Children of Marblehead Support the Animal Shelter

Will Steinberg, 7, Michael and Lena Weidenbruch, 9, and Stewart Hutchinson, 7, all of Marblehead Neck, organized a sale of homemade art, such as decorated boxes, visors, shells, lanterns and notecards, along with refreshments, and raised $110. They all love animals and wanted to donate the money to the Animal Shelter.

“My name is Benjamin Groth. I am Jewish and twelve and three-fourths old. Part of my religion is to do a Bar Mitzvah project. Since I love animals I wanted to help them. I am going to keep donating to the Marblehead Animal Shelter and help out.”

Benjamin brought into the shelter some supplies, food, and collected $100.10.

The animals really appreciate Benjamin’s thoughtfulness and want to thank him.

Katie Van Dorpe, on behalf of the Friends of Marblehead’s Abandoned Animals and the Marblehead Animal Shelter, accepts a Met Life Foundation Volunteer Ventures grant of $250 from Cheryl Tompkins, an employee of MetLife, who volunteers at the Shelter. The grant will kick off a campaign to place a window in the isolation room at the shelter which will provide a healthier environment for any sick cats or new residents.

The Volunteer Ventures Program at Met Life encourages and supports employee involvement at the local level in nonprofit orgaizations that work to improve the quality of life for all. Grants are made for specific projects in which MetLife employees have continuing involvement as volunteers. The Marblehead Animal Shelter is an all-volunteer, no-kill shelter. Through the hard work of the volunteers, over 200 abandoned, abused or surrendered animals are placed into wonderful homes each year. Shelter dogs get to experience a home situation each night through the kindness and patience of Cheryl Tompkins, who takes them to her home overnight. This is a tremendous help in socializing them and preparing them for adoption into a forever home.

Stacy McCauley, winner of the Friends of Marblehead’s Abandoned Animals 50/50 raffle, accepts the winning $5,000 check from Karen Thrasher, a founding member of F.O.M.A.A., and Honey, a very reluctant spokescat. Thank you to our volunteers, Marblehead Pet Supply and all those who supported this effort. Honey is hoping that her television and newspaper debut will result in her finding a special forever home. She is accepting visitors at the shelter at 44 Village Street.

Kyra Veprek, seven years old, of Marblehead, received money from relatives for Christmas and she wanted to help an organization. She loves animals, so she donated cat food, cat treats, paper towels, and dog biscuits to the animal shelter. She has two guinea pigs, a fish, and a cat. Kyra is very good with animals, and loves to go horseback riding. The shelter volunteers and animals want to thank this unselfish little girl.