Humane Society’s food shed in need of repair

A large, blue tarp covers the roof of the food shed at the Kitsap Humane Society in Silverdale.

A windstorm about two months ago caused a tree to come crashing down near the shed. Although the tree did not land on top of the aging storage building, its protruding branches did.

The result was holes in the roof and a soggy food mess, which would have been for the animals currently being cared for at the shelter.

“In the beginning it ruined a lot of food,” said Dana Lerma, development manager for the Kitsap Humane Society. “We’ve had to move a lot out, but right now we’re really low.”

Not only is she hoping for more food donations to come in, but ever since the tree damaged the shed she has unsuccessfully been in search of someone to fix it. She is hoping an experienced roofer or roofing company will be able to donate labor to the project. She added that although the shelter would like to use the money for the animals, it would be willing to pay to have the project done.

“I called quite a few local roofing companies ... But I didn’t even get a call back from most people,” she said.

A major problem, she added, is that for many companies the job is too small or is not something they have time for.

“If someone knows how to do it and they have the experience, we can get the roofing supplies,” Lerma said.

Because of the moisture that has creeped in, mold is now growing on the wood inside the building.

“Maybe there’s some kindly Santa out there who knows how to roof and will fix this for the animals for the winter,” Lerma said. “As the winter goes, it can get worse.”

At one time, she contemplated just having the roof patched, but says the best solution would be to have the small section replaced.

“We don’t want to look for someone again,” she said. “The Humane Society has been here a long time and I’m sure it will be here long after I’m gone. It would be nice to get it fixed.”

Ron Ryder of Northwest Tree Service donated his services and not only cleaned up the fallen tree, but also took down several other dangerous trees.

“It’s a lot safer now,” she said. “We have volunteers walking dogs on the trails.”

Although Lerma is happy the potential problem of more falling trees has been mitigated, she is hoping someone soon will be able to help fix the food shed.

“If someone could fix it, it would be wonderful,” she added.

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