Thank you for visiting my fundraising page for West Suburban Humane Society (WSHS)!  This is my 7th year as a volunteer for this wonderful organization that helps SO many homeless cats and dogs in SO many ways, and it's my 4th year raising funds. 

I like to call our shelter the little house with the big heart because I've seen so many cases where it's so incredibly true.  One example that particularly stands out happened this July, when severe storms blew through Downers Grove early one Monday morning and knocked out power to the shelter for almost 4 days.  This was very serious because we were experiencing a heat wave in the Midwest, where temperatures were well into the 90s during the day and didn't cool down very much at night.  The shelter's air conditioning went down, electricity to the refrigerator that keeps  vaccinations and medications cold went off, and phones and computers were down--just to name a few problems that this outage caused.  The shelter received aid from volunteers the community from its call for help.  A local doggie daycare facility loaned us a generator so that we could power fans, and a veteranary practice took in some of our more sensitive animals.  The shelter asked for volunteers to stay overnight in shifts so that the windows could stay open, the animals could be checked, and the generator wouldn't run out of fuel.  A waiting list for this had to be created because so many volunteers stepped up.

This is just one of the many examples of the spirit and love that keeps this shelter going.  However, spirit and love are just a couple of ingredients that keep our doors open to these wonderful, deserving animals.  Money is the key thing that keeps our doors open.  WSHS  receives no public funding.  All of the funds to help the animals are raised through fundraisers like Barkapalooza and through animal-lovers (or lovers of animal lovers!) like you and me.  Barkapalooza is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and funds go directly to help the homeless cats and dogs who come to us.  Each and every cat, dog, kitten and puppy receives not only food and shelter, but any veterinary care that it needs while in our care, and is spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped before going to its forever-home.

Please consider helping me raise money for WSHS this year.  No amount is too small or too large.  Donating through this website is the easiest and most efficient way to help; it is simple, fast and totally secure.  If you're not comfortable donating electronically, please e-mail me at johnsoncin@gmail.com and I'll let you know how you can mail me your donation.

All of the animals who have been and will be helped join me in thanking you for your support.  PLEASE forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!

 

P.S.  Please don't forget about company matching!  This is a great way for companies to do their thing in the community, and helps the animals out even more!  Just let me know and I'll get the information you need.