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The success of the Riverside (CA) Humane Society Pet Adoption Center’s 10th Annual Comedy Night fundraiser, held September 7 at the Riverside Convention Center, surpassed previous years on all levels. Proceeds from sponsorships, admission tickets, silent and live auctions, and raffle-ticket sales totaled $43,000, a gain of $9,000 over 2006, according to Karen Zich, fund raising assistant for the Riverside Humane Society. The event also attended by 285 people, a 30 percent increase over the previous year, and also had more sponsors and higher raffle-ticket sales.
Comedian and actor Henry Cho had the audience in stitches with his comedic views drawn from his personal experiences with bachelorhood, marriage, and life in the south, noting at the start that since he’s a Korean born and raised in Tennessee, that makes him South Korean. He drew additional laughs when he played off responses to questions he threw out to the audience. Bryan Erwin from Los Angeles got the crowd warmed up with his off-the-wall perspective on his upbringing and on relationships, children and family.
Prior to the stage show, guests had the opportunity to participate in a silent auction featuring 31 donated items including hand-crafted home décor and jewelry, wine and a wine tour, spa packages, and animal-related products and services of all sorts. Dr. Wayne Davis of Raincross Veterinary Services was the highest bidder in the live auction of a six-course chef-tasting menu for four at Mario’s Place in Riverside. Debbie Morgan, an employee of Tavaglione Construction in Riverside, was the winner of the $2500 raffle prize, a luxury weekend at the Historic Mission Inn & Spa.
Ronna Kadow, a longtime, and current, board member of the Riverside Humane Society Pet Adoption Center and its executive director for seven years, received the organization’s Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian of the Year Award in recognition of her generous contributions and outstanding service to animals and the community. Kadow, a resident of Banning, was appointed executive director in 1996 shortly after the Riverside Humane Society relinquished all animal-control responsibilities to Riverside County Department of Animal Services and reorganized as the Riverside Humane Society Pet Adoption Center. She is credited with developing the Center into what it is today with its dedicated staff and volunteers and its community outreach programs and services, as well as its care and training programs for the homeless animals who enter the facility every day.
Kadow’s dedication to the community goes beyond the Riverside Humane Society. She is also on the board of directors of the Mary S. Roberts Foundation, State Humane Society of California, and God’s Fan Club which helps homeless people in Riverside County. She serves on the board of trustees of Olive Crest Abused Children Foundation, Inland Empire, and is involved with Operation Safe House for abused women and their families.
Riverside Humane Society Pet Adoption Center, a non-profit public benefit charitable organization, is located at 5791 Fremont St. in Riverside. The Center accepts owner turn-ins of cats and dogs and transfers from area animal-control shelters. No healthy, adoptable animal is ever put to sleep. Prior to adoption, each animal is either spayed or neutered and microchipped, receives all necessary vaccinations and medical care, is monitored for physical, emotional and mental health, and is socialized. For more information, call 951-688-4340.
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