I do not know how on earth we are so close to Christmas. It’s like I look at the calendar and think, “Wait a minute, how did that happen?”
All the shopping and the hustle and the bustle and the…procrastination (in my case, anyway) really comes together to make things quite interesting.
I’m starting to sound more and more like a grumpy old lady, aren’t I? *shrugs* I’m okay with that.
One of the bright spots of the holiday season is the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter’s annual Christmas Open House. We deck the halls here and get everything festive for visitors.
The open house will be December 2 and 3 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the shelter on Letterkenny Road West in Chambersburg and we’re going to have all sorts of fun.
We’ve already emailed Santa (heh) and old Kris Kringle has agreed to stop by for photos. There’s a rumor he might even bring his friend the Grinch along, as long as he behaves.
All the pups and cats and rabbits and any other animal you may have are invited to partake in the picture opportunity. For a donation to the shelter, you can have your four-legged baby in a holiday photo with jolly old St. Nick and his green friend.
The little kids love having Santa Claus here, too. I think he gets some Christmas wish lists when he’s here and that’s perfectly fine. Any opportunity to tell Santa what you’d like to see under that tree, I say you should take.
The pictures will be printed out at the shelter and it’s so cute to see all the “kids,” both human and animal, on Santa’s lap.
We also have holiday cards to hang on our various Christmas trees for folks to honor loved ones, both two-legged and four-legged. I always love reading those.
We also will have yummy homemade treats (including a queso dip that I request every year from a certain volunteer who knows who she is) and they are all so good, you should come out and fill up a plate so I don’t eat it all!
One of the neatest aspects of this fundraiser is the staff gets to see the animals we have helped come back to visit. It’s a real morale boost for folks who work tirelessly throughout the year to save homeless pets. It’s nice to see the four-legged friends happy and well cared for.
It’s really wonderful to recognize the role we played in getting them there.
No adoptions will be done during those two days – the event is always a mad house and it would be way too tough to try to go through the adoption process at the same time. However, applications will be taken, so if you visit and see a furbaby who melts your heart, you can get started on the paperwork.
We look for our open house to be our biggest fundraiser of the year, so now’s your chance to help make sure the animals in our kennels have a good holiday. We accept both monetary and pet supply donations both days (we have a Christmas wish list that we’re hoping to fill), so anything you could do to help would be great.
I know the holidays come up on us fast sometimes, and we have a whole bunch of stuff on our “to-do” lists, but for our animals at CVAS, it’s a time to find them homes so they’ll know the warmth and true spirit of the season.
Help us make sure this Christmas is a good one for them and mark your calendars to join us for our open house on December 2 and 3 at the shelter on Letterkenny Road West. It’s gonna be a jolly good time!!
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Jennifer Vanderau is the Publications and Promotions Consultant for the Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter and can be reached at cvascomm@cvas-pets.org. The shelter accepts both monetary and pet supply donations. For more information, call the shelter at 263-5791 or visit the website www.cvas-pets.org. CVAS also operates a thrift store in Chambersburg. Help support the animals at the shelter by donating to or shopping at the store.
