One night, while worrying about animals without shelter during a terrible storm, a heartwarming idea was born. Today, that once-small idea is the Purple Kennel Project, a movement that’s put thousands of roofs over dogs’ heads!
Cape Town South Africa (23 May 2025) — As the weather dips into icy territory and storms brew at a whim, numerous animal shelters and rescue organisations will scramble to keep their residents warm. But, tough times like winter also offer a perfect storm for heroes to step up. Today’s inspiration? The Purple Kennel Project!
In the Western Cape, the Purple Kennel Project have worked for years as a helper to the helpers—donating kennels to organisations, impoverished pet owners and those who most need to put a roof over their animals’ heads.
This was no massive corporate epiphany or a huge task force rising to the occasion. Instead, it was one kind of human, one big storm and many animals in distress that started it all!
Recently, the Purple Kennel Project’s founder, Samantha Chatham (better known as Sam) took to share the story of how the Project came to be. It’s a tangible dose of inspiration for anyone who wants to serve their community better to just start with where you are and what you have. You don’t need it all mapped out nor do you need an army behind you—sometimes all you need to turn wanting to help into actually getting started and letting the rest take shape from there!
As Sam recalls, the Purple Kennel Project began back in 2016 on a “horrendous stormy night”.
“Whilst lying in bed unable to sleep thinking of all the wet woofers…I had an epiphany! All welfare [organisations] need kennels I thought…and decided from that moment on, I would rather focus on purchasing a few kennels a month and simply donate them to the amazing [organisations] working out there doing much-needed animal outreach in the impoverished areas.”
Before this point, Sam had done her bit with donating money but knew there was room to take the goodwill further.
From there, things started to snowball into place. Sam found a roadside carpenter to help build the kennels, redirected friends ‘gifts’ to the then-unnamed kennel project, and eventually started personalising labels to the donors who made the kennels possible!
Today, the Project is entering its 10th winter with the fantastic record that thousands of kennels have been contributed since Day One.
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“Thanks to the generosity of many, we have sent out around 3700 warm kennels…that’s around 412 for each of our 9 years…more than 1 a day!” Sam shares.
“[The Project is] more than I could have ever dreamed of,” Sam reflects adding that there is still so much work to do.
Become a Kennel Champion
Medium kennels are R440, while large ones are R570 and Jumbo creations are R750. Additional costs go toward branding and labelling.
You can contribute by sponsoring a kennel in your name, someone you love, in your own pets’ honour or even a nickname of your friend group! Whether it’s a birthday gift or another important occasion, you’ll be giving a one-of-a-kind gift few chocolates or flowers could ever rival.
Companies can also get involved CSR-wise, but so can communities like social or activity clubs.
You can find out more information here.
And, even if you can’t contribute directly, spread the word or use Sam’s movement as a springboard to start your own. The next time you catch yourself worrying about a big problem, consider taking a moment to figure out what ‘one thing’ you could do to improve one life impacted by said problem. This is how we impart change!
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