The School of Music hosted its second annual Bark to the Beat fundraiser for the Tuscaloosa Metro Animal Shelter Saturday.
The event had 576 participants running and walking the route, and Woosley estimated the count of donations to be around $13,000 to $14,000. Last year’s donation total was just over $10,000.
Bark to the Beat is a 5k that helps raise proceeds to give back to the animals in the shelter. The route is spread across campus, this year the track was marked better and the organizers were able to pre-plan everything in advance, from vendors at the starting field to musical shows planted across the course. Tickets were sold online or bought in person.
Kevin Woosley, director of the event and an instructor in the School of Music, said the success of the event and positive feedback inspired the school to invite back students and the Tuscaloosa community to donate more to the animal shelter and to enjoy the music along the 5k route again.
“We were able to grow a lot, which is exciting, and people were excited about it,” Woosley said. “We were a little unsure how the weather was going to look, because five days ago, it looked like it was gonna storm all morning, but it turned out absolutely beautiful.”
Mary Calhoun, a volunteer at the Metro Animal Shelter, said there was an influx of animals that needed medical care last year and the donations from the first event lessened the burden of paying to house and care for them.
“We so appreciate this event, because they raised thousands of dollars to help the animals, and it goes all to the animals,” Calhoun said. “In addition to the financial gains, it brings awareness to the shelter.”
The shelter brought its adoption bus to allow attendees to check out available dogs. Jim Chesnutt, a volunteer at the shelter, said that last year, a couple of the dogs were adopted directly from the bus, and that some people came back to the shelter to pick up dogs they saw on the bus.
The donations of toys and dog food will go to foster parents or to programs that help animal owners take care of their pets when they are faced with financial hardship.
Kathleen Cunningham, a sophomore majoring in marine science and the intake specialist at the Tuscaloosa Animal Shelter, said donations of any kind help, including small donations of $1 or $5.
Proceeds from the T-shirts sold at the event also went to the shelter. Cunningham said they sold several shirts from the bus and Woosley said people also bought a “Bark to the Beat” shirt from the registration table.
Despite running in 80-degree weather, the participants of the event were happy to donate and raise awareness for the shelter.
“Anytime the shelter has something going on, I try to donate. I feel like this is a great way for me to give back and exercise at the same time,” said Tamayra Dawson, a community member. “I really enjoyed it. I will be back next year.”
There was an influx of dogs running at the event, as well as people in matching outfits, from the Bark to the Beat shirt to running gear to costumes.
“It’s an honor to get to help host such a fun event for such a good fundraiser cause,” Woosley said. “We love being able to make it unique with the location and added live music. Between the amazing volunteers and awesome participants, today was an absolute success.”
