DENDogs Calendar: East Enders Support Animal-Related Charities

Here at On the Danforth, we love animals, especially dogs! From vets to therapy dogs, dog parks to pet fashion, we have covered a variety of topics in this area. Animals are cute, little members of our family. So, of course, we could never forget about them. But, what we haven’t talked about much are locals that help the animals in our community.

While curating images for the print edition of the 2018 summer issue of the magazine, I was on a Danforth dog Facebook page, asking people if they had any outdoor dog pictures that they would like to be featured in the magazine. That’s how I learnt about the Danforth East Neighbourhood (DENDogs) Calendar.

Immediately, I became fascinated with this project. I knew that I needed to know more. And when I did, I knew that I couldn’t keep this information to myself. The discovery of DENDogs has changed the types of conversations we are having around animals in our community.

Inspired by wanting to support a worthy cause and building a sense of community, Julie Glick has published DENDogs annually since 2012. Since then, she has built an extensive email list by unabashedly approaching dog owners in the neighbourhood, asking them if they would like to participate in the calendar.

 The goal of DENDogs is to raise money for animal-related charities. After the cost of printing, 100% of the remaining money is donated. The calendar is compiled of pictures of dogs (submitted by residents for a $20 donation) as well as advertisements by local Danforth businesses ($35 donation). Every donation of animal picture and ad space includes a copy of the calendar. For additional copies, people are asked to donate $15. The extra copies assist DENDogs to reach a yearly goal of a yearly increase in revenue.

To date, DENDogs Calendar has donated $16,000 to various charities!  This year DENDogs was able to donate $3,250.  This year’s charities are the Fred Victor Bethlehem Shelter, a pet-friendly shelter in Toronto; TEAM Dog Rescue, an organization that rescues dogs from high kill shelters; and Earthroots’ Wolves Ontario, a campaign to improve province-wide protection and awareness of wolves and their habitat.

For people interested in ordering a calendar or participating in next year’s DENDogs Calendar, you can email danforthdogcalendar@hotmail.com in September and October. Some years there are a couple of extra calendars are sometimes at Wag on the Danforth (1918 Danforth Ave) and Furballs Pet Store (1618 Gerrard St E) and through Glick. However, it is better to pre-order a calendar as Glick only prints a limited amount of extra copies each year (to avoid wasted expenses).

It’s great to see members of the Danforth community support local charities. I always impassioned when I see people helping those less fortunate than themselves—like animals. Animal advocates, like Glick, have inspired me to also help out animals in my community. They are the reason that I will always adopt from animal shelters. It is also why one of my dreams is to foster neo-natal kittens and help them find loving forever homes.

If you live outside of the Danforth, and are interested in starting your own neighbourhood charity calendar, Glick would be happy to walk you through the steps.

Please note, that the DENDogs email is most active between September and December. It is only checked intermittently throughout the rest of the year.