For the last 2 months, the Grace Christian Academy cross country team has been helping provide needed exercise to dogs who would otherwise be sitting in overcrowded kennels, and the team has even helped some of the animals get adopted. It’s all started with wanting to combine community service with a unique way to train.
Daniel George has served as the GCA cross country coach for the last year. He said that a few months ago, the school’s Athletic Director Mike Deckman had a unique idea.
“Some of these guys on our team needed some volunteer hours,” George said. “And so we just thought, ‘we’re out here running, might as well kill two birds with one stone, if you will.’ We wanted to support the local community animal shelter, while giving our guys a little extra fun workout.”
So, they contacted the Daviess County Animal Shelter, which is constantly overcrowded due to the high number of intakes year round. The school asked if it would be OK for some of the dogs to be brought to cross country practice to run with the team.
“Of course we were on board with that,” Kristi Harrison, volunteer at the shelter, said at a recent practice. “Our dogs absolutely need exercise and stimulation, and they need to get out of their kennels. It was a perfect match. It’s just a fantastic service project and it does so much for our dogs.”
Harrison added, “The dogs are just in seventh heaven out here. Our kennels are overcrowded. They literally only get out when volunteers come on campus to walk them, and that’s 5-10 minutes a day. This is just absolutely amazing for them and their mental health.”
Harrison said several of the dogs that have been out to the cross country practices have been adopted.
“We believe that it’s because these folks are telling the dogs’ stories and advocating for adoptions in our community,” she said. “We are struggling with surrenders and high intake numbers. Anything people can do to talk about how great our shelter dogs are helps with our adoptions so much.”
George said he didn’t realize how overcrowded the shelter was prior to the partnership, so he’s glad GCA can play a role in getting the dogs adopted.
“We had no idea that there were dogs left and right that needed to be adopted,” he said. “There’s obviously a huge need, and our goal with implementing this to our practice is to help get those dogs adopted as quickly as possible.”
To adopt an animal from the shelter, first an approved application must be on file to view dogs. Applications can be filled out by clicking here. To see pets available for adoption, click here.
The shelter is also constantly looking for volunteers to walk their dogs, as it is an extremely helpful service to the shelter employees and, more importantly, to the dogs. To take the first step in volunteering for the shelter, the necessary release form can be printed off here or picked up from the front desk, then filled out and given to an employee.
For questions about adoption or volunteering, contact the shelter directly by calling 270-685-8275 or emailing [email protected]. You can also stop by the shelter at 2620 KY 81.
GCA is an independent, nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation with a non-denominational and evangelical Christian perspective. GCA opened its doors to students in the fall of 2020, initially with only a freshman high school class. The school will offer grades pre-K through 4 and 9 through 12 for the upcoming academic year. GCA serves the region of Daviess as well as neighboring counties. More information about GCA and the open house can be found on their website gcaowensboro.org.
