by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Walkers, contributors and exhibitors are wanted for the annual upcoming Woofstock Companion Walk, one of the major Tri-County Humane Society’s annual fundraisers.
The event is set for 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9 at Wilson Park along the Mississippi River in St. Cloud. The 5k fundraiser typically attracts about 600 people and 300 pets for food, exhibit booths, a pet-costume contest, a hot-dog-eating contest, music and lots of other activities before and after the 5k walk by pets and their owners.
This year’s goal is to raise $60,000, all of which will be used for pet needs at the regional humane society in St. Cloud. That amount is vital to help the more than 3,000 animals who depend on the humane society and on the kind people who adopt them.
Thanks to Woofstock, among other ongoing fundraisers, last year 96 percent of the animals who, one way or another, found themselves at the humane society’s shelter, were adopted into homes.
Plenty of lead time in planning for Woofstock is vital. What’s needed are silent-auction items, both pet-related and non-pet-related; prizes of gift certificates to area restaurants and shops for the 20 top-fundraising teams; and, last but not least, walkers who solicit pledges. No advanced registration is required; just print out a Woofstock registration form and start collecting donations. Choose a name for the team and then have each team member print that name on their pledge forms.
To find out all the ways one can help and to sign up as a walker, visit tricountyhumanesociety.org.
Shanti, a dog brought all the way from India, was adopted out by the Tri-County Humane Society. “We were meant to be her family,” her adopters wrote. They named her Shanti because in ancient Sanskrit it means “peace, tranquility, bliss.”
Tippy now has a loving “forever” family, having been adopted at the Tri-County Humane Society. Tippy had been a stray and is named Tippy because she tips over now and then, a victim of a neurological condition known as cerebella hyperplasia. Tippy is 5 months old.
