There are no donations too small to aid us in our endeavors at this shelter. All amounts are tax deductible, and very much appreciated.

You may also bring any donations to our office, or mail a check or money order to:
ROGUE VALLEY HUMANE SOCIETY
P.O. BOX 951
Grants Pass, OR 97528

A Huge Success

 

On Saturday night (June 6th) the Rogue Valley Humane Society enjoyed its most successful fund raising benefit in its long history. Over 200 people (a sell out) gathered at the Grants Pass Elks Lodge for a great spaghetti dinner, music and an auction all in support of our animals.

This event was the brainchild of RVHS board member, Dawn Franz (who is also the Elks Club Manager). None of us had ever done anything like this before so Dawn led the way. Four months in the planning, we came together and after a slow start the donations started rolling in and the ticket sales soared.

The other spearhead in this and all our fund raising events was our shelter manager, Margaret Varner. Her love for animals, hard work and desire to make the RVHS the best it can be is an inspiration to us all. Her staff is pretty darn good too!

We would also like to give a big thanks to Dennis Roler and his staff at the Grants Pass Daily Courier for all the great publicity they gave the event. We could not have filled this room without them. Then there's radio personality Gwyn Gilmore and others at KLDR - KAJO who gave us a great last minute push on their stations. This is the kind of help we would never get in a "big city".

Many thanks to the volunteers from the shelter, Elks and shelter staff who donated their time and talents to prepare and serve this fine dinner and all those who attended and pulled out their wallets to bid on one or more of our donated gifts in the auctions. It truly was a group effort.

But the best part was that EVERYTHING we raised went directly to help our never ending goal of saving animals in distress or abandonment and making sure they all find a good home. We are a no kill shelter so some of our guys have been with us a while and will be until they are placed... maybe with you?

Many changes, all for the better, have taken place at our shelter in the last year and if you haven't been there for a while stop by and visit. You can also arrange a tour in advance and who knows, maybe you'll find the new love of your life.

Finally, please support the generous local merchants who donated services or goods to this cause. See their names at the bottom of this page.

Several board members spent the afternoon setting up the room including all the great items donated for the silent and live auctions.

RVHS board member, Don Ewald shows off the societies new T-shirts that are now available at the shelter for just $15.00! They come in maroon and blue. Get yours now.

 

After the guests were seated, RVHS Vice President, June Peterson addressed the crowd expressing our appreciation and introducing Susan Beldman (president) and Reco Hill (treasurer) our two veteran board members.

As we said, this was a total volunteer dinner so all the cooking, serving and clean up was done by shelter board members, employees, volunteers, patrons and let us not forget the great Elk members.

For a bunch of "rookies" these folks did a wonderful job of getting everyone watered and fed. Here is the salad production line with board member Linda Bradley-Lloyd manning the dressing.

RVHS board member Mary Hanson took a break from serving to say Hi to hubby Don.

Board member Bill Fien with KLDR – KAJO radio personality Gwyn Gilmore who did a great job as our Master of Ceremonies.

Master Chef Rudy Ramos, who normally prepares the monthly Gourmet Dinners at the Elks Lodge, volunteered to cook up a huge batch of his private recipe spaghetti with the help of Elks staff cook, Eric.

The serving crew were like a well oiled machine taking one tray after another off the line and out into the dining room.

During and after dinner one of the best one man shows around, Buck Buckendahl played his wide range of music right to the end for the dancers.

The highlight of the night was our live auction that was in the capable hands of Elks Past-ER Ron Schwartz. The folks were asked to open their hearts and wallets for the animals - and they sure did.

We again want to thank EVERYONE who had a part in this fun and profitable affair. We now plan to make it an annual event so plan on doing it all again this time next year!