Be the Change - Shelter Drive By!

Today I've got a very Hellen-Woodward-centric post.

Dr V. (not our Dr. V, whom you might remember from Abby's oncology visits, but a different Dr. V.) of www.pawcurious.com has teamed up with BlogPaws and the folks at Iams (with their annual "Home 4 the Holidays" campaign) to highlight National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week.

Dr. V. asked that bloggers do a "drive-by" of a local Home 4 The Holidays shelter or rescue and drop off a donation. She said it could be something "as simple as bringing them an old towel from your closet or as complicated as you wish. I like simple. Simple is good and repeatable and easy and is what I will be doing."

So, I did something simple. I gathered up a small bag of some sheets and towels we no longer needed. I also checked Helen Woodward Animal Center's "wish list" page. If you've been reading the blog for a while, you know I volunteer at HWAC. They actually started the Home 4 the Holidays campaign. In fact, a certain little girl we know and love was adopted during that campaign:

How could we resist bringing this face home with us?? (Miss that girl...)

Anyway, probably just about every shelter has a "wish list" page, with all kinds of items from the simple (rolls of paper towels) to the complicated (HWAC's list includes "A Google Rep to answer questions with our Google Non-Profit Account"). I decided to bring some dog treats for the AniMeals program (a partner program with Meals on Wheels).

For me, this was super easy, because I go there every Monday anyway for my volunteer shift. So, I just cruised in one of the back doors, like I always do, and took my towels/sheets right to where they stash them, and dropped my treats off by the Animals storage area. No pics of that, cuz it was not super exciting...

But, I do have pics of something else I did related to HWAC this weekend - I helped out as a puppy handler for their annual telethon, which was broadcast on the local KUSI news channel here in San Diego. I wasn't 100% sure I'd be on TV. My friend who has helped out for several years now said they usually have the cute, young high school girls who volunteer hold the pups on camera. So, how I got in to the mix I do not know!

We puppy handlers had the best job of anyone there. We just held adorable pups all day, and then appeared on camera with them as needed.

This is Floppy. Everyone kept trying to steal her from me.

I forgot my camera, so I just took pics of my TV...

Diane Keaton was there! (She's on the HWAC Board.) She walked right by and smiled at me. :)

I got to hold a big check. How fun is that? I never held a big check before.

Here I am with Flame. Total cutie!

And here's Fluff. The sweetest little thing EVER.

The telethon was a big success and raised over $400,000! Also, I'm happy to report that Flame, Floppy and Fluff all found their furever homes. I can't believe, though, that Flash, Floppy's brother, is STILL available. Floppy and Flash are the calmest pups I've ever met. Someone needs to snap this kid up SOON.

Could he be any cuter??

I'd snap him up myself, but Rita would probably bat him around too much. I think he's too mellow for her. (Although maybe he'd be a calming influence on her??) Anyway, I'm sure he'll find a great home soon!

This is a blog hop! Hopefully lots of other bloggers will participate, because if 100 of us do, then:

1. Blog Paws will donate $1000 to Rescue Ink, a rescue devastated by Hurricane Sandy.
2. Blog Paws will also donate $1000 to one of the shelters featured in the Blog Hop. (Whoohoo - we could maybe win $1000 for HWAC!)
3. The Blog Paws team and Dr. V. will pick one post to be featured on the Iams Facebook wall between now and December.

So, come on Pet Bloggers! Hop on!