The Greater Moncton SPCA is turning a negative into a positive, as they look for a way to reinvent their Christmas Gift Wrapping fundraiser after two decades at CF Champlain Mall.
Executive Director Dave Rogers says just before Christmas, staff at the mall told them 2017 would be the last year they were partnering with the GMSPCA.
“With a lot of people now doing online shopping, if we could find a spot that was a storefront, easy to get in and out with some parking, we might be able to continue this,” says Rogers. “And it would kind of change it up for us, rather than just being in the mall with that little bit of traffic.”
Rogers says that fundraiser is of vital importance to them, with last year bringing in $25,000, which he adds is about normal.
“We kinda look forward to that, because December and January are very lean months for us, because people aren’t adopting animals because they’re otherwise busy with their lives,” says Rogers. “So we don’t usually adopt a lot of animals, so that makes up for the loss of adoption fees.”
Rogers believes the decision to change was made by Cadillac Fairview, the company that owns CF Champlain.
Rogers says they were told Cadillac Fairview was going to change their focus from the SPCA to supporting and empowering youth, relating to fundraising for the national charity WE Charity, formerly known as Free The Children.
Meanwhile, in the last 12 hours, the CF Champlain Facebook page has been inundated with critical reviews, and users leaving one star ratings to reflect their disappointment.
Rogers does not believe this was a decision taken locally, saying “large corporations make decisions in a bit of a vacuum sometimes, and it might be a bit unfair to chastise the local management and staff at CF Champlain, I don’t think it was them.”
“So tell them how you feel, but understand that was a large corporate decisions,” cautions Rogers.
Our newsroom reached out to mall owners Cadillac Fairview for a comment, but have not heard back yet.
(Photo Credit: Greater Moncton SPCA)
