HELENA — If you are having a "ruff" day, I have some "paw-some" news for you - Lewis and Clark Humane Society (LCHS) will start selling tickets to their annual Spayghetti Fundraiser on Tuesday.
"It's definitely our most beloved event in the community, and it raises an eighth of our budget for the year, so it's a pretty big deal," said Cassidy Cook, the director of development and communications at the Lewis and Clark Humane Society
LCHS's 60th anniversary is this year, so the Spayghetti Fundraiser will be diamond-themed.
Early-bird tickets will be sold from February 20th to March 1st and come at a reduced price.
LCHS will continue to sell tickets until they are sold out; however, last year, it sold out during early-bird sales.
The first Spayghetti Fundraiser was held 24 years ago.
Cook said, "The very first Spayghetti was in the basement of the VFW. There was maybe like a hundred people there; they raised 25,000 dollars. One of our employees ' moms actually is the one who made the spaghetti in the kitchen of the VFW."
Since then, it has grown to roughly 700 attendees, and last year, the nonprofit raised 103,000 dollars.
"Typically, our Spayghetti money, unless we are raising money for something very specific, goes right into our operational costs, which is just helping the homeless animals of the Helena community," said Cook.
LCHS has about 11 full-time and 14 part-time staff members.
Every day, LCHS spends approximately $55 on food and water and $142 on animal veterinary care.
Blankets, kennels, leashes, grooming, cleaning, and other shelter supplies cost LCHS roughly $41 daily.
For maintenance and utilities, LCHS pays around $137 every day.
Cook said, "Spayghetti is, in a lot of ways, the backbone of what LCHS does. If we didn't have Spayghetti, we would probably have a really uphill battle to do the things that we need to do."
Event Thyme Catering will cater dinner, and there will be a live auction.
One way you can support LCHS if you cannot attend the fundraiser is through its online silent auction. This year, they will have around 200 silent auction items to bid on.
There could be some animals at the fundraiser.
"There may be some surprises. I don't know. We'll see," said Cook.
LCHS aims to raise $110,000 this year, and the dinner will be held on April 6th at the Helena Civic Center.
If you want to purchase tickets to the Spayghetti Fundraiser, visit lchsmontana.org.
