Jordan's Way fundraiser comes to Lenawee Humane Society Oct. 4 in person and online
ADRIAN — The Lenawee Humane Society is hosting a special fundraiser Oct. 4 live on its Facebook page and at its shelter at 705 W. Beecher St. in Adrian.
The fundraiser, which runs from from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., is part of the 50-state Jordan's Way tour of shelters and rescues to raise awareness for animals that often get overlooked and to provide much-needed funding to the nonprofits that many times do not get state or federal funding and operate off a purely donor-based model.
Kris Rotonda is a former real estate agent who adopted his dog, Jordan, from a shelter where she lived for almost four years. Jordan was Kris' best friend for 10 years before she died in 2019. That is when he decided to create Jordan's Way to help the underdogs and the shelters who rescue them. Rotonda knew that he would do something for Jordan down the road, but he didn't know what. After Rotonda lost Jordan to cancer, he began his fundraising tour last year.
"He started the nonprofit Jordan's Way in honor of his dog and made it his mission to travel the United States stopping at different shelters to help them raise money. He understands how difficult it is for shelters that don't get government funding like other nonprofits do," Lenawee Humane Society executive director Marcie Cornell said.
What started with a small idea and a big heart has grown into something spectacular.
"What's really impressive is they just started their tour a year ago and they've already raised $4 million for shelters around the country," Sasha Wilkerson, communications manager for the Lenawee Humane Society, said.
The program and all its challenges will be broadcast live on Facebook, and WLEN will also broadcast live for the first hour.
"There are all kinds of fun challenges to raise money. They come up with a certain number of goals, and after each goal is reached, a new one is created. For example, we raise $1,000 and maybe someone gets a pie in the face; $2,000, maybe one of us gets an ice bucket dumped over our head. They do push-up challenges. They do all kinds of cool challenges with the animals as well," Wilkerson said.
One of the challenges the shelter is looking for volunteers for is where people will be locked up in the kennels and they will have to call their friends to make bail.
"We have 146 animals active in our organization right now and 58 of those are in foster homes. We are pretty full right now," Wilkerson said. "Kris goes for the underdogs because of his relationship with Jordan. Our long-term residents — the animals that get overlooked — we're sure he's going to put an emphasis on those animals to help them get adopted during the event. Their group gets really creative and they bring a lot of energy. So anybody who wants to participate can help raise money, and at the end of it we hope we will reach our goal."
That goal is $5,000 but one Jordan's Way fundraiser raised as much as $58,000. There's no telling how much money will be raised with this four-hour event.
The adoption fee for an animal just barely covers the cost put into each pet that comes through the doors of the Lenawee Humane Society. Each animal has to be spayed or neutered before they go home. There's a round of vaccinations. All animals are tested for diseases, microchipped and get flea preventive treatments once a month.
Not only are there the costs associated with each specific animal, but the shelter also covers the cost of food, cleaning supplies, building maintenance and utilities.
"Regardless of whether people donate $1 or more it doesn't matter because every dollar helps. Even sharing the (social media) post is very helpful because the more money we raise, the more animals we save," Cornell said.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Jordan's Way fundraiser comes to Lenawee Humane Society Oct. 4
