago. So far, they’ve raised $2 million of their $14 million goal.
Rodgers said they’re taking a pause in accepting physical donations as they sort through what they currently have, but cash donations are still being accepted.
On Tuesday, the nonprofit will take part in Giving Day and every dollar donated will be doubled by the Sherry Chappell Cooper Foundation.