Humane Society Seeks Vehicle Donations For Rummage Sale Auction By Mike Shands Volunteers help sort items at last year’s Watauga Humane Society Rummage Sale. Photo by Mike Shands. High Country residents can help their furry friends by cleaning out closets, attics, garages and basements this summer. The Watauga Humane Society will hold its 23rd annual rummage sale Friday and Saturday, Aug. 20 and 21 at the National Guard Armory in Boone and is searching for assistance in a variety of ways. Animal lovers can donate items for the sale, volunteer their time and efforts to help sort and categorize items or donate space to store larger items before the sale. One of the most appreciated ways to help with the sale is by donating a car or truck for the rummage sale’s vehicle auction. The humane society has auctioned at least one donated vehicle in each of the past few years, helping raise thousands of dollars for the rummage sale. “It’s hard to make much money off a quarter a piece for things or a dollar a bag,” said Dee Dundon, the humane society’s president. “It takes a lot of money to do the equivalent of a car.” The humane society will accept vehicles that are running, dependable and safe. Those donating items for the rummage sale are encouraged to bring in furniture, working appliances, kitchen items, books, tools, linens, toys, holiday merchandise, antiques, collectibles, jewelry and clean, gently used clothing for babies, children and adults. The humane society requests that no hide-a-beds, console televisions, inoperable appliances or mattresses without beds be donated. Another need is for volunteers to help sort items and work at the humane society’s boutique store. “We’re already working twice a week now to sort,” Dundon said. There is also a need for storage units to keep donated furniture items until the rummage sale. Dundon said a limited amount of volunteers will be available to help with the pickup of donated items the week of Aug. 16-20 for those who can’t bring them to the shelter. Those wishing to help the humane society but who don’t have the time to hunt for rummage items can still help by making a financial donation. In fact this is a preferred method of assisting the humane society. Anyone donating funds should make checks payable to Watauga Humane Society and mail them to Dr. Jan Watson – Treasurer, Watauga Humane Society, 200 Casey Lane, Boone, N.C., 28607. To volunteer or donate a vehicle contact Dundon at (828) 264-9116 or deedundon@boone.net or call the boutique at (828) 264-7339. The rummage sale and another humane society upcoming event, the Fur Ball, are annually the organization’s two largest fundraisers. Money they generate helps fund the humane society shelter’s day-to-day operations. “It is vitally important,” Dundon said. “This is operation money to run the shelter – just to keep the place open and going. Things get more and more expensive every year.” It now costs well over $200,000 a year to cover the cost of looking after the animals the shelter houses, buying food and medicine and paying veterinary bills. Fur Ball This year’s Fur Ball, the event’s seventh annual occurrence, will be Friday, Aug. 6. For more information about the Fur Ball contact Watson at (828) 264-1743. Increasing the need to raise funds this year is the humane society’s ongoing capital campaign to raise $315,000 to pay for more than 13 acres of land that will serve as the shelter’s new location. The site, located along Don Hayes Road about four miles from Boone on Old Highway 421 South, is between Rutherwood Baptist Church and the Watauga Livestock Market. It will eventually take the place of the humane society’s current location at 200 Casey Lane in Boone, which is at the end of the Greenway Trail next to the town’s wastewater treatment facility. The shelter’s normal operating hours are 12:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 12:30 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Its phone number is (828) 264-7865. For more information about the humane society look online at www.wataugahumanesociety.org.