Troxell1

MargaretTroxell
COMM3144
Dr.Woods
7December2017

Group2
Module4:Speech

Thesunbeginstoriseasyourestillwanderingthestreetsinsearchoffoodoradecent

placetosleep.Earlymorningjoggersrunpastnoticingonlyyourmattedhairandfrailbody,not

trulyprocessingwhatcausedyoutogettothatstate.Althoughthissituationispurelyimaginary

forus,itisunfortunatelyrealityforcountlessstrayanimalsinMontgomeryCountyandallover

thecountry.Thatiswherewecomeintoplay;theHumaneSocietyofMontgomeryCounty

workstorescuehomelessanimalsinthearea,careforthem,andhelpthemfindlovingfamilies

toadoptthem.

Hi,mynameisMargaretTroxellandIamtheexecutivedirectorattheHumaneSociety

ofMontgomeryCountyandproudownerofmyowndog,Sunny,thatIadoptedfromourshelter.

AsDirectorofRescuesandAdoptions,Icanaffirmthatwearedoingourbesttohelprescue

everyanimal.However,withourbudgetandresourcesasanonprofitorganizationitis

becomingmoreandmoredifficulttoprovideahighlevelofcaretoeveryanimalwerescue.

Overthepastcoupleofyearswehaveexperiencedasurgeintheamountofhomelessanimalsin

thearea.Iamheretoday,onbehalfoftheHumaneSocietyofMontgomeryCounty,toaskthe

Chambertoincreaseourfunding,especiallywiththewinterweatherandholidaysapproaching.

Today,IplanontellingyouallabitaboutwhatwedoattheHSMC,howwebenefitthe

MontgomeryCountycommunityandhowyouallcanhelpusreachourgoalsfortheNewYear.
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FirstIllexplainwhatwedoattheHumaneSocietyofMontgomeryCountytoallofyou

whomaynotknoworarenotfamiliarwithourmission.TheHSMCisanonprofitorganization

foundedin1971.Weoperateashelterthatishometoadoptableanimalsuntilapermanent

residencecanbefoundforthem.Thisyearalonewerescuedandfoundhomesforover300

animals.Mostoftheanimalswefindintheareaarecatsanddogs,butwealsohaveafew

bunniesandothersmallanimals.Additionallywehaveseveralspecialneedsanimalsthatmust

findalovinghome.TheHSMCisanokillshelter;thismeansthatwemakesureallofourpets

findhomesregardlessofhowlongittakes.Wedonotsendourbeautifuldogsandcatsoffto

farms;instead,wecareforthemaslongaswecanuntiltheyfindtheirtruehomeinthearea.

Becauseofthispolicy,however,wefindourselvesinatoughpositionofhavinginsufficient

roomandresourcesfortheincreasingnumberofanimalswearefindingonthestreets.We

believethateachpetdeservesthesameopportunity;weshouldnothavetoturnawaycertain

animalsbecauseofourownlackofresources.Wecurrentlyhave23catsand15dogsavailable

foradoption;wearefocusingoncommunityoutreachinordertoattractmorefuturepetowners

toadoptandtoopenupsomeroomfornewpetsinourfacility.

Accordingtoastudy,petownersareconsiderablymorehappy,healthy,responsibleand

optimisticthanthoseindividualswithoutapetintheircare.Thoseofyouwhohavepetsknow

thatalthoughtheyareagreatresponsibility,theircompanionshipandunconditionalloveis100

percentworththeeffort.Itrulybelievethatdespitethework,myrescue,Sunny,hastruly

changedmylife.For46years,wevehelpedpeopleinMontgomeryCountyfindandadopttheir

bestfriendsandcompanionsthathavechangedtheirlivesforthebetteraswell.Overthepast50

years,almost15,000petshavebeenadoptedfromourshelter.Thatmeansmorethan15,000
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liveshavebeenchangedbytheunconditionallovethatapetcanprovideandinturn,thosepets

liveshavebeenchangedbytheloveandcareoftheirnewowners.

WehopetocontinuetobenefitourlocalcommunitieshereinMontgomeryCountywith

morepetadoptionsandvolunteeropportunities.Ourmissionisnotonlytoimprovethelivesof

theanimalswerescuebutalsotocreatehappinesswithinthosewhoadoptouranimals.We

believethatthismutuallybeneficialrelationshipbetweenourcountysresidentsandthepetsthat

werescueisextremelyimportantandmustcontinuetogrowandexpandwithinthenextfew

years.

Wehopetocontinueourexponentialgrowthinthefuture,notonlyinthenumberofpets

rescuedandadopted,butalsointhesizeofourshelterandourfunds.AsImentionedearlier,we

arecurrentlyatarateofabout300adoptionsperyear;however,weareawarethatthereare

manymorestrayanimalsinthearea.InChristiansburgthereare,onaverage,fivenewstray

animalsreportedaday.Thatisjustonesmallpartofourcounty;imaginehowmanymoreare

reportedinBlacksburg,Riner,ElletandShawsville.

Asanonprofitorganization,werelyonvolunteerworkanddonations.Althoughour

communityhasbeenahugecontributiontooursuccess,thereisalwaysaneedformore.

MontgomeryCountyresidentshavebeenextremelygenerous,especiallyinrecentyears.Last

yearwereceivedover$10,000indonationsfromthecommunityalone.Thiscontributionis

greatlyappreciated;however,theshelterwouldimproveimmenselyiftheChamberof

Commercedecidedtoincreaseourfunding.Withthisincrease,wewouldexpandourshelterto

housemoreadoptablepets,increasethenumberofemployeesthatwillcarefortheanimals,and

updateourvaccinationandspayandneuterprocedures.Theseupgradeswouldnotonlybeof
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servicetothemanystrayanimalsinthecountybutwouldalsobenefitourcommunity

considerably.

TheHumaneSocietyofMontgomeryCountyishonoredtoberecognizedbythe

ChamberofCommerceasanonprofittowatchthisyear.Wehavebeenmakinggreat

improvementsandhavenumerousideasformore.Withyourhelp,wecanturnourdreamsinto

reality.AsIpreviouslymentioned,theHSMCisanokillcenterthatrescuesandcaresforstray

animalsuntilwefindthemsuitablehomes.Oureffortsgobeyondhelpingstrays:wealsohelp

thecommunity,whetherthatmeansremovingstrayanimalsfromthestreetsthatmaycause

danger,orhelpingthekindpeoplewhoadoptourpetsbyprovidingthemwiththeircompanions.

Thisseasonwehavesentoutanenewslettertoourdonors,createdaPSA,andhandedoutan

updatedbrochureinordertospreadthewordaboutourorganizationandincreaseadoptions.We

arehopingthatinadditiontotheseefforts,youallwillbeabletohelpourcauseaswell.Weset

upseveralvolunteerdaysinwhichlocalbusinessescancomeouttoplaywithpuppiesandhelp

assistourshelterstaff.WewillalsobehostingapettoydriveinDecember;boxeswillbesetup

aroundtheareaatlocalbusinessesthatwecollectattheendofthemonth.TheHumaneSociety

ofMontgomeryCountyasksyoutopleaseconsiderincreasingfundingforournonprofit.

Togetherwecanhelprescuemorepetsandbringhappinesstomorepeopleandanimalsinthe

MontgomeryCountyCommunity.
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References

McConnell,A.R.,Brown,C.M.,Shoda,T.M.,Stayton,L.E.,&Martin,C.E.(2011).Friends
withbenefits:Onthepositiveconsequencesofpetownership.JournalofPersonalityand
SocialPsychology,101(6),12391252.