Recycling Plants Saves Pets
By Pamela Granata
 Blending a passion for gardening and the love for animals is all it took for Keni Cyr-Rumble to begin her Recycled Gardens at POPPA, Inc. Recycled Gardens is a fundraising
division of Pet Overpopulation Prevention-Advocates, Inc., hence POPPA, Inc., a nonprofit organization working to reduce the number of homeless companion animals in Oregon by paying up to $50 per animal for spay/neuter surgeries.
Director Keni Cyr-Rumble states that the plant donors have been wonderfully generous because they are caring gardeners who want to find new homes for their unwanted plants just as much as we want to see all homeless animals find life-long caregivers.
Keni moved to Portland to be a stay-at-home mom and began volunteering. She was the Westside clinic coordinator of the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon. To raise money she became the chairperson of a plant sale. Her group gathered, potted, and labeled plants in one weekend. The group sold these plants with no problem but did not have a home for the unsold plants. She decided to open a nursery to house these plants and found a donor with 16 acres and a beautiful barn, which Keni and the volunteers have cleaned up. It is now the crafts store. She even has plans for erecting donated greenhouses. She does all of this with as few as six volunteers. Volunteering here is the perfect opportunity to broaden your plant knowledge and meet other like-minded individuals.
Recycled Garden's entire plant stock is donated or grown from cutting and collected seeds. The nursery receives donor plants from private gardens and overstocked or imperfect merchandise from supporting local nurseries and garden centers.
Animal Facts
The Portland Metro area has an overload of companion animals. Too many dogs and cats are homeless, so they are treated as disposable items instead of living creatures and suffer from abuse and neglect.
People abandon pets they have tired of caring for and dump unwanted litters on doorsteps or along rural roadsides. Countless companion animals suffer and die on the streets, in alleys, or in the wild. They are not able to survive without human aid. Their "instincts" have been bred out of them centuries ago. The luckier rejected pets are picked up by animal control agencies or surrendered to shelters. It is estimated that 25,000 to 30,000 animals enter shelters in Oregon each year. Of these at least 25% are humanely euthanized because loving, responsible caregivers cannot be found for them. |
The nursery currently offers a wide spectrum of plants including perennials for sun and shade, small trees, and water plants. Also for sale are a variety of gifts and garden ornaments either second-hand or made from recycled material. There are also homemade compost, garden and pet literature and pet supplies. Future plans include gardening, craft making, and pet care classes.
There is even a frequent donor program. You donate 25 plants (equal to 25 one-gallon pots' worth) and you take home a one-gallon pot of something unique or different - basically anything you want from their open stock.
Last April Recycled Gardens had its first big fundraiser for POPPA, Inc., the Triple Play (plant sale, rummage sale, and craft bazaar). This event raised $4,750. That's enough to spay/neuter almost 100 animals at $50 each. Plant donations are abundant but the request help fund spay/neuters has drawn little attention. Only 125 cats and 9 dogs have taken advantage of POPPA, Inc., services.
POPPA, Inc., in cooperation with Animal Aid, the Columbia Humane Society, Indigo Rescue, Cat Adoption Team (CAT), and Pet Adoptions West Side (PAWS), all local no-kill shelters and agencies, make it possible for pet owners to obtain a free and/or low-cost spay/neuter operation by paying up to $50 per animal for the surgeries directly to veterinarians chosen by individuals adopting homeless pets.
So if you have a few hours or an afternoon to spare, give Keni a call at 503-757-7502 and have fun with plants and help many animals. There are a host of volunteer opportunities for gardeners of all skill levels. In addition to gardening they need folks to make unique items from recycled materials for the craft barn. They take items on consignment. The Recycled Gardens is located at 6995 NW Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro, OR 97124. |
