A Message from our President…

To All Residents of Blair and Surrounding Counties:

Over the years I have adopted  seven dogs from the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society.  Each of them has become an important and loved  member of my family.  My gratitude to  this organization is immense and my debt will be impossible to ever fully repay.

I would like to thank our  departing President, Paul Davis, for his many years of leadership, his  countless hours of service and his unselfish generosity to our organization.  He has promised to stay active with us and we  will always welcome his big smile and kind spirit.  Thank you for all you do, Paul.

I joined the Board of  Directors of the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society several years ago and now  I am honored to become the Board President.   But I serve on a team, a team of Shelter associates, volunteers, donors,  fellow Board members and the many community members that come together for the  benefit of the thousands of animals we serve each year.  Our team provides food, shelter and medical  care to these precious creatures.  But  most of all we give these animals hope.   We give them hope to become an important family member in a loving  forever home.

The need for our Shelter  never goes away, never diminishes.  It  only seems to increase.  Many of us, myself  included, wish that there would be no need for the CPHS, that every animal had  a loving, healthy and happy home to call his or her own.  While this is a beautiful goal is not our  reality.  We take in thousands of animals  each year.  Some of these situations are  unavoidable.  But so many others are  unnecessary. We all wonder how that can happen, how can someone be so heartless  or unknowledgeable, how can someone just walk away from a beloved pet?  How can someone abuse a helpless animal?  There’s never an adequate answer to these  questions.

So we all have a lot of work  to do.  All of us.  There is something that every man, woman and  child in Blair County and its surrounds can do:

• Contribute!  Contribute time, money, have a bake sale,  organize a competitive fundraiser in your classroom, challenge others to give.  Take a hobby and turn it into a fundraising  event.   Bring your excess or no longer needed clothes  and household items to our beautiful thrift shop.  There are so many ways to give.  Volunteer your time.  Give a dog toy or a single can of cat food.  Everyone has something to contribute.
• Adopt!  We have so many loving animals that just want  the hope of finding a home, their forever home.   And I personally promise that each and every one of them will give far  more love and joy than they will require for themselves.
• Spay and Neuter!  How many times do we here this plea and for  many it just seems to go in one ear and out the other.  Or “my pet is an indoor pet”.  Or “I intend to breed him/her”.  These words typically are spoken with good  intentions but too many times these situations have disastrous results.Our pet population is beyond the scope of our  ability to manage it.  This is a  fact.  You will hear “spay and neuter”  from me constantly.  Make it part of your  everyday vocabulary and pass it on.  We  need to educate everyone of the importance of this.  If we can motivate one person, we can save  many lives.  Think what we can do if we  persuade many people!

So lets all join together as  the great team we are!  Let’s do the work  that our local animals need from us.   Let’s make the difference that I know we can.  And thanks for everything you’ve done or  given in the past.  And now, its time to  give again!

Rick Vanevenhoven, President