Sharpei Picture

ABOUT US - OUR HISTORY


This is our 20th Year and we have received over $300,000 in donations

The history of how the CSP Charitable Trust evolved goes back to the 80's. A number of health issues caused concern in those days and they were discussed in articles in "The Barker".

In 1986 the Health/Education Committee Chairman, the late Elly Paulus reported what she called "Midnight Swollen Hock Syndrome". This was a result of her being contacted by several CSPCA members about a group of symptoms, not all of which seem to appear in infected animals.

By the spring of 1990 "The Barker" had articles concerning "Midnight Swollen Hock Syndrome" and more dogs were exhibiting these symptoms.

In October of 1990 the CSPCA made an announcement of a proposal for research on the immune systems of Shar-Pei by Cornell University. Dr. Linda Tintle a member of the Health Through Education Committee reported on the work being done by the Veterinarians at Cornell University investigating the immune system of Shar-Pei and requested donations for their work.

In February 1991 the CSPCA Board made a further commitment to research with the creation of a new direction for the Health Through Education Committee. Chairman Marilyn Pickard, and Dr. Jeff Vidt, Dr. Linda Tintle, and Dr. Mark Goddell would be charged with moving forward with "Swollen Hock Syndrome". Dr. Tintle presented a program on this at the National Specialty in 1991.

The problem however was funding. The Board of Directors as The Committee To Eliminate Amyloidosis appointed Board Members Dennis June, Danny Jaber, and Romana Arnold representing their regions. Their goal was to raise $10,000 before the National Specialty in Tulsa in May of 1993. $20,000 was raised from the membership.

From the minutes of the General Membership meeting at the Tulsa National Specialty, "The possibility of establishing a Foundation to handle the distribution of charitable donations for the benefit of Chinese Shar-Pei was discussed. Central Director Danny Jaber has been in contact with Ed Sledzik who has extensive experience in setting up canine foundations. Neither CSPCA Counsel Christine Amatruda nor CSPCA Accountant Walt Lupieka has experience in this process. The major reason to establish a Foundation is so that donations may be handled in a non-taxable manner. At the present time our emphasis is on Amyloidosis. However in the future we will need to deal with other issues and problems. A foundation can give the flexibility we will need. Some of the positive aspects of a Foundation were listed. No one present mentioned any negative aspects to the plan to establish a Foundation"

Central Director Danny Jaber was instructed to develop a proposal for a Foundation and present it to the Board for consideration.

The following day at the General Membership meeting a motion to direct the establishment of the Foundation was made, seconded and passed. A written ballot also passed it on September 1993. At the January 1994 meeting of the Board in St. Louis, Central Director Danny Jaber gave a committee report delineating the differences between a "Charitable Trust" and a "Foundation".

After discussion by the Board, Secretary Jocelyn Barker made and Western Director Dennis June seconded a motion to withdraw support from establishment of a Foundation. The motion passed unanimously. Then Secretary Jocelyn Barker made and Western Director Dennis June seconded a motion to authorize Central Director Danny Jaber to contact Ed Sledzik in order to establish "The Chinese Shar-Pei Club Of America Charitable Trust. The motion passed unanimously.

At the April 29, 1995 meeting of the CSPCA board, it decided to roll the funds from the Committee to Eliminate Amyloidosis into the Charitable Trust and appoint Lee Arnold as Chairman of the Trust. The motion was made by Western Director Darlene Albright and seconded by Secretary Jocelyn Barker and passed by a unanimous vote. The Board agreed that by virtue of his position as Chair of the Health Through Education Committee Jeff Vidt, DVM would serve on the Board of the Trust.

The approximate $2000 left over from the Committee to Eliminate Amyloidosis was the "seed" money that funded the Trust. After accepting the position I met with the Board and these items were discussed.

  • Form a committee of volunteers to solicit funds. (A notice was placed in "The Barker" for volunteers.). There was no response. I made several calls to solicit help.

  • The CSPCA Charitable Trust was set up as a separate entity to the CSPCA with it Own Committee, which later became the first Trustees. It was the CSPCA Boards View that by doing this we would operate "beyond politics".

  • Consult with Ed Sledzik and finalize the 501(c3) document. Lee Arnold, Chairman and Romana Arnold as Co-Chairman signed the Trust papers on June 25, 1995. Essentially the Trust document (501c3) is the instrument that governs the Trust. Much the same as Bylaws or a Constitution For any other body.

The CSP Trust has always been independent from the Parent Club but always interdependent of each other. The membership of the Parent Club has provided the funding for research that addresses the health needs of the Chinese Shar-Pei.

By the time summer of 1996 rolled around, the Trust had raised over $25,000, which was matched by Gary and Cammy Seamans. At the National Specialty in Portland, Oregon that same year, Debbie Lynch, Executive Director of the AKC/Canine Health Foundation made a presentation to the CSPCA Board Of Directors, and following that a presentation at the general membership meeting. She explained the benefits of becoming a member of the AKC/CHF Donor advisor fund. Essentially this meant any money we put in this account would be directed for research for Chinese Shar-Pei only, with matching funds from the AKC/CHF and it also would be an interest bearing account.

At an annual meeting of the Board Of Trustees some time ago, it was decided to change the name from the Chinese Shar-Pei Club Of America Charitable Trust, to simply avoid confusion once again that we were an independent entity.