Woman’s Club: Learning About the OC Animal Shelter
The Woman's Club of Orange County held its monthly meeting Thursday, Feb. 9, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church. Gina Jenkins, director of the Orange County Animal Shelter, served as guest speaker at the meeting.
Jenkins gave a presentation on the various programs offered by the shelter and shared stories about the animals. The shelter serves more than 900 animals per year. Of that number, 90 to 95 percent have not seen a veterinarian.
Most animals come to the shelter as strays or are turned in because the owner can't or won't take care of them. When the animals are ready for adoption, they are fully vetted. The adoption fee is $60 for dogs and $50 for cats.
The shelter is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Requests for adoption and appointments to see animals are handled online at Petfinder.com.
A total of 10 staff members work at the shelter to care for the animals. Volunteers are always welcome. All the cages are cleaned and materials are washed each day. The shelter is always in need of donations of Friskies, newspaper, bleach and laundry soap.
The club’s ‘Winter Memories” fundraiser was a success. Members brought items they enjoyed using during the winter season for members to purchase. These included hot chocolate mixes, word puzzles, tea, candy, warm socks, neck warmer, baked bread and more.
Raffle tickets for our annual fundraiser to benefit Orange County charities will be on sale until the March 9 meeting. We also will sponsor a $1,000 scholarship for a young woman graduating in 2023 using the proceeds from the raffle.
The grand prize of the raffle is a blue quilt with hand-pieced friendship stars made by a member of the club, second prize is a quilted throw and third prize is a quilted table runner. Tickets are $1 and are available to the public. The drawing will take place on March 9 and winners are not required to be present for the drawing. Contact Vickie Morris at vmorrisoib@yahoo.com for more information.
New members are always welcome. Each meeting features a guest speaker from Orange County followed by a short business meeting and refreshments. Those interested in becoming a member can contact Dorothy Cluff at cluffd@verizon.net.
- Hazel Arruda and Rita Flyzik, Publicity Committee, Woman’s Club of Orange County