Staff Reports
The Animal Welfare Alliance's "Howling at the Moon" benefit will have a new look, a new location and an exciting new raffle this year.
The 10th annual fundraiser for AWA will be from 6-10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, at the Holiday Inn Ballroom in Poplar Bluff. It will feature a dinner catered by Tasteful Creations, a live disc jockey, dancing, a silent auction, raffles and a cash bar.
This main raffle offers two colorful 10-foot Sun Dolphin fiberglass kayaks for fun on area lakes and rivers. Winner of the first drawing will have their choice of the two kayaks with the winner of the second drawing getting the other kayak. Raffle tickets are $5 each and are available at the event or in advance at Key Drugs or at Somewhere In Time Antiques & More in Poplar Bluff. Winners need not be present at the drawing. Retail values on the kayaks - an Aruba 10 and a Capri 10 - are $200 and $250.
Tickets for the gala evening are $30 per person, available at the Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce, Key Drugs, Artfully Framed and Somewhere In Time Antiques & More. A limited number of tickets also will be available at the door that evening.
Event sponsors for "Howling at the Moon" are Coffman & Co., Hicks Animal Hospital, Hillcrest Animal Hospital and Key Drugs, all in Poplar Bluff.
"We are so grateful to this year's sponsors," said AWA President Travis Thomas. "Without their support we would not be able to have this event."
Gold sponsors for the fundraiser are Lisa Reynolds Insurance and Pack's Do-It Center in Poplar Bluff. Silver sponsors for "Howling" are First Midwest Bank, Parks Animal Care Center, Ripley County Veterinary Service and Somewhere In Time Antiques & More.
AWA is the only organization in Poplar Bluff's five-county area providing financial help to qualifying pet owners who need to get their dogs or cats spayed or neutered. Since its first full year of operation in 2009, AWA has spent more than $67,000 helping to spay/neuter area pets in an effort to reduce the number of unwanted and abandoned animals.
In addition, with the cooperation of the Poplar Bluff Animal Control staff, AWA helps provide vaccinations for puppies and kittens in the city shelter.
AWA's primary and long-term goal is to build a 5,000-square-foot, no-kill animal shelter on the seven acres it owns just north of Poplar Bluff's city limits. Half the income from "Howling at the Moon" will go into AWA's construction fund.
For more information, visit the organization online at www.awasemo.org.