At that moment, Sherry’s mind went back to a fond
memory from six years earlier. A shelter staff member alerted her to a perplexing phone call on a Friday after- noon. The caller was interested in three dogs and asked if the shelter would hold them until Monday, when he was able to visit the shelter. To hold a dog for someone who might be interested in one of three dogs would put the dogs out of adoption circulation over the weekend, a busy time for adoptions for any shelter. “I immediately recognized the caller’s name as soon
as my staff told me who was on the phone. I’m from Ohio, and the DeBartolo name is synonymous with shopping mall construction.” The name, Edward J. DeBartolo Jr., is also synonymous with the San Francisco 49ers. Under his 23-year ownership of the NFL team, the 49ers won five Super Bowls in 14 years. Sherry took the call
The DeBartolo Family Foundation is a nonprofit organization “committed to improving the lives of the Tampa Bay area’s most under-served popu- lations.” In 2020, during the pan- demic crisis, the Foundation’s dona- tions helped to create a COVID-19 unit at Tampa General Hospital; pro- vided 5 million meals for Feeding Tampa Bay, supported local families in need through Metropolitan Ministries; and paid for surgeries for pets whose owners couldn’t afford to cover through Frankie’s Friends. Frankie was a beloved Greyhound dog adopted by Mr. DeBartolo.
and explained to Mr. DeBartolo that they would do their best to hold the dogs but also explained why she couldn’t make any guar- antees to do so. The follow- ing Monday, Mr. D showed up at the shelter and met with Sherry. He explained that, unfortunately at the moment, he wasn’t going to be able to adopt any of the dogs. As he spoke with Sherry, he commented on the rundown condition of the spay/neuter clinic. “He was actually horri-
fied by the site, but also vis- ibly moved by the work
that was being done and the care that was taken to help the animals,” said Sherry. Mr. D thanked Sherry for the work everyone was
doing and handed her a check for $15,000. Holding the phone to her ear, Sherry snapped back
to the moment at hand when she heard David Mallitz ask the question that would change the future of the shelter. “How soon can you meet with Mr. D?” Two days later, Sherry found herself at DeBartolo
Holdings in Tampa, meeting with Candy DeBartolo, David Mallitz and Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. They spoke a bit about the shelter, of course. Adhering to a timeframe on breaking ground and completing the new shelter were part of the stipulations of the donation. Sitting across the desk from Mr. D, Sherry allowed
herself to think for a few moments about her staff, the volunteers and all of the supporters who had helped to make the dream of a new shelter about to come true. With the $3 million donation from the DeBartolo Family Foundation, they would finally realize the culmination of all their hard work.
48 THE NEW BARKER
A few minutes later, Mr. D slid an envelope across
his desk towards Sherry and asked her to open it. Written on letterhead was the donation number of $2.5 million to the Humane Society of Tampa with Eddie DeBartolo’s signature. Sherry stared at the amount for just a second. It was half a million shy of their total goal needed to break ground. Grateful for the generous donation, she knew there would be more work to do in the community to help raise additional funds before moving forward. Sherry and Mr. D spoke a little more about the
work the shelter was doing. She mentioned that the shelter had recently helped launch Protect Dogs - Yes on 13, a grassroots campaign created by Grey2K USA and the Humane Society of the United States to end Greyhound racing in Florida. The Humane Society of Tampa Bay was selected as the site to kick off the historic 2018 campaign because it is considered one of the leading animal welfare organizations in the state. Mr. D looked at Sherry for a moment, then asked
her to hand back the piece of paper. “He marked a big X across the $2.5 million and wrote in $3 million dollars,” said Sherry. When told about this incident, Lisa said, “That just
sounds so like my dad. He goes with his heart.” But, there’s a bit more to the story. It turns out
Mr. D has an extra soft spot in his heart for Greyhounds. “He has adopted so many Greyhounds over the
years,” said Lisa. “Sometimes he adopts them with the sole purpose of gifting them to friends and family. And, he has been a supporter of several Greyhound rescue groups.” Sherry may have appeared collected, but inside she
was both nervous and excited. “Let me tell you, I was sweating bullets” she told us. “I went from being nervous to excited and couldn’t go back to the shelter after leav- ing Mr. DeBartolo’s office. I called our administrative team and asked them to meet me at a restaurant, where I shared the good news with them over a champagne toast. Two years later, in October 2020, the new
shelter opened. And with it, came moving day. From a stress level, the move, as with any move, was
a nightmare. Lon T. Savini, shelter operations manager, put the experience of his 25-year military career to the test. Logistically-minded, he was in charge of orchestrating the entire moving process, including coordinating when to turn the water and power off in the old shelter and on in the new shelter. It took a cou- ple of months to coordinate the plan. The move itself, from preparation, to packing to the actual move, took three
weeks...nonstop with no days off. “It was harder than anything I’d done during my deployment in Iran,” said Lon. “We couldn’t have done the move without Lon,”
said Sherry. “Of course, much thanks and gratitude to our staff and volunteers and the community who came to help. But Lon oversaw everything.”
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