Loryn and I stopped by the Windham County Humane Society to drop off a few donations for their Wags To Riches Auction, and to pick up some tickets.

The Windham County Humane Society, located in Brattleboro, is our area’s most important resource for facilitating pet adoptions. This animal shelter’s mission states, “The Windham County Humane Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the safety and well-being of animals and enhancing the relationship between individuals and pets through adoption, education, advocacy, compassion and promotion of animal welfare.” Volunteerism and donations are vital to the prosperity of the organization, so every year the Windham County Humane Society hold a large fundraiser to help subsidize the cost of running the organization and keeping pets healthy.

The annual Wags to Riches Auction is being held this weekend. This is the largest and most important fundraiser of the year for the humane society. The fundraiser will be held at the Putney Inn on Saturday, March 2, starting at 6PM. There will be great food, great company (make sure to say hi to Peggy, Loryn, and Douglas), and great items to bid on. All of the items at the auction have been donated by local businesses or people in the community. The items vary from something small and practical, like a gift card to the pet store, to something large and luxurious, like an African Safari!

All of the money raised at this event will go directly to the Windham County Humane Society, which will support their programs like low cost spay-neuter clinics. This organization is near to many of our hearts at Vermont Woods Studios, as we are all animals lovers, and many of us have adopted our pets from the humane society.

Tickets cost $40/person, and can be purchased on the humane society’s website, by calling their office, or on March 2nd at the door. Everyone is welcome to join in on the fun, so be sure to bring a friend or two! Click here to visit their website to preview some of the items you can bid on (including our wood cutting board + coasters, and the 3 day weekend at Stratton Mountain that Peggy donated).

If you are unable to attend this event, there are many other ways you can support the Windham County Humane Society. You can make an online, tax-deductible, financial donation or donate items off their wishlist.

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The other morning I received an email from Peggy with the subject line, “a cause near and dear to our hearts.” I suspected immediately that it had to do with animals. Everyone at Vermont Woods Studios has a soft spot for animals, but I think Loryn and I would win the award for biggest bleeding hearts in the office. Ever since we purchased Stonehurst, Loryn and I have actively been trying to persuade Peggy to let us have a few animals (cats, dogs, rabbits, chickens, and I think we’ve thrown around the idea of having a horse or two). Although we haven’t quite convinced the whole team of this mini farm idea, Stonehurst will be a sustainable furniture showroom and nature center.

Once I stopped day dreaming about our Stonehurst farm, I opened the email and confirmed my suspicion that the cause had to do with animals. Peggy had sent me this call for help from the Stuck in Vermont Facebook page.

In addition to the call for help, Stuck in Vermont attached a video with the story behind the Gamache family and this cause. Here’s what I learned from the video: Junior and Joyce Gamache have a family-run organic dairy farm in St. Albans, Vermont. The Gamache family has a admirable passion for their animals (cows and cats alike), a passion for staying true to traditional farming, and a passion for their deep Vermont roots. This video made it an easy decision for us to donate to the Gamache barn cat fund; not only because we love cats, but because Vermonters help other Vermonters.

We hope that you’ll take a few minutes to watch the Stuck in Vermont episode about the Gamache family and their barn cats. The Franklin County Humane Society is going to help spay and neuter the Gamache barn cats, but they need to raise money to contribute to the costs. It costs $40 for each cat to get spayed/neutered, but you can contribute any amount via their inlu page. Donations will be accepted until Thursday, February 28th. You can also help spread the word by sharing the Stuck in Vermont’s Facebook post with your friends.

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