by Rachel Hunter
The Gouverneur Lions Club presents Friends 4 Pound Paws in Gouverneur with the Robert J. Uplinger Distinguished Service Award at a special ceremony on Thursday, February 11. From left: Friends 4 Pound Paws President Clover Forsythe, Co-Chair Lynnie Patton, Secretary Dawn Forsythe accept the honor from Gouverneur Lions Club President Betsy Cummings and Treasurer John Johnson. (Rachel Hunter photo)
The Gouverneur Lions Club presented Friends 4 Pound Paws in Gouverneur with the Robert J. Uplinger Distinguished Service Award at a special ceremony on Thursday, February 11.
“The Lions Club knows what goes on, and how dedicated everyone is at Friends 4 Pound Paws,” Gouverneur Lions Club Treasurer John Johnson said.
The Lions Club Robert J. Uplinger Distinguished Service Award was established in 1993. The award honors outstanding individuals (both Lions and non-Lions) or organizations who provide a significant service to their Club, District or Community. The award presentation included an engraved plaque and a letter of congratulations from the New York State & Bermuda Lions Foundation, Inc., along with a commemorative lapel pin.
Robert J. Uplinger became a member of the Syracuse Lions Club in 1946 where he served as Club president, Zone Chairman, and District Governor. He became a Lions International Director in 1964-66 and then he was elected to the prominent office as Lions International President in 1971-72. Uplinger was an industrial engineer and the owner/operator of Robert J. Uplinger, Inc., a distributor of power transmission equipment.
The letter from New York State & Bermuda Lions Foundation President Lion Richard Steger reads as follows: “Dear Friends 4 Pound Paws, the officers and members of the New York State and Bermuda Lions Foundation extend congratulations for being named a recipient of the Robert J. Uplinger Distinguished Service Award by the Gouverneur Lions Club for “recognition and appreciation of the volunteers who give essential care to cats and dogs and who provide a pathway for their adoption.” You are among those who are honored by Lions and Lionesses for generous service. The Robert J. Uplinger Distinguished Service Award affirms your strong interest, dedication, and service to others through Lionism. The Robert J. Uplinger pin will identify you as someone who has done more than his share and truly believes in the motto of Lionism, “We Serve.” The donations to the Robert J. Uplinger Distinguished Service Award Program are a significant monetary source of the Foundation and these funds are returned to the Lions Clubs through grants to further Lionistic work. Congratulations and our best wishes to you as an honoree.”
Lions Club President Betsy Cummings alongside Treasurer Johnson presented the honors to the Friends 4 Pound Paws leadership team – President Clover Forsythe, Co-Chair Lynnie Patton, and Secretary Dawn Forsythe. The plaque inscription reads as follows: “Robert J. Uplinger Distinguished Service Award: Awarded to Friend 4 Pound Paws in recognition and appreciation of the volunteers who give essential care to cats and dogs who provide a pathway for their adoption.”
Friends 4 Pound Paws President Clover Forsythe said she had a perfect spot on the wall to hang the distinguished honor. Applause sounded at the completion of the awards ceremony. “This is an amazing award, and we thank you so much,” President Forsythe said.
Friends 4 Pound Paws President Clover Forsythe informed the Gouverneur Lions Club that Friends 4 Pound Paws would be celebrating their 10-year anniversary in May of 2021.
Friends 4 Pound Paws Inc. was established on May 30, 2011, by a group of concerned citizens, hoping to save the forgotten ones – the local pound dogs. Friends 4 Pound Paws began with a simple desire to “Give our pound dogs a second chance at Life”.
Friends 4 Pound Paws is a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization, feline and all-breed canine rescue. Its mission is to help promote adoptions from the Gouverneur, Russell and Fowler Dog Pounds. We have established a foster care program to help save the dogs that have been scheduled for euthanasia. F4PP promotes spaying and neutering as a general ideal, and spays and neuters all dogs and cats that are of age at time of adoption, or enter into a neuter contract with the new adopting families.
All of the rescues receive immediate medical care, vaccinations and lots of love. Friends 4 Pound Paws also accepts owner surrenders of unwanted animals when there are open foster homes. “We will not stop until they all have a home.”
