Posted by Courtney Ockenden, CPA, Senior Accountant

Growing up, I always had a great passion for animals. I used to say I wanted to own a pet store when I grew up, because if animals had to be in cages all day, I wanted to make sure they were the best, most comfortable cages in the world! Well, I did grow up, but I don’t own a pet store. However, that passion still lives on with my own pets at home and the goal to reach out to more animals in the future.

All great journeys must begin with a single step. Each year around this time, I hear Q-104 advertise for the APL’s Pledge for Pets Radioathon. The Cleveland Animal Protective League relies solely on outside funding and this event seems to generate impressive numbers time and time again. One of the ways to help raise money is to become what is called a Cash Captain. In short, you become your own fundraising machine. The objective is to collect spare change and donations from everyone you know in support of the APL. So, upon hearing that the 2010 Radioathon was rapidly approaching, I thought, “You know what? I could do this. I SHOULD do this.” And so I did.

For the next 5 weeks or so, I notified the office here at Zinner & Co. that I had accepted this role as captain and sought support from anyone who wanted to help. The initial reaction seemed promising.

But while I obviously have a strong love for animals, I understand that not everyone does. I am not one to go knocking door-to-door and pressure people to support my cause (although, I was tempted to have a slide show of all the animals currently up for adoption at the APL). Nonetheless, even without desperate measures, I was able to raise a little over $200. A baby step, indeed, but still a step.

In total, the APL raised $140,677 from this event, and I at least know I was a part of that.

I expect to participate in this event in years to come, while seeking opportunities to support both the APL and other local animal shelters in the future.