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BCSPCA Kelowna branch fundraising co-ordinator Marni Adams and Romany Runnalls with a couple of the local shelter's residents. (Photo Holly Miyasaki)
An evening of good food, great auction items and live entertainment will all go back into keeping the area’s stray and abandoned animals in a safe place and help them find good homes.
The BCSPCA Angels for Animals Gala, which is in its second year, will be held this month with hopes of exceeding last year’s $25,000 raised.
Despite the economic issues facing the community, even more sponsors have stepped forward this year than last year to help the SPCA–all the proceeds of the event go straight to the local branch.
Romany Runnalls is one of them. The owner of The Mortgage Group–Aquarius Mortgages offers more than just monetary assistance to the shelter.
Runnalls, who completed a zoology degree at the University of British Columbia, has always had a love of animals. When she moved back to her hometown about four years ago, she adopted two cats from the Kelowna branch of the SPCA.
“Adopting was one way to help,” says Runnalls, who has recently added to her furry family by fostering kittens for the shelter. “Obviously they needed help in other ways, like fundraising and promoting.”
The annual budget for the Kelowna building, located on Casorso Road, is about $850,000 and doesn’t include disasters like the West Kelowna firestorm earlier this summer. The emergency saw the shelter filled with about 300 rescued animals needing to be fed and cared for until their displaced families could return home.
The budget covers utilities, veterinarian visits, medications and more. Another aspect which donors may not realize is covered in the budget is the cost to house animals that are part of cruelty investigations–animals kept as evidence may stay as long as a year. Annually the Kelowna SPCA’s cruelty investigators spend $2 million and work the area from Vernon to Cranbrook. The government pitches in about $100,000 of the cost.
Even if you can’t help by donating money, Runnalls encourages the community to step forward with helping hands.
“If people can’t donate their money, they can donate their time or home for fostering,” she says.
The BCSPCA Angels for Animals Gala takes place Nov. 14. Tickets are available by calling 250-861-7722. For more information visit the Kelowna SPCA website.
Check out Kelowna.com’s Take Me Home gallery of pets available for adoption from local shelters.
entertainment@kelowna.com
Tags: bcspca, mortgage group-aquarius mortgages, romany runnalls
