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Donna and Fred Nives of Greenwich received the first Shelter
Our Strays Award for their decades of support rescuing and
sheltering animals in Greenwich and the surrounding areas. The
award was presented at the Shelter Our Strays Cocktail
Reception fundraiser Tuesday May 15 at the Bruce Museum.
Shelter Our Strays (SOS) is a charitable committee organized
under the auspices of the Bruce Museum, which is working to
help fund and arrange for a new Animal Control shelter for the
Town of Greenwich. In its first year SOS raised $273,000
toward its five-year goal of $750,000.
Judge Judy Sheindlin of Greenwich, television’s Judge Judy and
a local animal shelter supporter, presented the Shelter Our
Strays Award to Mr. and Mrs. Nives, saying that abused or
rejected dogs and cats “are God’s creatures without a voice.
Donna and Fred have been giving the voice that strays are
entitled to.”
Donna Nives is president and co-founder of Adopt-A-Dog of
Greenwich and Armonk, NY, which has been rescuing and
sheltering abandoned dogs and cats and finding permanent homes
for them since 1981. Greenwich Animal Control Officer Allyson
Halm, who is a member of the SOS committee, described Mrs.
Nives at the ceremony as “a devoted soul on a mission of
caring for animals that, for the past 26 years, has involved
great sacrifice that few will ever know.”
“A Labor of Love”
As Mrs. Nives expressed gratitude to SOS and to award sponsor
UBS Financial Services of Greenwich, she said, “We understand
the dire necessity for a new Animal Control building in
Greenwich, and it pleases me that people understand the
importance of the work we have been doing in saving strays.
Whatever I have been doing to protect animals for all these
years, and whatever my ever-suffering husband has been doing,”
Mrs. Nives interjected with a smile, “it’s been a labor of
love.”
Fred Nives added, jokingly, “The only credit I should get is
as the long-suffering husband.” Then, with a serious tribute,
he noted, “The real credit goes to the volunteers and the
committee and the contributors who make it all a reality.”
Adopt-A-Dog is a regional agency serving western Connecticut,
Westchester County, NY, and beyond. Headquarters offices are
in Greenwich and a modernized kennel and dog park are in
neighboring Armonk, along with additional offices.
Adopt-A-Dog was named “Best Place to Find a Friend” in
Greenwich Magazine’s Best of the Gold Coast 2006 survey.
For more information about Adopt a Dog, call 203-629-9494 or
914-273-1674 or visit
www.adoptadog.org. For more information about the Shelter
Our Strays committee for the new animal shelter, contact
Allyson Halm at 203-622-8299. |