45°
Maria was born and raised in Stamford where she currently lives with her husband Frank and their four adopted dogs. Nolie is 11, Buddy, Sweet Pea and their newest addition, Dolly, are all 8. Maria, who dedicates her life to helping animals, has a lot of support from family and friends and especially from her husband.
“He’s my best supporter and actually the one who’s turned me into a more generous person. I have to give most of the credit to him,’’ Maria said.
When Maria is not working at her part time job, you will find her volunteering for the Connecticut Humane Society at their Westport branch. She works there three mornings per week or more and has done so for the past seven years. Maria bathes and grooms the dogs, works on basic training and most importantly, she helps them expel energy from being in a kennel 22-plus hours a day by playing with them.
“The animals are so happy to see you when you get to the shelter. They appreciate you!” she said.
Over the years, Maria, and her husband have also fostered some of the dogs from the shelter who had special needs. Tango, for example, had a medical issue called megaesophagus, Pinky was deaf, Destiny was under high stress and Roosevelt needed socialization.
In addition to her shelter work, and fostering of dogs, Maria also makes crafts and greeting cards. All of the proceeds go into an unofficial, “Help a Doggy” fund. She and her friends, a.k.a. the “Crazy Shelter Ladies”, Patty Ricci, Gretchen Dale and Cindy Potter, also have tag sales to help shelter dogs with medical issues. So far in 2013, they have donated $3,600 to animals in need.
Maria and Frank also hold ‘Friendraisers’ at their home with close friends and family. They got the idea after holding a party one year where they received many hostess gifts. They felt they could do more with the generosity of their guests, so they decided the following year to ask for donations to “Pet Rescue” in Larchmont, N.Y. in place of a gift.
“We raised $7000 that night and we were just amazed,’’ Lovello said.
The next year they raised over $10,000 for the Wilson Food Pantry. The year after that, they raised over $12,000 for Soldier Socks and this past fall, they were able to hand over $13,000 in donations to StaRelief Pet Assistance.
“The friendraiser is definitely a big undertaking, but to hand over all those donations to these charities is such a wonderful feeling,’’ Maria said.
Maria also fundraises for Soldier Socks, transports rescues coming up from the south to their “forever” homes in the north and she was on the board of the Allyson Rioux Memorial Foundation for the past five years.
You can find Maria’s crafts/cards on Facebook on her Crafty Cre8tions page. Check out cthumane.org for volunteer opportunites/donations.
Robyn Blosio Bova is a Realtor with Higgins Group in Stamford and a volunteer with Backyard Humanitarian.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Stamford and receive free news updates.
