Works-in-progress at CAPS

The board of directors, executive director, staff and volunteers are gearing up for our next events, one minor and two major, scheduled from August through October. Let’s start with the lesser of the three first.

Next month is the time of year when CAPS elects new board members. Last year, the board welcomed four new members, and their contributions have been invaluable. Three of them − Ken Wiley, Pauline Friedrich and Rita Hand − made the exercise yard for our canine guests a reality. All new members have also contributed many fine ideas and suggestions to make CAPS a stronger organization.

So, you may be thinking, why would we want to add to this group? The CAPS board, like any board of a small, nonprofit organization, always seeks fresh thinking about what we can do better: for example, proposing fundraising events, engineering the events and stretching the funds raised from such events. CAPS has, however, a few requirements for board members.

(1) You must be a CAPS member, and membership starts at $25, which is paid annually. (2) Consistent attendance at monthly meetings is very important because this is where issues are discussed and decisions are made. (3) Your help must be available for our two main fundraisers in May (Bark in the Park) and October (more about that below).

If you are interested, please come to our next meeting on Aug. 6. We meet at 5 p.m. at the Serendipity Corner Bookstore (Churchill County Library’s used-book store at 507 S. Maine St.) in its meeting room at the back of the building (the entrance is on the side street). Our meetings usually run no longer than two hours. For more information, please call the shelter (775-423-7500) during normal business hours (Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.).

The next item up for discussion is the garage sale we’ll be holding on Sept. 20 – 22. But to hold such a sale, we need the goods to be sold, so we’re sending a large plea for donations of gently used household, garage, yard and whatever-else items. (We request that clothing not be donated. However, if some should arrive anyway, we’ll see that all items are given to those who need them.)

Thanks to Spring Valley Rentals, we have been given (pro bono) a storage unit to hold donated items from Aug. 1 through Sept. 20. The storage unit’s address is 1105 Taylor Place (close to Walmart); the unit number will be provided later. On the first four Saturdays in August (the 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th), CAPS volunteers will be there from 9 a.m. to noon, to receive your donations.

Can’t make it on those dates, are housebound, or have items too big to handle? Well, we’ll come get them! All you need to do is call Rita Hand, and she will schedule a pickup for you (home: 775-423-6346; cell: 775-427-3376). Should Rita not immediately take your call, please leave a message, and she will return your call as soon as she can.

The third item for discussion is our annual fundraising event held in October. As most of our readers and supporters know, we have had an art auction and dinner for many years. But this year, to quote Monty Python, it’s time “now for something completely different.” We will again have a dinner, probably buffet style, but the rest will be an evening of entertainment filled with mystery and excitement!

This fun-filled evening will be held on Oct. 19 at the Fallon Convention Center. For those of you who bought our 2013 calendar, please change the original event date of Oct. 12 to Oct. 19. And, no, that wasn’t a typo in the calendar. What happened is this: The Episcopal Diocese of Nevada wanted to hold its convention in Fallon on the weekend of Oct. 12, and the Center’s management asked if we would change our date.

A large influx of people usually means that local businesses do well; when local businesses do well, the entire community wins. Because our community has been so very generous to and supportive of CAPS, the board unanimously voted to move our event up a week. So, please welcome the diocese’s members and then come see what we’ll be doing the following weekend – you’re going to love it!

This week’s article was contributed by Betty Duncan, a member of the CAPS board of directors.