Volunteerism—an Important Part in Bringing Positive Change
“Never doubt that a group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”—Margaret Mead.
It is so amazing to think about what a wonderful community this is
and the many compassionate, giving people who live in this county.
You would all think so too if you went to the Hill County Paw Pals fourth
annual garage sale and viewed the Hillsboro Convention Center Building.
The building was overflowing with donations from people throughout the county
with loving hearts and compassion for the animals God put here and entrusted in
our care. Hill County Paw Pals wants
to thank each of you again even though we don’t know the names of most of the folks
who brought donations. Your generosity
is greatly appreciated. Although the
real garage sale’s success was uniting the community towards the goal of building
an animal shelter for Hill County, the proceeds from the event totaled
$25,441.08 with the matching fund offered by gracious philanthropists Cheryl
and Sam Wyly–of which 100% will be directed towards building of an animal shelter. We also have to again acknowledge the
extraordinary efforts of fellow Paw Pals, namely
Marilyn Kerr who was the main organizer for this event.
Marilyn’s superb organizational skills along with countless hours of
coordinating and preparation lead this successful sale.
The names of the many Paw Pals volunteers are listed in our previous article
which can be viewed on our website here.
Volunteers in communities across our great nation have made a world of difference
in many aspects. One area that has
seen a tremendous improvement is how we treat our companion animals (dogs and cats).
In 1987 over 12 million dogs were being
euthanized every year in the United States. Ten
years later this drastic figure improved 70% to 5 million.
In some communities, there has been a near 100% improvement while also increasing
their adoption rate simply because caring people volunteered and organized to change
the situation in their community. Hill
County remained stagnant in the area of pet overpopulation correction until Paw
Pals came on scene. In our county we
continue to destroy over one thousand dogs and cats (most of who are healthy and
adoptable) simply because we lack a basic animal shelter that would provide a public
adoption area.
As a non-profit IRC 501(c)(3) organization, Hill County Paw Pals is made up of everyday
people volunteering part of their busy everyday lives because they want to improve
the tragic pet overpopulation situation that exist is our county.
Our group organized some four years
ago with two stated goals: 1) Facilitate
installation of a county animal control program and promote and contribute to building
a county animal shelter; and 2) Organize to challenge the overpopulation of unwanted
companion animals (dog and cats) with four programs working simultaneously–Education,
Legislation, Spay/Neuter, and Adoption (Project ELSA).
“Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for
yourself. It's what you do for others”—Danny
Thomas. If you would
like to volunteer and become part of our endeavors to bring positive change please
call (254) 580-0679 or email hcpawpals.org. Paw Pals’ monthly meetings are on the
first Thursday of each month from 6:30-7:30pm at the Bullock Room of Hill College
cafeteria in Hillsboro.