By SHERI GASSAWAY
Missouri Correspondent
Valley Park – Thanks to a couple of IBEW Local 1 members, Second Chance Ranch is one step closer to accepting more senior pets and having more room for them to roam.
Founded in July 2021, the non-profit organization is dedicated to creating a loving home for senior dogs who are homeless or sick, striving to make the rest of their lives the best of their lives. The ranch, staffed with volunteers 24/7, has saved 278 senior dogs since it opened, 80 of which have been adopted.
Second Chance recently built an addition onto its two-story ranch at 272 Hillsboro Road in Valley Park, but it needed help with the electrical work there. Tracy Rumpf, who runs the ranch knew just who to call – her longtime friend and former classmate Steve Dintleman, of Guarantee Electric.
‘GRATEFUL FOR THE HELP’
“This is huge,” said Rumpf. “We’ll be able to move the smaller dogs we usually keep upstairs to the downstairs and let the bigger dogs have the addition. It will be helpful for some of our volunteers and smaller pets who have trouble using the stairs. We are so grateful for the help.”
Knowing the Electrical Connection sometimes provides funding to help local non-profits in the area, Dintleman reached out to IBEW Local 1 Business Representative Chuck DeMoulin for help. The Electrical Connection is a partnership between IBEW Local 1 and the St. Louis Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA).
“I contacted Tom Broderick, owner of Authorized Electric, to see if he would be interested in preparing a bid that I could present to the Electrical Connection to see if we could get them some help,” Demoulin said. “Tom graciously did, and I presented it to the Electrical Connection.”
Unfortunately, the Electrical Connection had used all its funding for the year and was not able help.
‘TOOK IT UPON HIMSELF’
“That didn’t stop Steve,” DeMoulin said. “He took it upon himself to help them anyway he could. With the hall’s permission, he volunteered to take care of the labor himself with the help of a friend, and he also secured most of the electrical equipment from Holt supply to save the ranch even more money.”
Dintleman enlisted the help of his longtime friend Todd VanCardo, an IBEW Local 1 member and owner of Precision Electric.
A GREAT CAUSE
“I called Todd because he could pull the permits for the electric and he and my son Josh helped with the job,” Dintleman said. “I’ve known Tracy a long time, and what she’s doing at the ranch is for a great cause.”
Second Hand Ranch, which recently started accepting senior cats, is a 501-(C)(3) organization run entirely by volunteers. For more information visit, secondchanceranchstl.org.
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