“Santa & Paws” visited the office of Richland Source on Saturday afternoon for an event that was hosted by the Humane Society of Richland County. The fundraiser was sponsored by Richland Source and MT Business Technologies, Inc.
The Humane Society of Richland County invited pet owners and their pets to the Richland Source offices to have the pets’ picture taken with Santa Claus. This is the first year that “Santa & Paws” has been held at the Richland Source office.
“This is for such a good cause and this is the first time we are doing it at this office,” said new volunteer to the Humane Society of Richland County Sheila Schaefer.
In addition to the pets’ picture with Santa Claus, there was also a “Bark & Bake Sale” and a raffle was also held. Linda Carr of Mansfield was the raffle winner.
“All of the volunteers with the Humane Society made the baked goods for the bake sale. The proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards the Richland County Humane Society. We have some great dogs in the shelter,” said Senior Volunteer Coordinator and Board member Sabrina Lefever.
Even homemade dog treats were included in the sale and many of them were sold to treat the dogs while their photos printed. The dog treats sold out, but the unsold brownies, cookies, and cakes were given to the Domestic Violence Shelter.
Lefever is also in charge of small special events and fundraisers. She has been a volunteer with the Richland County Humane Society for seven years, and she took the time to explain how someone can become a volunteer.
“A lot of people think that volunteering just has to be done at the shelter but that is not the case at all because volunteer work can be performed anywhere. There is so much more to volunteering than just going to the shelter. We have events that we hold and we need volunteers to help walk dogs in the parades,” said Lefever. Lefever is a dog lover herself and owns two Great Danes; both were rescued dogs.
Ann Robinson is a volunteer at the Humane Society of Richland County and her grandson has joined in to help, too.
“I help with the small stuff. I help donate and I ran in the 5K. I bought some cottage cheese for the special needs dogs with my own money,” said Robinson’s grandson Sam Abbot, 11. He wore an elf costume on Saturday and helped calm pets and posed with Santa and the pets.
Robinson owns a rescue dog who she named V. “I named her V because she had a giant upside down V on her stomach and that is how she got the name. When she was born I just fell in love with her and I had to have her,” said Robinson. V is a giant Schnauzer mix.
Mansfield residents Laura and Joe Rushton brought their five year old Golden Retriever Natasha in to get her picture taken with Santa. “This is the first time that we have gotten Natasha’s picture with Santa. She is a wonderful dog,” said Laura Rushton.
Supervisor of the Humane Society of Richland County Missy Houghton also brought her two furry friends to join in the fun.
“We have been doing this event for at least the past six years. We usually have a decent turnout and now this year we are at this brand new location. It is very exciting,” said Houghton. Houghton brought her Pug, Fergie, and Schnauzer-Yorkie mix, Monkey, to the event.
Holiday Pet Gift Sets are available for purchase and donations will go to the Humane Society of Richland County (HSRC). A variety of pet products, appropriate for a dog or cat, are included in the gift sets. The deadline to order is Dec. 11 and pick-up for the gift sets will begin on Dec. 13 at The Humane Society of Richland County.
The flyer to order gift sets is available here.
Also, Five Below is supporting the Humane Society. The event consists of presenting an invitation at the time of purchase and 10 percent of the purchase will be donated to the Humane Society of Richland County.
“The Richland Source staff was pleased to facilitate the Humane Society event. We enjoyed meeting the well-behaved dogs, some of them in Christmas attire, and their owners. We also enjoyed the Humane Society staff, volunteers, and Santa,” said Richland Source Editor Rhonda Bletner.
She added, “It was definitely a fun way to support a good cause and we learned that there are some very nice animals looking for homes. They just might make someone’s Christmas a little more warm and fuzzy.”
“The proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards the Richland County Humane Society. We have some great dogs in the shelter,” said Senior Volunteer Coordinator and Board member Sabrina Lefever.
