Our Founder
In May of 2021 our president and founder, Kathy Oxendine died at age 75 due to cancer, leaving behind a legacy of community service that included running the Toby Fund for 20 years.
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Kathy became an icon in the Southern Oregon animal welfare community through a single-minded, tireless focus to building the Toby Fund. While she had other interests and talents -- she was a highly accomplished teacher and enjoyed playing classical piano -- she eventually devoted herself entirely to the Toby Fund, selflessly pouring in endless hours of hard work, personal resources and emotional connection to meet the needs of our clients, particularly the four-legged ones.
Our mission, "to foster a culture of compassion for animals in rural communities through the development and implementation of educational and animal protection programs," primarily took the form of three programs: it started with Spay & Neuter, then grew into Unchain My Heart (building yards for chained animals) and Stand By Me (emergency medical fund).
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Please consider donating in Kathy's memory. And we give our sincere thanks to all of our past donors for making Kathy's dream possible. The Toby Fund would not exist without your generosity.