The Friends of the Bell County Animal Shelter organization is holding a fall fundraiser with an event taking place on Monday, Oct. 18 at the Gap Creek Coffee House in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee.

Chairman of the Friends of the Bell County Animal Shelter Public Relations Committee Connie Goodwin talked about the upcoming event.

“This will probably be the last fundraiser this year, because we’re going into colder weather,” Goodwin said. “Part of the fun is so many people like to sit outside at the coffee house, but of course with colder weather we won’t be able to do that.”

This is not the first time the group has held this sort of event; a similar fundraiser took place at the same location in the summer.

“We usually do this once a year,” Goodwin said in a previous report. “The Gap Creek Coffeehouse in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, graciously hosts this for us, and they give us a percentage of all the sales for the evening from 5:30 p.m. until closing, which is at about 8 p.m.”

For the event, Friends of the Shelter members will perform the duties of the wait staff, with all tips and a percentage of the sales going to support the Friends of the Shelter’s programs to help animals in Bell County.

This time around, the coffee house fundraiser is offering musical entertainment.

“We’re going to have Caleb Carney playing some music during the event,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin mentioned Friends of the Shelter is also planning a different sort of fundraiser for November.

“It’s a paint party,” she said. “It will be held at the Middlesboro Community Center…that’s going to be on Nov. 8.”

Goodwin also touched on the organization’s biggest yearly fundraising event having to be rescheduled due to COVID-19 issues.

“Our biggest fundraiser of the year is our “Beastie Bash,” Goodwin said. “It’s an auction, and we always do that at the Pine Mountain State Park, and it’s usually in November. But we decided to postpone it because of the COVID-19 numbers going up, so it’s postponed until April 30.”

The Bell County Friends of the Shelter Mission Statement is to reduce the number of homeless, unwanted, and uncared for animals in Bell County, Kentucky. We cannot accomplish these goals without the loyal and generous support of our corporate partners and members. Together, we are making a difference in the lives of these animals. More animal lives are being saved each year thanks to our spay and neuter programs, animal transports and adoption, humane education and providing support to the Bell County Animal Shelter, according to Goodwin.