NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The community has shown up in a big way to support a Niagara Falls family that went to the SPCA for help.
Last week the Niagara SPCA director Amy Lewis did something she had never done before. Chris Segur walked nearly six miles to the SPCA to ask for help. He and his wife Nicole were facing some financial hardships after a medical emergency, including having their car repossessed and being evicted.
Chris walked all that way to ask for a place for his two dogs.
"We're in a situation, we have been very very honest about our over capacity here at the shelter. And he walked in and said, 'I need to surrender two dogs.' And we were like, 'Woah, wait a minute, we don't really have space for your two dogs,' " Lewis said.
The Niagara SPCA is still overflowing with dogs, so they pivoted to working with Chris about what they could do to help him. They had the idea of starting a GoFundMe campaign. Chris didn't know how much would help his family and when pressed said he was looking for a couple hundred dollars to get back on his feet.
The original goal for the campaign was $5,000, but the Facebook post and campaign blew up, and within an hour that goal had been reached. Now the campaign has raised more than $42,000.
"It far exceeded any expectation that we had, and I'm thrilled for this family," Lewis said.
The Segurs are in disbelief about the money raised.
"I think nothing like this has happened. They are used to one bad thing after another, after another, that this was really just shocking for them," Lewis said.
Now the family is being able to look for housing. They had some appointments to look at apartments, but they are also looking at some longer-term options such as a trailer home, according to Lewis.
Lewis says this campaign has helped highlight the necessity of a pet retention program.
"So that doesn't mean we're going to start a GoFundMe campaign for everyone, but it may mean if you can't afford food, reach out to us. Or if you're having some housing issues, we have an OK foster network, but we are always looking for fosters," Lewis said.
Any further donations to the family can be made on the GoFundMe campaign.