Volunteering, Fundraising and... Oh My, The Smiles!

As the semester starts to pick up, HART members start becoming more involved in the animal-loving community  - on campus and off.

On Sunday, September 10th, four HART members traveled out to Delaware, Ohio to help Bella Run with a horse show. They drove the two hours northwest thinking they would only be passing out flyers and holding banners, but a cute surprise was waiting for them: Puppies!

Left to Right: HART member, Emilie, and Vice President, Ashley, playing with the puppies that they
would be carrying in the Delaware (Ohio) parade with Bella Run.

One of the adorable pups that Bella Run brought to the horse show. These puppies were up
for adoption at the time of the parade. We have not been updated if they were adopted yet.

The parade was technically an "all-horse parade," and Bella Run dressed their horses and team in The Wizard of the Oz-themed outfits. According to their Facebook post, all but one horse went bitless and many of the people watching really enjoyed seeing the animals and costumes.

Bella Run marching and riding some of their horses at the All-horse parade. HART is so excited to be teamed up with
this wonderful organization. We hope to help with many more parades and events throughout this year.

HART President, Emily, poses with one of the horses Bella Run brought to the parade.

Back in Athens on that same Sunday, a meeting was held to inform the members of the upcoming fundraisers and we played a mini-game of "what are cats and dogs really allowed to eat?" It was a fun and informative time.

Since some of our members were off at the horse show,
the meeting was kept short and we did not have a planned
animal at Emeriti park that day. Some of the members
found a turtle in the pond and decided that was our animal
for the meeting. 

Thursday, September 14th, and Friday, September 15th, HART held two Puppy Chow sales on Ohio University's campus. Then on Saturday, September 16th, during Parent's Weekend, HART held its first kissing booth - a Puppy Kissing Booth that is!

HART members collect donations by "selling" puppy chow - a yummy snack for people - at the Ohio University
Alumni Gate. We were lucky enough to have a cute pup help us sell! Thanks to everyone who bought a bag.

The lucky puppy who got all the attention from the kissing
booth was Little Bear. Her breed is known as Teddy Bear
and she recently turned 7 months old. 

An OU Student steps into our kissing booth for some love from Little Bear!

Since it was Parents Weekend, students and families alike got to enjoy
Little Bear's kisses (and hugs). Thanks to everyone who stopped by!

HART would like to thank our member, Leah, for bringing Little Bear to the booth. If it 
wasn't for you too, the booth wouldn't have been possible!

While we didn't quite reach our goal this time, we are so excited to be able to donate to both Union Ridge Wildlife Center and Bella Run! Thanks to all who donated and partook in our FUNdraisers!

Today - September 24th - at 2PM we are having our next meeting followed by our first trip of the semester out to Union Ridge Wildlife Center where we will be helping update the Monkey's Island playground! Stay tuned!

Every End Brings a New Beginning

The summer breezed by in a blink of an eye, it seems. With the Fall semester beginning, HART has begun meeting again and some changes have been made within the organization.

To begin, HART would like to send Former President, Corey Bullerman, and Former Vice President, Megan Grigsby, a huge thank you for all they have done over the last two years. From helping out on the leadership team to becoming leaders - there is so much we have to thank you for. We wish you both the best of luck on your next adventures and hope to see you at a few meetings this year.

Former President, Corey Bullerman,
holding a cat he had met at his first
 HART meeting in 2015 and was reunited
with at the Hawgs and Dawgs farm last fall.

Former VP, Megan Grigsby, holding a cat at the end of the
semester celebration last fall. Megan, like Corey, has been with
HART since its beginnings in 2015. 

Our new President and Vice President are Emily Mullins and Ashley Frankart, respectfully. Both young ladies are excited for what this year has to bring and are already working hard to get HART more involved with the animal sanctuaries in the Athens area.

Left, President Emily Mullins, and right, VP Ashley
Frankart, introduce themselves to OU students at the
Involvement Fair on Sunday, Aug. 27th. HART
welcomes both young ladies to the leadership team!

Left: Emily talks to students as they come to HART's table.
Right: Ashley takes a moment to smile for a picture.

 Allison Cook and Drake Heth are continuing their roles as Secretary and Treasurer this year.

Unfortunately, HART had one more goodbye to say. About a week before school began, Dr. Samual Moss and his wife, Sandy, announced that they would no longer be at Ohio University and therefore would no longer be able to supervise and help HART. While this is very sad news for those of us who knew these two, we understand that life may take us places that we don't expect. So, HART wishes you both the best of luck and all the happiness in the world wherever life has taken you. We hope to stay in touch, especially because HART would not be here today without you. Thank you for helping create and get this organization on its feet. We can only hope that our future work will make you both proud.

A Throwback photo to one of HART's very first meetings. It is thanks to Dr. Moss and one of his classes that this group was made possible.
And it was Sandy who helped connect us to the places we visit and work with. Thank you, both, again!

As the title suggests, there are some wonderful beginnings happening in HART as well this year. To begin we have reprised our role with Union Ridge Wildlife Center and we are working on getting back in touch with Hawgs and Dawgs. We have also begun working with Bella Run, a horse and dog sanctuary. We look forward to volunteering and fundraising for all of these places. 

HART also made an appearance at the Involvement Fair at Ohio University on Sunday, August 27th. About 200 students showed interest in the organization, and roughly 25 joined us Monday, September 4th for our first meeting.

HART's information board stood tall and helped attract students at the Involvement Fair. 

After a student listened to what HART was all about and signed up, they received a special goody-bag that contained
additional information about the organization and some animal-themed snacks!

Emily and Ashley talked to students about what HART has to offer them, including volunteering with animals, learning
about animals and what we can do to help them and fundraising with animal sanctuaries around Athens.

Students signed up to join HART.

The first HART meeting of the 2017-2018 school year!!! The students learned about the three different groups we will be
working with this year and their questions about the group were answered.

Monty, a Ball python, was HART's special animal guest for this year's opening meeting. We learned that she
is indeed named after the movie, "Monty Python." She also is also the third generation in her line to be captive
born, so she was pretty tame and easy to interact with. 

Monty enjoyed cuddling some of our new members during the meeting.

Monty also got passed around to meet any HART members willing to hold her.  She seemed to enjoy being able to smell
everyone while they talked and took photos of her.

We have high hopes for this year, so be sure to stay tuned!