In talking about the Friends 4 Pound Paws location at 55 Owl Street, Gouverneur, President Forsythe said the following: “When these two rooms were built a year ago, in December, we were getting ready to do a grand opening or a grand open house – and then the pandemic started. So we still haven’t done a big open house, so the community can come through. Maybe by May, we will be able to do something… We are excited to celebrate that.”
President Forsythe then directed the attention of the Gouverneur Lions Club leadership to a picture on the wall that showcased the first two dogs that Friends 4 Pound Paws helped – a pitbull and a chihuahua. “Both of those dogs have now passed on, but they both had great lives.” The picture enlargement and the picture frame was constructed by BOCES students at Southwest Tech in Fowler.
President Forsythe then told the Gouverneur Lions Club their 2020 adoption stats. “We had 70 dogs adopted. I had 20 transfers to the Potsdam shelter. In cats, we had about 130 adopted. These are all adopted animals.” In spite of their small size, Friends 4 Pound Paws does tremendous work with the resources that they are given.
President Forsythe also took the Gouverneur Lions Club on a tour of the facility.
“We’ve got 27 cats and three dogs right now,” she said. “We’ve got one that is leaving tomorrow, and getting adopted. There are two new pups. There is one senior dog in like a Hospice-type foster home, a 14 ½ year old, Harriet…
“For the past year, it has been difficult for all kinds of organizations to stay afloat. But we have been really blessed here. We have gotten community support like you would not believe. People come in with money, food… It’s been really amazing.
“In fact one day, it was like March 17, it was when everything started to close. We had to cancel all kinds of fundraisers, but this guy called me and he said, “I have a large donation for you.” I said, okay, I’ll be here tomorrow, and we’ll meet.” An hour later he calls me back and he says, “I would like to come today.” So I came back over and I met him, and he comes in with $5,000 in cash. So it was well worth my trip back. I was hysterical. I was crying and carrying on… And we had some other really good donations since all this started. We’re doing okay here. One thing – we don’t take in any more animals than we can take care of. We have our limits, and there are other shelters around. If I can’t do it or Lynnie can’t, we send them elsewhere.”
Upon questions from the Gouverneur Lions Club, President Forsythe said that foster families are always needed.
“There’s always an option out there,” she said. “I just wish we could get more people to spay and neuter. I really wish that… especially for the cats. It’s awful… You go anywhere in the village, out of town, out in Macomb… I have more people telling me about all the cats out there. But you can only do what you can do.”
The Friends 4 Pound Paws leadership team announced that plans are still a go for their annual spring flower sale. “That is a really good fundraiser,” President Forsythe said. “Pickup is outside. We usually do that the middle of May. And we’ll be doing that flower sale again.”
Friends 4 Pound Paws also raises money through auction, held twice per month, on their Facebook page (Friends 4 Pound Paws Auction). “We’ve been doing auctions now for about four years,” President Forsythe said. “Everything in the auction that we post is donated. It’s unbelievable the stuff that gets donated. We’ll usually generate, in a good month, $1,000. And that pays the bills. That’s really all that anyone can do right now… It’s all volunteer, and that keeps us going.”
The Friends 4 Pound Paws also features an ongoing candy bar fundraiser and candle fundraiser. “Every dollar adds up. It’s amazing at how quickly all that little stuff can add up,” President Forsythe said.
Much gratitude was extended to the Friends 4 Pound Paws for the tour of the shelter facility. For more information on Friends 4 Pound Paws, visit www.friends4poundpaws.org or call 315-842-PAWS.
Gouverneur Lions Club President Betsy Cummings also announced that the Gouverneur Lions Club will host its Spaghetti Dinner (take-out only) will be held on Sunday, March 21, serving from 4 p.m., and includes meatballs, salad and rolls. Call Mullin’s Restaurant to pre-order at 315-286-3393. Cost donation is $10 per meal. All to benefit the Lions Club projects serving the Gouverneur community and beyond. More information will be reported once made available to the Gouverneur Tribune Press.