Last Saturday, November 4th, was our annual Diamonds in the Ruff Gala. It was a beautiful evening of people coming together to help eliminate pet homelessness. Part of the evening is dedicated to our Impact Awards. There are four categories to these awards: Employee of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Donor of the Year, and Sponsor of the Year. We are proud to have them as part of our pack and would like to share with you each recipient.
Team Member of the Year honored Marcella Slaughter. Marcella is our Intake Manager, which means she coordinates with over 60 municipal shelters throughout the state every year to bring animals into our adoption program that might otherwise be euthanized due to space-related issues. She travels to the shelters to evaluate the animals utilizing her extensive training skills and transports them back to our Leander Adoption Center where they can receive the care they need to be adopted. It’s a challenging, but rewarding job as Marcella can see a direct impact of her efforts – over 5,000 dogs and cats saved since she became a team member. Thank you Marcella for being a great example of leadership, professionalism and compassion.
Volunteer of the Year honored both Hank and Sandy Amen. At times, Marcella brings in a pregnant animal or one that has puppies or kittens under two months old. These animals cannot stay in the shelter environment, so wonderful volunteers, such as Hank and Sandy step up and welcome these young lives into their home. They’ve fostered many animals for our organization, and they welcome large litters of puppies – can you imagine having eight young pups in your house? Hank and Sandy take amazing photos of the dogs, they socialize them and expose them to new stimuli, so they’re ready to be adopted once they’ve been spayed/neutered, microchipped and vaccinated. Thank you Hank & Sandy for your patience, love and care of our animals.
Donor of the Year honored Marilyn Blewett. Marilyn has fulfilled a critical need at our adoption center by funding several playgroup areas at Texas Humane Heroes. This provides the opportunity to get dogs out of their kennels and outside to enjoy the fresh air and playtime. It also allows us to spend quality time with our adoptable dogs, exercising, socializing and understanding how they interact with other dogs. Marilyn is a long-time supporter of Texas Humane Heroes, and her dedication and generosity, have directly helped over one hundred animals find their families. Thank you Marilyn for deeply loving pets and providing gifts to find them homes.
Sponsor of the Year honored Cedar Park Overhead Doors. As you’ve noticed, Cedar Park Overhead Doors, is the presenting sponsor of tonight’s event. They generously support our efforts throughout the year covering the annual cost of food for over 2,500 animals. Don also generously donates his time by serving on our board of directors. There are many opportunities that Cedar Park Overhead Doors provides for Texas Humane Heroes, such as a recent partnership with the Texas Stars where our adopters will receive free tickets to the hockey games, then see their adoption photos displayed on the big screen. So fun! Thank you to Don and your team for always making us feel supported in our mission, but also as individuals.