Paws for Life event in Tega Cay hopes to appeal to millennials, others who love animals

If eating, drinking and dancing the night away while helping homeless pets sounds like your idea of fun, then you’re in luck.

The Humane Society of York County’s Second Annual Paws for Life Celebration Gala will take place 6-10 p.m. June 17 in Tega Cay’s Philip T. Glennon Community Center at Tega Cay Golf Club. Tickets must be purchased by noon June 10.

The Gala is one of two major fundraising events for the non-profit, no-kill shelter each year. The event will feature a dinner buffet, live and silent auctions and dancing. Carolina Panthers and Clemson football tickets are just a few of the items up for grabs. Beer and wine is included in the cost of the ticket and is being sponsored by Windy Hill Orchard and Fort Mill’s own Full Spectrum Brewing Company.

“When everything’s said and done, it’s all about what we’re going to be able to do for the animals,” said Humane Society volunteer Mary Beth Knapp.

The focus of this year’s fundraiser is on awareness and increasing funding for the organization’s spaying and neutering efforts, which some people wrongly assume is done for free.

“People just, they don’t understand that it costs $75 per animal to just get them fixed,” Knapp said. “Everybody has to make a living.”

This year, the HSYC is bringing in an auction company to help streamline the process by making it fully digital. Organizers hope that the incorporation of technology will appeal to a new, younger crowd. All bids will be placed from your phone or tablet and you will receive text notifications if you have been outbid.

“What we’re constantly trying to do is tap a new audience,” Knapp said. “The same people do everything, the 80/20 rule. The same people come to the events and the same people donate and the same people work. (We want to) keep the giving going, from generation to generation.”

While the organization would love to have more members of the younger generations get involved, those who do volunteer regularly give it their all, Knapp said.

“The twenty percent that work, work their hearts out,” she said.

Knapp’s passion is helping these vulnerable, four-legged members of society.

“Between animals and kids, it’s the innocence,” she said. “Protecting the innocence and giving them a second chance. We’re a no-kill (shelter.) We’re constantly battling for the baby.”

This story was originally published June 8, 2017 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Paws for Life event in Tega Cay hopes to appeal to millennials, others who love animals."