Martha Marcin and volunteers are hard at work creating masks and raising money for the Nanaimo SPCA. (submitted/Caroline Hale)

By Spencer Sterritt

great cause

Mask fundraiser for Nanaimo SPCA sees great success

Apr 27, 2020 | 4:28 PM

NANAIMO — A fundraiser hoping to raise a few hundred dollars for the Nanaimo SPCA now has a new goal of $10,000.

Organizer Martha Marcin boosted the total after raising nearly $4,500 in only a week with the fundraiser, which gives money to the Nanaimo SPCA from the sale of masks she makes herself. Nearly 450 masks were made by Monday, April 27.

“The response was huge and immediate,” Marcin told NanaimoNewsNOW. “It snowballed from one woman with a sewing machine into a team of volunteers and their sewing machines.”

Marcin was so overwhelmed with orders she had to put a hold on new requests as she worked hard to catch up.

With news of the campaign spreading and more people offering to help, she hoped to resume taking orders in the coming days.

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“People are chipping in wherever they can. I was even able to get my hands on a bit more elastic, which is in really short supply, by letting people know we’re making masks for the SPCA.”

Marcin has a lengthy and emotional history with the Nanaimo SPCA.

She was named Volunteer of the Year in 2019 and has fostered cats for many years after losing her own cat to cancer and suffering from depression.

“Whatever I’ve given back, they’ve given me so much more,” she said of Nanaimo SPCA staff.

Information about donating and volunteers can be found online here.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit