Personal Mission Statement
Frank Polanco has been a huge advocate in animal rescue. Having rescued two satos (stray dogs) myself from Puerto Rico nine years ago Frank can't forget about the vast population of homeless dogs still remaining all over the island. Frank has made it is own personal mission to help raise awareness to this situation not only in Puerto Rico here at home and every where he can.
Given his desire to make a difference Franks projects have been dedicated to and have benefited SAVE A SATO, a non profit organization very dear to him. Save A Sato rescues, rehabilitates and finds forever home to hundreds of abandoned stray dogs in Puerto Rico. As a benefactor he dedicated the back cover of his own virtual fashion magazine BELLE to Save A Sato by placing their logo with a link to their website giving readers the opportunity to make donations directly to them using their own website, something he highly encouraged readers to do.
After devasting hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, Frank knew he had to help. Using social media he immediately created and put into effect a pet food drive collecting food to sentd to help the animals at save a sato. To his surprise the next day he received a message from a total stranger telling me that she had collected aong her friends some five hundred and fifty dollars. This ignited the fire to a point that it will not stop burning. The phone was ringing , text messages were coming from all over the states , food drop off in front of his house did ntot stop , food started to arrive via fedex the outpouring caring support was just amazing. Luckily for Frank and thanks to American Airlines and his ex coworkers he was able to ship the first fifteen hundred pounds of dog and cat food combined to save a sato in Puerto Rico free of charge. While many other people were scrambling trying to ship essentials which at times were confiscated by authorities Frank and his mission were blessed as everything was reaching save a sato. With more food coming in Frank now goes out to AmeriJet a cargo airline servicing the Miami San Juan route begging for another free ride. AmeriJet was kind enough to provide us with another fifteen hundred pounds of free freight. Frank loaded up he Uhaul van and ran down to Miami to drop off the food which all made it into th e hands of save a sato. With more food on hand, Frank now was scrambling looking for ways to get it down to the island. Thanks to Spirit Airlines and a kind pilot lady named Caryn we were able to ship out another shipment of dog and cat food combined.
Once the food was delivered Frank was invited to attend local art and neighborhood events where he was able to raise awareness about the situation and raise money for save a sato.
When it was ll said and done we calculated the total value of food, donation, cargo transportation and all associated expenses valued at over seventeen thousand dollars. Frank and his army made a lot of doggies and kittens happy.
As part of his mission Frank felt the need to see first hand the ongoing situation at Save A Sato after the hurricane.
On December 2017, Frank decided to fly to Puerto Rico and pay a vist to save a sato. Part of the visit was to also organized the the relocation of some dogs to a local shelter in Florida. A project he was heavily involved in the making.
This trip was a SAVE A SATO mission for Frank. An opportunity to finally meet its founder Ms. Gloria Marti and be able to learn from her more about their daily activities at the shelter. While there he was able to feed the doggies and kittens, helped clean their cages, document the daily ongoings etc. One of Franks mission on this trip was to bring back with him the first doggie to Florida.
Along came Honey this beautiful doggie who bonded beautifully with Frank. In the end Honey traveled back with Frank to Florida. Frank was to foster Honey until the rightful home was found.
Unfortunately, Honey got very sick and didn't make it. He passed away a few days later under the care of the hosting shelter.
This has been a very challenging a sad situation for Frank. A situation very hard to deal with but thankfully Franks own pets his thre dogs Nemo, Rico, Palma and his kitten Kloeh have been the healing component during such a sudden tragic situation.
Frank is getting stronger and knowing the devastating situation in Puerto Rico and right here in our own backyards in South Florida he knows that his mission now more than ever has to stand strong.
Frank continues working hard for the animals.
Locally Frank has volunteer his professional service and time to other non profit organizatons as well.
MY KIDS
South Florida Lending Hands
is a 501 c (3) Non Profit organization. We are group of caring people willing and ready to help when disasters strike. We aim at helping everyone but most important we go the extra mile on a daily basis to help the abandoned, wounded, displaced and very often abused four legged friend. We are big advocates to the environment, community outreach and the arts.
In all instances we go the extra mile to help alleviate all we strive for.
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www.southfloridalendinghands.org
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Art 1
is a an art movemnet in Fort Lauderdale Central City Ne 13 street corridor.
We curate and produce art exhibits and events to promote the rising art trend in our community while given new emerging artists as well as those already established a place to showcase their artwork.
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Save A Sato
is one a non profit organization I'm personally comited to help this organization in my native Puerto Rico. Save A Sato rescues, rehabilitate and has been finding homes to thousands of stray animals for over twenty five years.
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