Volunteer Spotlight:
Raja & Meredith Paranjothi

Raja & Meredith with "Chief" & "Champ"

Chances are you’ve worked alongside Raja and Meredith Paranjothi at one of our satellite adoption events, the Pet Telethon, the Golf Classic, or even at Dog-n-Jog. Luckily for us, they have been volunteering with the Humane Society ever since they participated in their first golf tournament and Dog-n-Jog event!

Aside from the outside events and fundraisers, Raj and Meredith also enjoy coming to the shelter to socialize the dogs and learn about their individual personalities. They also have introduced many animals to families looking to adopt, which is so important. All together, Raj and Meredith have truly enjoyed their time with us. “We have been able to meet so many great dogs and great people.  We are so impressed with the passion, time, and dedication that the staff and volunteers contribute to the Humane Society and the animals.  It makes you want to do and contribute as much as you can,” the Paranjothis said.

“I love having the Paranjothis as volunteers,” said Robin Rowland, Development Director. “They are always up for anything. Raj has even been the ‘head dog’ in our 40 foot wiener dog float several times. And I love Meredith’s positive attitude. Whenever she’s volunteering she always has a smile on her face and a hug for our shelter dogs.”

We hope they continue contributing their time and energy on making the shelter a better place for our pets to be. Volunteers just like Raj and Meredith are a huge part of the reason our shelter is as fantastic as it is, so thank you for all you’ve done for the Humane Society, Raj and Meredith! Even though you may be spending a little less time with your self-proclaimed “Schmutts,” Chief and Champ (both 4 year old Schnauzer mix shelter pups), they know you’re helping out others in need of homes just like yours!

Dog-n-Jog was a huge success -- thanks to you! This year, Dog-n-Jog raised $70,000 for our shelter pets. Making it the most we have ever grossed in the 22 years we’ve held Dog-n-Jog. Thank you to those of you who promoted or worked the event, helped set-up and clean-up, and especially to our planning committee for making this event happen. A special thanks to our presenting sponsors: PetSmart and Banfield Pet Hospital for choosing to invest in Kansas City’s homeless pets by supporting Dog-n-Jog.

On July 14, we will be holding the fourth annual “Suds of Fun,” a do-it-yourself doggie wash at U-Wash Puppy at 75th and Neiman Road from 4-8pm. Washes are $5 and 100% of the proceeds benefit the HSGKC.

We will need volunteers to work the event, pass out information prior to the event, and help with set up and clean up. Email Elizabeth, our summer intern, if you’re interested in helping this year.

We also need dog items: chewtoys, treats, beds, leashes, collars, brushes, ANYthing dog-related. These donations will go towards our Fun Packs and other various gifts for our participants.

Just a reminder that we need you to keep voting for us in the contest put on by Petfinder.com and The Animal Rescue Site to help us win the weekly $1,000 awards, or maybe even more! We're still ranked 6th out of 129 shelters in Kansas and we need to move up!

All we need is for YOU to VOTE DAILY on our website: www.hsgkc.org and click on the box that says “VOTE!”. Vote once a day, every day. Add the link to your browser bookmarks and put a sticky note on your computer to remind yourself-- the key is to remember to VOTE FOR THE HUMANE SOCIETY (located in KS)!

Tell your friends! We need their votes, too.

"Franklin", a senior Golden Retriever, was at KCKAC but thanks to the Ray of Hope he's now boating with his foster family in Colorado.

We are six months into our Ray of Hope program and so far it’s been very successful. Ray of Hope is a partnership between the KCK Animal Control and The Humane Society to reduce the euthanasia rate and encourage spaying and neutering animals. With this program, we have reduced the euthanasia rate by 93% during the first six months when compared to the same time frame in 2008! This is a huge change since last year, and we want to keep saving lives and finding forever homes for our animals. If you are interested in volunteering with the Ray of Hope program, email Jo or call 913-596-1000 x 22.

"Cucumber" is one of several pets from KCK Animal Control who is now safe at our shelter and waiting for her forever home.

To date, we’ve saved 1,000 animals through The Ray of Hope program. As you can imagine the costs of caring for these additional animals is starting to add up. We estimate it costs, on average, $100 per animal to get them ready for adoption. If you’d like to support the Ray of Hope program with a $100 gift email Robin or call 913-596-1000 x 14.

Or click here to make a donation online or to learn more about The Ray of Hope program.

Help Us Raise Money with a Firstgiving Fundraising page!

Will you join us and be a part of the Ray of Hope program and create a Ray of Hope fundraising page? Creating a page is simple, quick and it saves lives. Help the animals by reaching out to other animal lovers and give them the opportunity to be a part of the solution.

Go to firstgiving.com/hsgkc to set up your page!

The shelter will be closed Friday July, 3 thru Sunday July 5. Monday we'll be back to normal hours. Have a great Fourth of July weekend!

We are ordering embroidered apparel items from ProMark with the HSGKC logo on them. We are getting them at cost, so stock up on your favorite polos, jackets, and hats and promote the Humane Society! The polos will be available in both light blue and royal blue, the zippered hooded-sweatshirt jackets are light grey, and the hats are stone. All items will have our logo with the paws and “The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City” embroidered in navy blue, except the royal blue shirts, which will have white embroidery.

Feel free to stop in the volunteer room during your next visit to look at and try on some samples. We will accept checks, cash, and credit card payments. They make wonderful gifts and we encourage everyone to represent the Humane Society with these items. The last day to order will be Friday, June 3 so call or stop by to place an order soon. Also, you may email Jo or Robin to order.

Our dog toys bins are nearly empty! If you can, please bring in new dog toys the next time you are at the HSGKC. We need toys to send home with our dogs when they get adopted, and also large hard-to-destroy types of toys for our dogs to play with out in our yards. Our shelter pets would really appreciate them!

For a list of other items and services we need, check out our Sit Up and Beg Wish List.

We've got quite a few satellite events lined up for the month of July. Jana will be sending out an email to the satellite volunteers this week with some new events we've just added. You can also visit the satellite page of our web site later this week for information on events.

It was a packed house for June’s volunteer orientation session! Please welcome Michele Taylor, Marlina Robertson, Pamela O’Brien, Paula Kennedy, Savannah Casteel, Erin Chappell, Mary Conaty, Molly Weis, Tom Weis, Janae Shipps, Nikki Bunch, Kim O’Neal, Kay Waters, Diana Ng, Carolyne Tracewell, Isabella Paniagua, Charlie Upchurch, Terri Panjada, Rachel Panjada, John Gurley, Martha Shuler, Lara Hastings, Jen Fairclough, Joyce Shipley, Michael Shipley, Krista Wyss, Ellen Stark and Mae Shoaf.