Girl Scout organizes dog walkathon to benefit Pet Connection
By CARLENE MILLER
Updated: 05/08/08 12:12 PM
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- Lancaster senior Julia Nawrocki is surrounded by puppies at the Pet Connection. She organized a dog walkathon to benefit the shelter for her Girl Scout Gold Award; the third one will be held Saturday.
Ever since Julia Nawrocki was 4 years old and her family adopted two Italian greyhounds to save them from puppy mills, animals have been her life. She has since become a member of the Boy Scout Veterinary Explorers Program, volunteered at Hawk Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation and Pet Connection Programs Inc., and plans on attending Ball State University in Indiana to study Wildlife Biology and Conservation.
With all the ways animals have enriched Julia’s life, she felt she should return the favor.
Three years ago, Julia Nawrocki, now 17 and a senior at Lancaster, was searching for an idea for her Girl Scout Gold Award. She knew she wanted to help animals in some way, and her volunteer work at Pet Connection inspired her to organize “Tails on the Trails”, a dog walkathon to benefit the shelter.
Pet Connection is a nonprofit maternity/special care nonkill animal shelter that relies solely on community donations and volunteers like Julia, who walk and bathe the dogs, clean the shelter and help raise money. “They bring in a lot of pregnant dogs and cats, but some other animals, too. A lot of times, they go out of state because other states allow shelters to euthanize dogs and a lot of times the pregnant dogs are the first to go because they don’t want any more dogs. They bring them back to the shelter and they’re cared for until they’re old enough to be adopted,” said Julia.
All proceeds from the dog walkathon benefit Pet Connection, and most of the money goes toward veterinary bills. All puppies and kittens at Pet Connection are given their first shots and either spayed or neutered. Many animals come to the shelter abused and in need of medical attention.
Due to this, Pet Connection pays special attention to finding the right homes for animals by performing thorough background checks. “They definitely want the new homes to be permanent, since the dogs and cats have already been through enough, some have been abused, a lot of them, when they first come in, they’re afraid to go for a walk. Even if the dog is unadoptable, if they’re still scared, then there are a few dogs who live at the shelter and will stay there,” Julia said.
With help from her mother, Charlene, Julia organized the event three years ago by finding a location, designing fliers and T-shirts and publicizing the event. That first year, Julia enlisted between 40 and 45 people to participate. As it was for her Gold Award, Julia requested donations of items from the shelter’s wish list rather than money. More than 1,000 items were collected.
The response made Julia decide to make this a yearly event, and it has since become Pet Connection’s biggest fundraiser. “A lot of people had fun and enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, and it brought in so much to the shelter, in awareness and fundraising,” Julia said.
The event has switched to accepting monetary donations through the $15 preregistration fee and sponsorship of walkers, as well as a Chinese auction and selling lunches. Last year the dog walk generated more than $4,000 for the shelter. Now in its third year, this is expected to be the biggest turnout yet, with more than 100 people preregistered and many more expected the day of the event.
“People who did it the first year, many of them are still going to do it this year. They enjoy it and they come out and meet other people who love animals, speak with local businesses, see the demonstrations, and hopefully it’s a nice day and they can get some exercise. It’s grown so much,” said Julia.
Julia and Charlene Nawrocki began in January making signs, assembling Chinese auction baskets, finding vendors, and they’ll keep working up until the night before as they set up the walking course. At the event, Pet Connection volunteers and many of Julia’s friends provide assistance.
“It’s good to see all the people who adopt from Pet Connection, who bring their puppies, who are now dogs, back to the dog walk, and you can see how much they’ve grown and how happy they are with their new families,” she said.
Though Julia will be heading off to college in the fall, she hopes the event will continue in years to come. “It’s become the biggest fundraiser for Pet Connection, so I think they really need it to continue, and hopefully it continues and people continue to learn about it and help out,” she said.
“Tails on the Trails” will be held from 10 a. m. to 3 p. m. this Saturday at Como Lake Park in Lancaster. Participants are welcome to come at any time to walk with or without a dog. Events will include a pet blessing, readings from a pet psychic, local pet-related vendors, a Disc Dog demonstration by Power Tripp Border Collies, a pet first aid demonstration by American Red Cross and best-dressed pet, owner/pet look-a-like, and best trick contests.
For more information, visit www.petconnectionprogramsinc.com . Carlene Miller is a sophomore at Alden.
