COLUMBUS, miss. (WTVA) – A Lowndes County nonprofit has faced the struggles of 2020 directly and hopes to reconnect with the community with its furry friends this year.
The Humane Society in Lowndes County was having a difficult year. With no fundraiser or adoption events available to pay for the shelter, the group had to make adjustments.
The Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society felt trapped in 2020 with a lack of money, resources, volunteers, and foster families.
Potential users were unable to enter the building for months when the pandemic began.
There were no fundraising campaigns for all of 2020, forcing humane society to find other ways to make ends meet.
“Whenever we had really little to do, we just pleaded with our supporters,” said the executive director of the humane society, Karen Johnwick.
Johnwick turned away from traditional business methods and brought all events and programs to his social media.
However, according to Johnwick, using social media is not enough.
“People don’t know if you’re not out there saying we need this,” she said.
But to their surprise, people came to support the shelter.
Johnwick said the shelter had more adoptions over the past year.
She said her hope for 2021 is to find a sense of normalcy that can bring more of her four-legged friends to good homes.
“We just want to be more in the community so that animals can be seen,” said Johnwick.
She said humane society currently has no planned events and is only playing by ear to see if they can hold external events this year.