Happy dog! Normally they donate money, but for SPCA Taupō, dog and cat treats and enrichment toys were bought. Photo / Supplied
Happy dog! Normally they donate money, but for SPCA Taupō, dog and cat treats and enrichment toys were bought. Photo / Supplied
Ken Harris says from a business point of view, many things they do are counter-intuitive.
For example starting a business in January 2020 with wife Fiona, a month later committing 1 per cent of profit to donate to charity, and then continuing on with that policy throughout 2020.
"When weopened our store in January of 2020, one of our goals was to be a part of and support the local Taupō community. As one of the ways we do this, we started a donation system called '1 per cent for Taupō' which means each month we pick a registered local Taupō charity, or a national charity that has a presence in Taupō and donate 1 per cent of our net sales from that month to them," said Fiona.
Ken said opening The Source a few months before the coronavirus hit was bad timing, and at first he was afraid to donate the money as he wasn't sure how much they were going to make.
"Then we thought, just do it! Otherwise we won't start."
Ken says he and Fiona have donated to charities in the past, but when they opened The Source they were looking forward to being in business so they can use the business as a vehicle.
"As an individual, you make donations in silence and you can feel quite alone, but as a business it's more than that, it feels like the whole community is making the donation.
"It feels more circular. Round and round we go. There is a sense that we are all in this together."
Twelve months ago, the five staff at The Source were asked to pick a charity each to donate to, and then Ken and Fiona chose charities that appealed to their values around young families and conservation.
Each month The Source owners Fiona and Ken Harris donate 1 per cent of sales to a local charity. On Monday they ticked off all the items on Bernice Curel's (left) wish list for SPCA Taupō.
"We've got three young children and Fiona was formerly a Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger. But then we ran out of charities, and thought what else?
"Since then we have made donations to Blue Light and this week to SPCA Taupō. These are local charities that often struggle for funding."
Normally they donate cash, however with the SPCA Taupō they rang centre manager Bernice Curel and asked her to make up a shopping list. Ken says they were very pleased to tick off all the items.
Bernice says the money was used to buy some equipment and enrichment toys used to try and keep the stress levels down for the dogs and cats in care. She says the physical environment at the SPCA is not the same as the animals are used to at home.
Money donated by The Source bought a cat carry cage, sets of leather gloves used for handling feral cats, a couple of cat scratching poles, cat treats, two big Kong treat dispenser bowls for dogs to play with, and three big tug toys for dogs.
"We use enrichment toys to help improve the experience for a dog or cat who may be really scared, or not be used to being in a smaller space."
