Information Section
A Letter From Our Director
Hi, my name is Kay-Lynette Roca and I am the founding CEO of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary & Hospital. I started Safe Harbor 25 years ago in Jupiter Florida in a shopping center called Sea Grape Square. It was only supposed to be a temporary home. However, finding land for our rapidly growing hospital and no-kill animal shelter in Palm Beach County turned out to be a lot tougher than we had realized.
Over the course of 25 years, our organization grew from 2,000 sq. ft. of space to 14,000 sq. ft. of space. This is rental space that has been costing us almost a quarter of a million dollars a year in rent and overhead expenses.
Finally, this past April, our prayers were answered when we received a call from a friend letting us know about a beautiful ranch on Zarrella St. in Palm City that was going up for auction. We were fortunate enough to have guardian angels, Herb and Karen Baum who had pledged 1.5 million dollars the year before for land if we were ever able to find it. The day that we toured the ranch, it was love at first site; every acre of it. With money set aside, we were able to make an offer and give the seller a deposit.
With the exception of the birth of my three beautiful children, it was one of the happiest days of my life.
What makes this camp so exciting for me is that I established Safe Harbor on three basic principles: sterilization, education and legislation. Unfortunately, we have never really had the room in Jupiter for the programs I have wanted to do for the children, one being the Summer Camps and after school programs. We have basically had to take our programs into the schools and have children come through on field-trips. However, now that we have our ranch and a huge, beautiful barn that will allow us to have our “Living Barnyard” so that the children may have hands on experiences when they come out to the sanctuary.
We will also be doing work with handicapped children and horses. Studies have found that Autistic children respond beautifully when they are able to interact with horses as well as dogs. Studies have also shown that children with Spina Bifida and Cerebral Palsy benefit greatly by developing strength and balance when riding horses.
Now that we own our own property, especially a ranch, it is going to open the door for us to do so much of the work that I have longed to do throughout the years, but couldn’t, because of our limited space.
We have an incredible camp planned for children this summer. I know we are getting a late start, but we didn’t know that we were going to buy a ranch and we didn’t close on the property until the later part of May. Our first week of camp will begin on Monday, July 12th. We have decided to have split sessions, because of the age differences. The 8 to 12 year old campers will be from 9:00 AM until 1 PM Monday through Friday. The 13 to 15 year old campers will be from 1:30 PM until 5:30 PM also Monday through Friday.
We ask that all children bring their lunches we will supply drinks and snacks. On Friday, the last day of camp, we will have a pizza party for the children, our treat, complete with homemade banana-splits.
A daily agenda will be provided, but just briefly I would like for you to know what our goal is and what it is that we focus on during our week together with your child. In all the years that I have taught humane education there is one thing that remains consistent, when we teach our children kindness and empathy towards those who have no voice, the animals, our children learn to respect and co-exist with others in a kinder, more thoughtful way.
We are living in a time where we cannot pick up a newspaper without reading a story about bullying, children being attacked, even killed by bullies in our schools and neighborhoods. Studies have shown that every serial killer on death row first started their depraved, twisted journey by torturing and killing defenseless animals and bullying other children.
Don’t panic, we are not going to be discussing these gruesome stories with your children. We will however, be doing projects and programs with them where they will be interacting with the animals as well as one another. The projects will be thought provoking and we hope will help empower your child and build self-esteem. We will be doing art projects that will include animal photography and an above ground pool on the property and a large water slide for fun in the sun water play. We will be teaching the kids basic obedience training with some of our dogs, animal care with both our shelter dogs and our barn animals, we have all kinds of fun games designed around learning about animals. Everything is designed to make the kids interact with kindness and respect for one another throughout the week.
At the end of the week, we have some really great prizes for the children that have made the most progress and who have shown us that they really understand what kindness to all living creatures is all about. Hopefully, everyone there will be bringing home a prize and if they do, then we have accomplished what we set out to do; have a few kids walk away with a new attitude about how we treat one another, because like I have always said; if you can’t be kind to the most innocent of creatures, how can you be kind to your neighbor or schoolmate?
If your children enjoy their time with us and you are pleased with their experience, we will be starting an after school program in the fall. However, this is a working program for children that are serious about getting involved in some kind of animal related career. They will have the opportunity to learn about veterinarian medicine, dog training, agility training, therapy dog training, working with handicapped children and horses program, humane education programs and just general chores around the ranch. We cannot however, be a babysitting service, this will only be for children that can prove they are serious and show how badly they want to be a part of our program.
FYI – Please let all of your friends know that starting in mid-July, we will be hosting Birthday parties for all ages at the ranch. Prices for the parties will be based on the number of people, what kind of food they request and what kind of entertainment they want. So please spread the word, because this is one of the ways we will be raising money to support out new sanctuary.
Last, but not least, we are always looking for volunteers including Mommies. We need clerical help, help in the barn and in the kennels, help with fund raising and foster Mommies to bottle feed our orphaned puppies and kittens. If you or anyone you know are interested, please give me a call, I am so excited about getting involved with the community and meeting and reconnecting with people.
If you should have questions or would like to come out for a tour, please do not hesitate to call me or Allie at (561) 747-5311. We also need donations of money to build our sanctuary as well as donations of supplies like Purina dog and cat food, dog and cat treats, kitty litter, bedding, blankets, towels, toys, cleaning products like laundry detergent, Scrubbing Bubbles, Bleach, mops, brooms etc…
Thank you so much for entrusting your children with us. We look forward to working with them and helping you with any pet problems you might have. Our Hospital will remain in Jupiter as well as a small portion of our storefront shelter. We will rotate dogs and cats out weekly so as to keep them mentally and emotionally healthy.
On Behalf Of Those Who Have No Voice
Humanely Yours,
Kay-Lynette Roca
Founding CEO
Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary & Hospital
This is the application for registering your child for Kamp Kindness 2010. Please fill the form linked below and bring it to Safe Harbor along with your payment. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader you can download it by clicking here.
