PAW raises $119,000 in four hours

FORT MADISON – It was another wild afternoon at the PAW Animal Shelter with Jordan’s Way on the property to help raise awareness and funds for the no-kill facility.
According to Director Sandy Brown, the group raised $119,000 in four hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon in a live Facebook event coordinated by Jordan Way founder Kris Rotunda.
About 20 minutes before the end of the event, an anonymous donor called in a $50,000 donation.
“That’s not $50, or $500, or $5,000. That’s a $50,000 donation,” Rotunda said during the live event.
Brown was hoping to get to $150,000 and set a new record for Jordan’s Way. As part of the fundraiser, the “Top Dog” among the shelters that Rotunda hosts fundraisers at, will get a $25,000 check from the Jordan’s Way Foundation. Those funds are in addition to the revenue raised during the event.
Donations count up until the following Wednesday at 5 p.m. so Brown said people can still donate on the PAW Facebook page, website at www.pawfortmadison.com, venmo: @fortmadisonpaw@yahoo.com, paypal at: fortmadisonpaw@yahoo.com, or by direct donation in person at the facility at 2031 48th Street in Fort Madison.
“We ended at $119,000, but we’ve had donations come since then and we have until next Wednesday. Anything that comes in until 5 p.m. next Wednesday will count toward our amount. We want to hit $150,000, so we have to raise another 30,000 or so by then.”
Brown said the shelter has been asking for donations for more than three years now and the staff and board thought this might be a tougher task. It was the third time Rotunda has brought his efforts to the shelter. The shelter won the Top Dog award in 2023.
“We’ve been asking for donations for more than two years to get the shelter built and everything in,” she said. “We truly understand what’s going on. It’s an election year and money is tight. It’s fall and people are worried about heating bills. We expected it be rougher, but we’re still confident we can make it happen.”
Staff and volunteers subjected themselves to some nasty ingestions, whip cream pies to the face, bugs, spiders, snakes, and even incarcerations, to raise funds for the shelter.
Brown, who shaved her head for the last event, said she had to wash her hair about five times to get all the gunk out.

“At least I didn’t have to shave it. Maybe next year,” she said.
“But we're so grateful for the community and all the support we’ve received. We are very, very blessed to be where we are. The shelter we are competing with raised $123,000 and they had two car dealerships who went to war and raised $60,000, but most of our local money comes in $25 at a time.
“That shows us the normal Joe on the street supports us. Most people can afford $25 so they donate. Not everyone can afford $100 or $200 or $50,000. We depend on those $25 donations day in and day out. They’re just as important as the bigger donations.”
She said some of the craziest challenges included eating freeze-dried waterbugs.
“I wasn’t going to eat that,” she laughed. “I don’t care if someone donated $50,000, but I was able to get out of that thanks to donations. I also laid in a coffin with 10 hissing cockroaches. Thank God they weren’t hissing or I would have been flying out of there,”
She said one volunteer, who’s afraid of snakes, laid in a coffin with a snake slithering around on her while sufficient donations came in.
Rotunda had to be walked through the facility twice so he didn’t get lost in the new facility.
Brown said he was very impressed with the new facility. He had done the previous two events in the former facility to the south.
She also thanked Animal House in Keokuk for bringing critters up to the event.
“It was fun. We’re glad it's over,” she said.
The group now turns its focus to the grand opening, which is set for Sunday, Nov. 3 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Brown said the facility won’t be completely finished, but they will be close. The second largest fundraiser of the year is the Purse BINGO event scheduled for Nov. 8 and then the Santa Store, which is the first two Saturdays in December. The Santa House is still in the back of the Aldi’s store in downtown Fort Madison.