A Houghton animal shelter is the winner of a $10,000 grant won with online voting, against thousands of other shelters nationwide, and now another shelter in Marquette is aiming to repeat the success.
The
Copper Country Humane Society won $10,000 as Grand Prize in
The Animal Rescue Site's $100,000 Shelter Challenge in mid-May. The site, along with
Petfinder, is giving a total of $100,000 to animal shelters across the country in 77 separate grants. More than 5.2 million votes were cast in the contest.
"When this competition began, it was not clear how far we would come but the outpouring of support not only from our community but from many others has been astounding," says the society's website.
Online voting, with the support of U.P. residents, and their family, friends and acquaintances across the country, is the key to the contest, as the Copper Country's entry was extensively publicized through
Facebook and other social networks.
"We have been impressed by the groups who keep coming back and trying harder. We have seen so many small, rural, largely volunteer organizations use these campaigns to create greater awareness about their work and the good that they do in their community,"
says Tim Kunin, CEO of The Animal Rescue Site.
The
Marquette County Humane Society now is harnessing the same U.P.-power to work toward a shot at a similar grant. Vote
here.
Voting ends Aug. 22, and you can cast one vote each day. There are still final prizes to be awarded for shelters with the highest vote totals at the end of the campaign. The Houghton shelter is currently in the top 10 overall vote totals, at number nine, while the Marquette shelter is coming up fast, ranked number 12.
Writer: Sam EgglestonSource: Tim Kunin, Animal Rescue Site
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.