Today we’d like to introduce you to Cyndi Austin.
Cyndi, before we jump into specific questions about your organization, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
There is so much that comes into how I got involved in rescue but to make a long story short…my love for animals was always there, however, saving one from the streets literally changed me as a person. I started my crusade to help the shelters and rescues who do the hard work to save these animals, by personally funding them through Facebook posts. I received my first call for help from a rescue in 2012, they had just picked up a dog on the side of the road. The rescue had no funding so I met them at the clinic. I was taken into the room where I looked directly into this poor soul’s eyes…you see he had no nose, half of his jaw was missing, his teeth were filed short and he had bite wounds all over his body. But when I walked in, he looked at me, and I heard…thump, thump, thump… his tail was wagging and hitting the table. This dog deserved better.
Stray and dumped animals end up either in our shelters or if they are lucky, with rescue groups. These rescue groups want to save animals, but pulling the harder cases from shelters is costly and these animals are the first to be euthanized. Sometimes it can be a simple case of kennel cough, mange or worse things like being hit by a car. Space is limited in all shelters so these animals have no chance of getting out. While discussing this exact problem with my family and friends over a bottle of wine, they challenged me to step up my game and become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We decided to combine two things I am passionate about…wine and animals (who doesn’t love both)? Two years ago I received my 501(c)(3) status and Wine To The Rescue was official!
We raise funding by hosting wine tasting events. Our goal is to fund those reputable rescues who pull the hard cases from either the streets or shelters. We also support local shelters in need. Shelters are funded by the city and some barely receive enough to keep the lights on, not to mention the critical items like food, medications, beds, supplies and even toys to occupy the animals who are in kennels a seemingly endless amount of time. In the last year, we also added support for senior citizens and veterans who can’t afford critical care for their beloved pets since they are on fixed incomes. I could not do this without my very passionate volunteers and family! We are a small group of caring individuals who want to make a difference in our community.
Has it been a smooth road?
Being in rescue regardless of what level is never easy. There are so many animals in need and too little fosters available. While we are not a rescue per say we do sometimes take in animals that have nowhere else to turn. Our hearts break every time we lose one because no one stepped up sooner. Rescues and shelters could do so much more if they only had committed fosters.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Wine To The Rescue story. Tell us more about your organization.
Wine To The Rescue saw a need in the community. Rescues are good at saving animals but often do not have the time to raise the necessary funds to take harder cases from the shelters. Shelters need funding and supplies as well. That’s where we step in to help those rescues and shelters that do the hard work of saving animals. We do this through fundraisers and wine tastings. Saving animals from shelters and wine from bottles!
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Rescue will continue to evolve and we are hoping in the next 5 – 10 years by building a community and foundation around shelters we can become a no-kill shelter state and hopefully one day the entire nation will be no-kill. Dream big and do something to make it happen is our motto!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.winetotherescue.org
- Email: bark_at_us@winetotherescue.org
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/winetotherescue
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/winetotherescue
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