It's official: the fundraiser called "Paws for a Cause" in the Chestatee neighborhood last Saturday night raised over $30,000 for the Dawson County Humane Society!!!!!!! The winner of the 50:50 raffle was Charlie Ridley, and he and his wife, Julia, generously donated his winnings to the Society. As a result of this event, the friends and residents of the Chestatee community will be recognized for having "purchased" the two visitation rooms in the new shelter. The visitation rooms are where people considering adoption of a pet can go to privately interact with animals. Everyone that adopts a new pet from the shelter will realize the contribution of these fine Chestatee folks because of plaques of recognition in each visitation room that will remain as long as the building stands.

Other communities in Dawson County please take note- only a handful of volunteers in the Chestatee development decided to make a difference for our poor stray animals. In slightly over a month, these few, dedicated people pulled together an evening of food and entertainment and organized both a silent auction and a 50:50 raffle. In order to gather "seed money" for the event, they purchased a semi-trailer of pine straw bales and sold them to friends and neighbors in Chestatee at a dollar over cost per bale. That idea generated $1000 quickly to get the ball rolling for the main event, "Paws for a Cause".

Because of the successes of Paws for a Cause ($30,000), and the Fur Ball ($39,000), and the "sale" of the Stray Kennel Room ($20,000), our cages and runs will soon be purchased to fully outfit the new shelter. Though our building construction was "paid for" by years of fundraising and a privately funded mortgage, the critical cages and runs to hold all the animals were "off budget" items, unfunded when construction began. The Board of Directors had faith in Dawson County citizens to provide the necessary funds once construction began. Construction has definitely invigorated the spirit of giving in the animal lovers of this county.