WARSAW — R&B Car Company Warsaw, recently held its annual fundraising event that included a “Stuff the Bus” effort to collect pet food and supplies and then donated $1,800 to Animal Welfare League of Kosciusko County.

The annual event was organized by AWL's Brooke Lyons and R&B's Car Company's Magic Mark Olsen.

“So happy to be a small part in such a BIG cause!” Olsen said. “The AWL shelter has always had a big place in my heart.”

Special thanks to Manager Chad Laughlin and Owner Dan Green.

"We are incredibly grateful for our ongoing partnership with Magic Mark and the amazing team at R&B Car Company. Their annual adoption event gives our shelter pets a much-needed break from the shelter environment and a real chance to shine in front of potential adopters. This year’s event was our most successful yet, with 14 animals finding their forever homes!" Lyon said.

"In addition to sponsoring adoption fees for the event, R&B Car Company collected donations throughout the month and Magic Mark personally donated $100 for every car sold in May. In total, they raised an incredible $3,290 to support our shelter. We can’t thank Magic Mark and his team enough for their unwavering support of our mission and the homeless animals in our community," she said.

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WARSAW — Pet-loving employees at Paragon Medical held a three-day “Stuff the Bus” donation event for the nonprofit Animal Welfare League of Kosciusko County.

This three-day event included Paragon’s Fall Family Festival that included hot dogs, ice cream, hayrides, games for kids and AWL shelter pets. Two dogs were adopted at their event, according to a news release from the AWL.

A bus load in donations, including cat and dog food, laundry detergent, along with large variety pet supplies, were donated by their employees. Paragon employees noticed a bad tire on the AWL bus while at their campus and had a new tire put on and filled the gas tank.

“We’ve experienced 14 weeks in a row with over 400 pets in our care. As you can imagine, this takes a toll on our budget. AWL must fundraise to support our nonprofit shelter that many cats and dogs of Kosciusko County temporarily call home,” said AWL Executive Director Tonya Blanchard.

“The stuff the bus program is a wonderful way for a business to help us out with the supplies we need to keep going. Paragon Medical’s ‘Stuff the Bus’ event brought in an amazing amount of donations for our furry family. We can’t begin to thank them enough!”

“The Animal Welfare League offers an amazing service to our community. The passion of their team, to support the many animals that depend on their services, is inspiring to say the least, in which our Paragon Medical family was equally excited to support!” said Dan Blum, vice president and general manager, Paragon Medical.

“We are so very thankful to the amazing group at Paragon Medical for their kind and generous hearts supporting the shelter pets at AWL” said John Lantz, AWL Board president “We were also grateful that we were included at their Fall Family Festival. What a wonderful partnership to have.”

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WARSAW -- The AWS Foundation and Cardinal Services Self-Advocates surprised four area nonprofits with checks during its Pay It Forward Day Friday.

Checks of $1,250 were given to the Kosciusko Community Senior Services, Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts, The Magical Meadows; and the Animal Welfare League of Kosciusko County.

When presented with the $1,250 check from Cardinal Services Self-Advocates, the Wagon Wheel was the only one of the four nonprofits to receive a matching check of $1,000 from the AWS Foundation.

When asked why the Wagon Wheel was chosen for the matching grant, Andie Mosley, AWS grant and outreach coordinator, said the Wagon Wheel has been very interested in reaching out to those with disabilities. They’ve just started putting on plays for those with sensory disabilities, among other things.

When presented with the checks, Lakesha Green, executive director of the Wagon Wheel of the Arts, said when she was contacted about Cardinal Services wanting to bring the Wagon Wheel something, she was expecting something like cookies or candy. She said the checks were even better than sugar. She said it is amazing.

“This is a very big deal,” Green said. “I’m speechless.”

She said she wants the partnership with Cardinal Services to grow even more. One of the things she said she wanted to bring with her to the Wagon Wheel is accessibility.

This is the first year Cardinal Services has participated in Pay It Forward Day. Cardinal Services Executive Director Vickie Lootens said AWS came up with the Pay It Forward Day.

Cardinal Services Self-Advocates had $5,000 they got for grants from the AWS Foundation and they chose what other nonprofits got the money, she said. There was a vote on which nonprofits the money went to. The Self-Advocates chose the Kosciusko Community Senior Center, the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts, The Magical Meadows and AWL. The money was split evenly, Lootens said.

“And so, today, on Pay It Forward Day, we’re going around surprising” the four nonprofits with the checks, Lootens said. “It is a great opportunity” to give back to the community.

There are many wonderful nonprofits in the area, she said, and they count on community support and they’re all vital in the community.

Lootens said, during the Pay It Forward Day, the Cardinal Services Self-Advocates are learning to give back. Like any other person, they have an interest in giving back.

“I think they’re very excited,” Lootens said.

Lootens said the Pay It Forward Day is definitely something they need to continue with and Cardinal Services and Self-Advocates thinks it’s a very important thing for them to give back to the community.

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