Volunteer Spotlight:
George Macias

George, with Piper

George is a new volunteer at the HSGKC. He is a 15-year-old sophomore at Cristo Rey High School. He is volunteering at the shelter every Tuesday for the school year as part of his high school’s job shadowing program. George is an animal lover and has grown up with a wide variety of animals, including gerbils, lizards, dogs and even ferrets!

George has been with the shelter about a month and has enjoyed the experience. “I was really excited to observe spay surgeries in the clinic,” he says. “I was surprised there wasn’t more blood!”

His favorite shelter pet is Elaine in Cat Room 2. “She came right up to me and curled up in my lap the first time I met her,” he says. Sounds like Elaine chose George! She knows a great new volunteer when she sees one.

After high school graduation George wants to attend college in California and major in Business and minor in culinary arts. His ultimate career goal is to own a chain of family style Mexican restaurants and be the chef for one of them. When he’s not volunteering he enjoys cooking, fishing and video games. He also has his learners permit for driving – so if you see him out on the road give him a friendly honk and wave.

Cucumber the cat and Glimore, below, are just two of the many Ray of Hope pets at our shelter who are now safe and ready for new homes.

As you may have heard in the local media, Ray of Hope was on the brink of closing for September due to a lack of funding. Thankfully, hundreds of animal lovers in our community responded and sent donations. We now have enough to keep the program operating for another six months! This means 1,200 animals will be saved from euthanasia from now until then.

Gilmore

The Ray of Hope program is saving 35 to 50 animals every week. The cost of this program for the HSGKC is $10,000 a month. (It costs the HSGKC about $50 to save a pet.) We never want to be that close again to contemplating the closing of the program again – even for one month. We know the animals at the KCK Animal Control need the Ray of Hope to survive. We are committed to continuing this program, but need your help in finding the donations to support it.

Not sure how you can help? You can always make a personal gift online or by mailing a check. (Our goal is to have 100% of our volunteer team make an annual gift.) You can also approach your company, church, neighborhood, organization to “sponsor” the program. Your company could have a Jeans Day, your church could have a garage or bake sale, etc. Or individuals can also create their own Ray of Hope fundraising webpage by going to www.firstgiving.com/hsgkc .

Together, with your help, we can keep Ray of Hope going!

There are few volunteer needs that we will begin to schedule for soon. If you can help at the front desk during the week, please contact Jo. Volunteers will be trained to pull messages and answer phones for morning shifts Monday & Thursday.

Tip your glass to the shelter pets at the first annual Yappy Hour at Tannah’s from 5-9 pm, Thursday, September 24. Tannah’s is located at 5041 W. 135th St, Leawood, KS. Tickets are $20 early or $30 at the door. Tickets include three drink tickets and passed appetizers. The silent auction will be 5-7:30 pm. Come enjoy music, great drinks and food – all for a great cause. Purchase your tickets online or call 913-596-1000 x 22.

Big Martini 9 is Wednesday, October 7 in the event space underneath McCormick & Schmick’s on the Plaza. With the larger space we can invite even more animal lovers to join us for the fun.

Festivities begin at 5 pm and go until the well runs dry. The silent auction is 5-7:30 pm, the live auction is 7:35 pm. Enjoy this fun and festive cocktail party, do a little dance and raise your glass to toast the shelter pets.

Tickets are $25 early or $30 at the door. We have tables available for $200 (seats 4), $250 (seats 6) or $1,000 (seats 10 and includes tableside service and food at your table). Each attendee ticket includes 4 drink tickets and passed appetizers.

Purchase your tickets online or call 913-596-1000 x 22.

We need about 25 more auction items for our upcoming events. Items can include gift certificates or actual items valued at $20 and higher. If you have an item to donate, let Robin or Jo know. For items valued at $200 (single or combined value) you’ll receive two free tickets to Big Martini 9.

Hope you're planning to attend the volunteer pot luck gathering Sunday, October 4 at Shawnee Mission Park. Festivities will begin about 3 and run till the food runs out. HSGKC will provide an entrée, but is looking to you to bring your favorite side dish.

Don’t forget to RSVP to Jo for you and your four legged family (pets are invited). Or call 913-596-1000 ext 22.

We're in need of cat beds for our cats who aren't able to roam free in the cat rooms yet and need a comfy bed for their cage. The beds need to be fairly small and easy to wash.

For a list of other items and services we need, please check out our Sit Up and Beg Wish List. All of these items go to helping our cause become more successful and our animals’ lives become more enjoyable.

Buy your tickets today for the Bark at The K. Bark at the K is Sunday, September 27. It’s the only day of the year when you can bring your dog to a Royals game. Tickets for a human/dog combo are $25 and additional people tickets are $15 each. There will be a pet parade on the field right before the game starts (meet at Gate E at 12:15 for the parade).

Our goal is to have 500 dogs attend. Proceeds benefit the HSGKC, Wayside Waifs and Halfway Home Pet Adoptions.

Go to the Royals web site to buy your tickets today.

We've Been Adopted!
We're excited to share the news that some of our pets have recently found their forever homes:

Alfie, Brynne, CeCe, Cleo, Holly,

Nelly, Pippi, Redmond, WallE... and several more!