Woman Will Paper Walls With $1 Bills To Buy Shelter Dogs Pools

LONG ISLAND, NY — A caring animal shelter volunteer wants to keep the pups cool this summer: She's collecting dollar bills so that she can provide new kiddie pools for the homeless pets during the sweltering summer heat.

Valerie Sanks, of Rocky Point, is a volunteer for the Brookhaven Animal Shelter who made headlines recently when she asked for donations to build a wall of peanut butter for shelter dogs to enjoy — and then, collected treats for both dogs and cats for Valentine's Day.

On Wednesday, she shared her new idea for a fundraiser on social media. "We’ve built a wall of blankets, we built a wall of birthday cards, we built a wall of peanut butter and we even built a wall of dog and cat treats. Now I would like to wallpaper my dining room with dollar bills, because soon it will be the 'dog days of summer' and I would love to try to do something amazing for dogs in town shelters on Long Island."

Those who want to contribute are asked to send a single $1 bill to:

Blankets for Buster and his friends

P.O. Box 335

Rocky Point, NY 11778

"Let’s see what happens when we all work together," she said.

Pools will be delivered the week before the first day of summer, Sanks said.

For years, Sanks has devoted her life to giving back to homeless dogs. She's hosted sleepovers for the dogs to shower them with affection, planned birthday parties and car rides, helped a dying dog realize her bucket list of dreams, and organized blanket drives.

Rosemarie DeMaio reached out to Patch to describe Sanks' dedication to homeless dogs. "During the holidays she has a blanket drive and has collected thousands of. blankets for homeless animals; she literally drives all over New York to deliver them," she said.

Sanks also spotlights dogs looking for their forever homes, sharing their stories on social media to help spread the word, she said.

She met Sanks when her dog, a 5-pound Shih Tzu, ran away, DeMaio said. "She was a complete stranger but could she the despair in my posts," she said. "Valerie showed up at my house to help me look for her. We got a call of a sighting and Valerie went to the location with a grill at 1 a.m. and cooked bacon in an attempt to lure her out of the woods. She didn't come out but Val didn't give up. We found her 10 days later," she said. "She is just an amazing person."