During the month of July, the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Evansville, IN partnered with It Takes a Village. This organization is a community-supported, no-kill shelter/canine rescue serving Evansville and neighboring communities. They provide adoption and foster services and house the Lucky Mutts Boutique. The mission, “To work as one in helping homeless dogs irrespective of breed, location, or circumstance,” inspired the students and staff of the Evansville campus. After learning more about the vision, they decided that It Takes a Village was the best non-profit to benefit from their efforts.
Throughout the month, the Ross Medical Education Center Evansville campus collected items to be given to this shelter. The campus was decorated with adorable pictures of family pets and there were even prizes being offered for the cutest pooch picture. Originally organized as a campus wide competition, it quickly became much more about a show of support for the community canine shelter as students proved to care more about helping out than the prizes promised in the end. So many items were donated that the staff was able to create a dog house out of the donations! The Medical Assistant students, who were to be the recipients of a pizza party, opted instead to request that the funds for the party go directly to It Takes a Village as a donation.
Fundraisers and donations, like those that occurred at the Ross Medical Education Evansville campus, assist with providing necessary items for the canines at the shelter and in the care of foster families while awaiting adoption. The Evansville campus collected food, toys, and hygiene items for the rescued dogs. It Takes a Village relies heavily on volunteers and foster homes for care of the animals while they are in transition. Dogs at the shelter are posted regularly on Petfinder and on the It Takes a Village Facebook page, and weekend adoption events are held regularly at the shelter.
If you are looking for a community-based, pet-friendly cause or are interested in either adoption or fostering, additional information, donation options, and applications can be found on the It Takes a Village website or you can reach them by phone at (812) 250-WAGS(9247).