Shower the Shelter campaign is underway

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

The old baseball saying “rounding third and heading for home” can be applied to progress at the Van Wert County Humane Society’s long awaited new shelter.

Construction continues at the Fox Road facility and is on track to be finished by mid-to-late May and with an eye on opening for use, Humane Society officials are looking for help to furnish the new building.

$790,000 was raised to construct the new shelter, an amount that is enough to cover construction costs, architectural fees and tap-in costs. However, with rising costs, more funds are necessary to properly furnish it, leading to a “Shower the Shelter” fundraising campaign, which is now underway.

“It’s kind of like a cross between a bridal shower and a baby shower to try to raise funds that will cover things like kennels, pet cots and everything that we need to furnish the inside,” capital campaign chairperson Michelle White said. “It’s going to be our last fundraiser for the building.”

The easiest way to donate is to go online directly to https://vwchs.org/shower-the-shelter and choose one of the three options.

“There is an Amazon shopping list that you can click on and (any purchase) will be shipped directly to me because we don’t have someone at the old shelter or here to accept all of that,” White explained. “There are also some Chewy items, but they don’t have a wish list, so they can go on there (the link) and click on exactly what we want, pay for it and ship it to me. We also have a ‘donate’ button for large items and those monies will help cover things like a washer and dryer, cabinets, a locked area for medications, a small refrigerator and freezer for meds.”

White said the Shower the Shelter fundraising campaign will run until mid-May.

The new facility, which is about 800 square feet larger than the existing facility on Bonnewitz Avenue, will offer a number of key improvements for adoptable pets and for those who work and volunteer there.

“There will be access for the animals to go outside when they want to and our floors are all going to be sealed so nothing can get absorbed into the cement,” White said. “Our HVAC system will be 24-hours-a-day air exchange, so the air exchange will be much better than the other facility.”

“I call it our cruise ship because everything will be perfectly fit in here, she added. “We’ll have different rooms for our animals and it’s just a better design because our other facility is a dog pound which is not meant to house animals for months.”

“The community has been so positive and supportive of this project,” White said. “It’s unbelievable.”