It all goes to the dogs

While spending more time at home soaking in the ambiance of your space, have you experienced niggling feelings that some of those things you're sitting amongst no longer suit you? Maybe you'd like to find a new home for them. Perfect. Here's something you can do about it right now while serving a higher purpose – dogs.

For the fifth year, Cause4Paws (C4P), a not for profit organization (www.facebook.com/C4P.ARF) started by Gunbarrel's Laurel Fox, will be holding a fundraising yard sale that far out-wags all other neighborhood sales. It's a large, finely organized and beautifully staged sale of household items, clothes, books, and more.

Each year a different dog rescue is chosen as the recipient of the sale's proceeds. C4P has thus far raised more than $20,000. One Dog at a Time Colorado (www.odaatcolorado.com) will benefit from the 2020 event. The relatively new rescue is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization finding forever homes for unwanted dogs, saving them from euthanization.

Fox, a nurse at Good Samaritan Medical Center, is on the front lines of the current health crisis. Being keenly aware of how to avoid coronavirus, she and her wife Jessica Crider are taking every necessary precaution.That means like everything else on your calendar, the sale date has been pushed out a few months from its normal summer timeframe to August or September.

This fortuitous delay gives the community a window of opportunity to help make the sale extra-special and when sale time comes, it will also be an event you'll want to attend.

Fox's mother became very ill with a recurrence of cancer last year. The annual C4P sale was set aside as Fox and Crider provided daily care to her. Just this February, her mother passed away.

Fox initially thought the sale would be put off again, but she said, "It just came to me that it [the sale] makes me feel so good, that it's probably going to be a really beneficial thing for me to continue." Recalling her mother's support for the annual event also reaffirmed why it's important to carry on this year. Poignantly, many items from her mother's home will be on sale this year.

Dogs became near and dear to Fox's heart when her mother was given a grim cancer prognosis 15 years ago. Walking home from the hospital to shower and then return to her mother's side, she would see a dog in a boutique store window. "As I walked by feeling defeated and overwhelmed, this little dog would bounce and run in circles, acting like a clown. Each time this pup gave me the one and only smile I would have for that day. I made a promise to myself that if my mom could get well enough to go home, I would go back to school to get my RN degree and I would buy myself my very own French bulldog."

She did both. Now Ruby Tuesday the Frenchie is part of a small herd of little dogs at Fox and Crider's home. Since getting Ruby, Fox said, "I learned more about the breeding industry, back-yard breeders, and all of the torture and neglect that takes place within. It broke my heart. The realization that there are hundreds of thousands of dogs that are euthanized every single day made me decide to follow my heart into rescue."

While you're looking around your house for things to donate, think estate sale and select items in near-perfect, clean condition. If the items have an on-off switch, be sure they're operational. The goal is for everything to be desirable and not be heading for the trash after the event.

Some suggestions are: dish and glassware sets (no plastic), small appliances, current designer clothing and children's clothing, books, lamps and light fixtures, small tables, quilts and blankets, drapes, art and frames, sporting goods, toys and games (no stuffed animals), dog beds and other pet gear, but not food.

You're encouraged to contact Fox by sending an email to [email protected] and, if you'd like, please include photos to be sure they can accept your donation. Both drop off and pick up are available.