Donkey Coffee and Espresso, 17 ½ W. Washington St., will be going to the dogs tomorrow night for a benefit concert supporting the Athens County Dog Shelter and Friends of the Shelter.
Senior Natalie Boydston helped organize the event to raise money after volunteering at the dog shelter.
I just felt I wasn't doing enough to help them
she said. Coming in a few times a week to walk the dogs is great but only improves their quality of life for a little bit.
The concert is a minimum $4 donation with half of the proceeds benefiting the dogs at the shelter directly by funding for flea and tick medicine and spaying and neutering-something the shelter can't afford right now.
We try our best to make the dogs happy and get them adopted quickly but we'd like to be able to provide more services for them Boydston said.
Athens County Dog Warden Jeffrey Koons said he is thankful for Boydston and all the other volunteers.
I think it's tremendous that people are willing to donate their money or time to help us out
he said.
Koons added that the dog shelter is not facing too many problems, but can always use help.
We'll take blankets
food
detergent
cleaning solutions
anything people can give us
he said.
The dog shelter holds 48 dogs, many of which are puppies that need their first round of shots - a big expense for the shelter, he said.
The other half of proceeds will fund Friends of the Shelter, a network of volunteers that saves Athens area dogs, puts them in foster homes or finds no-kill shelters when the Athens Dog Shelter becomes too crowded, Boydston said.
The concert lineup includes Kaslo, Run_Coward, Michael Rinaldi, Erin Schroettinger and Death Beef.
Donkey's owner Chris Pyle said he is pleased to host the concert.
It's always exciting to help out a great cause
he said.
To help promote the concert and raise awareness about the dog shelter's needs, Boydston and others sold T-shirts outside of Baker University Center on Wednesday and yesterday with dogs and puppies from the shelter.
I think students want to help out
she said. This money will really make a lot of dogs healthier and get them into homes with families.
