ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The impacts from Hurricane Ian are still being felt by some businesses in our area, and a St. Augustine animal sanctuary needs help from the community.
Ayla's Acres No-Kill Animal Rescue is a non-profit that runs a sanctuary and foster animal program - 130 plus animals have to eat and be cared for.
For more than two weeks, Ayla's Acres Thriftique has traded in the sounds of cash registers for industrial fans.
"We saw the flooding, the same as everyone else on the television, and knew we were going to have some trouble," said Founder Fran Charlson. "Came in the next day, and lost a lot of merchandise."
The thriftique's founder, Fran Charlson, says the water covered nearly every room in the 8,000 square foot building, and anything touching the water had to be thrown away.
While some businesses may be able to sustain closing for a few weeks to recover, the volunteers at Ayla's Acres have a few more mouths to feed than most.
"We have about 75 animals in our sanctuary in Madison County," said Charlson. "All of those animals have to eat."
Proceeds from the thriftique go to caring for those animals and the sanctuary's foster program.
$50 million has been set aside by the State of Florida for The Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program to help businesses like Ayla's Acres work to open back up, but Charlson says that option isn't ideal.
"We are trying to build a facility out at [Florida State Road] 208 and Bissetti Road, where we are going to have to take out a loan, so we'd really like to make all this work without taking out a loan," said Charlson.
Fortunately, none of the 75 animals were hurt during the hurricane, and Charlson says plenty of folks have already helped to keep the thriftique afloat and on course to open its new shelter.
"We have had a lot of support, and our community is terrific," said Charlson. "We love the support, so anything people can do to help us, that would be terrific."
They're hoping they'll be able to re-open by the end of the month, but at that point they'll already have been closed a month, so hoping to get some donations in to get through this challenging time.
Donations can be made by clicking here.
