TALE FOR TWO READING PROGRAM SCHEDULE RELEASED FOR 2024-2025 SEASON
August 21, 2024
By: Chief Communications Officer Gina Lattuca
Register your child for Tale for Two >>
The SPCA Serving Erie County will continue its popular Tale for Two reading program throughout the 2024-2025 school year!
Tale For Two encourages children ages 5 – 16 to read aloud to adoptable animals at the SPCA. Animals benefit from the increased socialization and reduced stress levels, while children work on their literacy and reading skills, building their self-esteem and confidence.
This year’s reading sessions are available in six packages, and new this year are single sessions:
-Full-year package: $150
September 30, 2024 – August 30, 2025
-School year package: $100
September 30, 2024 – June 14, 2025
-Seasonal packages: $65
Fall: September 30 – December 14, 2024
Winter: January 6 – March 29, 2025
Spring: April 7 – June 14, 2025
Summer: June 30 – August 30, 2025
*NEW* -Single session: $10
Packages include one reading session per week, available Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 4:30 p.m. – 6 p.m., and Saturdays, 3:30 p.m. – 6 p.m., at the SPCA’s 300 Harlem Rd., West Seneca shelter. Reading sessions are 30 minutes in length.
Children can bring their own reading materials, or make a selection from the SPCA’s library.
Register your child for Tale for Two >>
Please contact SPCA Community Education Director Christine Davis with questions: ChristineD@yourspca.org. NOTE: Space per reading session is extremely limited, so register early!
We were honored to meet the warm, caring, compassionate Frank and Brenda of a Buffalo suburb last week, and when they met Wade, it was an instant love connection.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with Sheila more than two years, and in that short time she and her work have left an incredible impression on me,” our President/CEO Cait Daly said. “Her passion for her work is evident, surpassed only by her love for the animals. Thousands of lives were made better…thousands of children learned more about farm animals and the respect they deserve…because of Sheila’s knowledge, dedication, and caring. The impact she has made is immeasurable.”
As a child, Sheila volunteered at the SPCA and spent time working with us in the mid-70s through mid-80s, right up until she was hired in October of 1985. It’s impossible to number the animals’ lives she’s impacted since then, lives of resident animals along with lives of animals cared for as part of cruelty cases.
Even a televised, important game being played by her beloved Buffalo Sabres couldn’t coax Sheila away from an animal in need.
Longtime SPCA fans will remember Olivia the pig, a Tonawanda farm resident who, at one point, received more visitors and had more fans than any other animal, or person, for that matter, at the SPCA in the early 90s. Sheila started the Olivia Fan Club, a card-carrying members’ club for children that helped teach the children more about farm animals and their care. It didn’t take long for Sheila to realize the responsibility of the SPCA to teach more about all animals, not just domestic; under her guidance, the SPCA’s petting farm became the SPCA Educational Farm, with teaching stations at and around animal stalls, games children could play that educated them about the farm animals in their midst and the magic these animals brought to the world.
Throughout her career, Sheila continued to be amazed at the faces of not only children but also adults petting a goat or llama for the first time…holding a chicken…feeding Olivia a peppermint. If school classes couldn’t get to the SPCA, Sheila brought the animals to them. Why? Because she knew the value of teaching children at an early age that farm animals, too, deserve compassion, care, respect, and love. These weren’t just words or personal beliefs for Sheila. She lived them. Not even cruelty cases concerning several large animals…not even 10,000 chickens running along the I-190 (true story from August, 2008, and no, the number is not an exaggeration)…not even escaped horses running down Ensminger Rd., turning Tonawanda into a scene from Bonanza, could stop her.
When in court for farm animal cruelty cases, Sheila wouldn’t say much; just her silence and expressions made her feelings known. Sheila spent these days lodged somewhere between sadness and anger and every emotion in between as she imagined the suffering endured by case animals. In fact, these and other animal rescue situations only increased Sheila’s fervent desire to better the lives of such special animals, teaching others along the way why they, too, should share this desire.
Despite her stellar achievements, Sheila never loved, or even remotely liked, being the center of attention. In the 34 years I have known her and been blessed to call her my friend, she never easily gave a television interview, never relished being on the radio, never wanted the camera on her for a social media video…she wanted the focus and the attention fixed on the animals and the people with whom she worked. Her humbleness, like her dedication and devotion, is immense.
Sheila saw many changes at the SPCA. Her pristine barn converted to a fundraising “Haunted Barn” for several years. The growth of a staff numbered at around 25 when she was hired to 110 today. A major move from Tonawanda, NY to West Seneca, NY. In Sheila’s own words this morning, “The SPCA is a haven, where animals are cared for, and where people learn the importance of kindness and respect for all living creatures.” Sheila witnessed so much change around her, yet her impression of what the organization stands for never wavered.
I know she won’t mind my sharing that her closing comment today was a quote by Charlotte Bronte: “There is no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow creatures, and feeling that your presence is an addition to their comfort.”
No matter what animals came in, she always found ways to do best by them. No matter how old the farm got, she always made it look the best it could. For all of the tough cases that came to the farm, and there were plenty, she always focused on the animals that needed our help. For all of the tough times to deal with and decisions to make, there were always lovely letters and emails of how some farm critter adopted from us made such a difference in someone’s life.
In that long of a time together, we share a host of memories – everything from being there for a variety of babies being born on the farm and catching a stray emu to watching animals blossom with good care and having to say goodbye to farm friends when it was the right time to do so.
Sheila didn’t confine her interests just to the farm, either, but was instrumental in producing our earlier newsletters, the foundation of our Wildlife Department and even our first website – I have to admit that it was truly funny watching Sheila type html code in as one of her friends read it over the phone to her!
Each winter and summer the SPCA receives calls for service in response to dogs left outdoors in extreme temperatures. Some community members lack the resources and/or knowledge concerning appropriate shelter for their dogs, Operation P.A.W.S. is a program of the SPCA Serving Erie County designed to provide pet owners and at-risk dogs appropriate shelter and other supplies.
The Foundry [ a hands-on education facility dedicated to increasing neighborhood prosperity by empowering individuals through education and entrepreneurship ] built doghouses for Operation P.A.W.S. to help the SPCA assist these pets and pet owners.
“We’re so excited to build new partner relationships as we work on initiatives designed to keep people and pets together,” says Tyler Robertson, SPCA strategic initiatives program manager. “This relationship with The Foundry is not only valuable to us, it is valuable to every pet owner who will benefit from the hard work of these students, building doghouses to protect four-footed family members.”
director, says, “At the Foundry, we are dedicated to equipping our students with essential life skills through hands-on learning experiences. Watching them create quality products that positively impact our community is truly rewarding. Their achievements and the community’s appreciation of their hard work make it all worthwhile.”
misdemeanor charges. Recently, Schmitt signed over to the SPCA ownership of 151 animals: 117 chickens, 18 ducks/geese, 15 rabbits, and one farm pig. SPCA Educational Farm staff members say 76 chickens have been placed, but 41 of the chickens and all other animals are still being cared for by the SPCA. Schmitt did not sign over ownership of two goats, two dogs, and one cat. Schmitt’s arraignment is adjourned until January 18 at 9 a.m. Updates on this story will be added here when available.
