Animal lovers will want to visit this year’s National Lentil Festival.
The Whitman County Humane Society is holding a fundraiser for general operating costs during the annual festival on Aug. 18, WCHS volunteer Tara Wimer said.
Donation jars will be spread throughout the beer and wine garden in the Spring Street parking lot, Wimer said. The jars will be for the Hope Fund, WCHS’s life-saving fund for animals requiring extraordinary care.
“If we didn’t have that fund, we wouldn’t have a way to pay for things like leg amputations, or eye removals, things like that, that are sometimes very greatly needed,” Wimer said.
WCHS volunteers will raise money by attending to brewery stands and supervising tickets and wristbands at the beer and wine garden, Wimer said.
Lori Jordan, WCHS board of directors member, said money feeds causes like building maintenance, cleaning supplies, feeding, medical supplies and other animal necessities.
“We are the only humane society for all of Whitman County. The amount of animals we take in and take care of and adopt out are significant for the size of our shelter and our funding. So, we heavily rely on donations and volunteers,” Jordan said.
Last year, WCHS raised $2,676, but the goal is to raise $4,000 this year, Wimer said.
Thirty-eight volunteers are needed to guarantee WCHS eligibility to fundraise the full $4,000, Wimer said. WCHS is still seeking festival volunteers.
“It’s a pretty big fundraiser for us. We are a pretty small shelter. We rely really heavily on volunteers and fundraising. [The amount of money we can make] depends on how many volunteers we have,” Jordan said.
WCHS is not a municipality, Wimer said. WCHS has agreements with the city of Pullman and receives funds from them, but Pullman is not WCHS’s overseeing agency.
Pullman’s funds are a small percentage of WCHS’s income, and donations and fundraisers are necessary to make up the rest, Wimer said. Fundraising accounts for about 20–30% of WCHS’s income.
“We have a very generous community that has helped the shelter stay sustainable for a very long time. And then also grants. A lot of the money that keeps the shelter in operation is really community-funded,” Wimer said.
Last year’s funds were used for operating costs, such as medications, life-saving surgeries, staff wages and overhead expenses for the WCHS-operated facility Animal Haven, Wimer said. Due to an influx of shelter dogs, this year’s funds will likely supply construction of a larger dog building.
“WCHS has been participating in the beer garden fundraiser at the National Lentil Festival for over 10 years,” Jordan wrote in an email. “We just want to be part of the community and help the animals at the same time. It’s community outreach, and helping animals, and having people understand that we’re there to help and that we’re available is really important.”
She said people can volunteer at the shelter, fundraisers or both. She also said WCHS provides an orientation and does not “just throw [volunteers] to the wolves.”
People can help local animals and volunteer for the upcoming fundraiser by visiting WCHS’s website and navigating to the volunteer opportunities page. Other annual WCHS events include Cruzin for Critters, Furball and Yappy Hour, Wine and Whiskers, Santa Paws and Cats to the Mats.
“We need as many volunteers as we can get. No joke, I’m not exaggerating, the more people we have helping us, the more money that saves us, so that means the more animals we can reach,” Wimer said.
