Our president surprised each of us with a crisp $50 bill at the holiday party. The only conditions were that we should “pay it forward” and make a difference somewhere. Here’s what one of our team members did with his donation.
Transcript:
My name is Jon Ericson. I work at Buchanan Public Relations along with some pretty cool people. This is a photo of our Christmas card from 2019. That’s me in the back.
At the 2019 Holiday Party, Anne Buchanan gave each of us a fifty dollar bill. This was over and above our bonuses. The fifty dollars came with no restrictions. Just do something good with it, pay it forward. But how to do that?
Well, ours is a dog-friendly office. Four of my co-workers are rescued dogs. Inspired by the fact that our company makes holiday donations to animal rescue organizations in the Philadelphia area, I decided to the same, but with a twist. For the holidays I went to Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands where there is plenty to see and do. Fayette is one of the counties in the Laurel Highlands. In the rankings by all of Pennsylvania’s counties by per capital income, Fayetee is third to last. Maybe here the fifty dollars could go far.
Not being familiar with rescue or pet shelters in the area, I did a simple web search. Fayette Friends of Animals looked promising, especially since the site indicated it was a no-kill shelter. Rather than donate on-line, I decided to drive down to see the facility and meet the staff.
The tour started with the cats. Rooms of healthy, well-adjusted cats ready for adoption. Plenty of cages were present, but the cats were not confined to them. The cats were free to run and plan in the rooms. While being careful where I placed my feet, I was looking down and not up, and thus bashed my head into a cabinet corner. Ouch!
The tour then moved on to the dogs. A few dogs were indoors, like these pups of a litter, but most had been moved to temporary pens outside to take advantage of the mild weather. Just like the cats, these dogs were healthy, happy, and eager to be adopted. I wanted to take them all home.
When the tour was complete I added the fifty dollars to the windfall of gifts the shelter shelter had received this season.
I’ll be back in a few months to help out and maybe volunteer because these guys, when adopted, are so ready to pay it forward in love to their forever home.
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