PAWS FOR A CAUSE INC

After nearly ten years of lobbying my wife, Heidi and I adopted a puppy from a rescue in Carlisle, PA. We had the opportunity to meet the entire litter of puppies as all six were in the same foster home. When we went to see them, the foster mom explained to us how lucky the dogs were. They had just transferred from a sister shelter in West Virginia, and a couple of days after they moved out, there was a terrible fire at the shelter. That story touched me and put the thought in the back of my mind that I would like to help an animal group in the future. Our pick of the litter was a 12 week old Australian Shepherd/Black Lab mix. While he was young, it didn’t take long for him to win us over. We almost immediately began treating Fenway as our child. Heidi has said that she couldn’t love him more if she gave birth to him herself! In mid 2006, I wanted to host a party to celebrate the 1st anniversary of my new business. After great thought, I felt it was better to host an event that gave something back to the community that has helped support our growth. As I was thinking of ways to give back, I remembered the story of the shelter in West Virginia and Paws for a Cause was born. Our first event was held in our office and drew about 25 attendees. That year we raised over $2,500 for the Humane Society of Baltimore County. The Humane Society is a non profit organization that takes in unwanted animals; housing dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and gerbils. With your help, we were able to raise awareness for the Humane Society and all the work it does for our community’s animals in need. The Humane Society used the proceeds from Paws to buy dental equipment to help improve the health of the shelter animals. 2008 marked the creation of Paws for a Cause, Inc. In previous years, we simply hosted events and passed the proceeds on to non profits; however, our growth and multiple recipient organizations created a need for us to form our own 501(c)3. My how we’ve grown!