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mokenamessenger.com news<br />

the Mokena Messenger | April 12, 2018 | 3<br />

Bingo night supports shelter, adoptions<br />

Funds will help<br />

NAWS build area<br />

for rehabilitating<br />

sick cats<br />

Amanda Stoll, Assistant Editor<br />

Pizza, salad, soda and bingo<br />

sounds like a great night<br />

out, and add in a good cause<br />

and it becomes a sold out<br />

event.<br />

The Mokena-based<br />

NAWS Humane Society<br />

hosts bingo fundraisers a<br />

few times a year, and the<br />

most recent one on Friday,<br />

April 6, at Beggars Pizza in<br />

New Lenox was a full house.<br />

With more than a dozen<br />

bingo prizes and tables teeming<br />

with raffle prizes, NAWS<br />

Founder Stacy Gaskins said<br />

they hoped to raise as much<br />

as $3,000 at the event.<br />

In addition to the 10<br />

games of bingo, there was<br />

a 50/50 raffle and raffle baskets<br />

to bid on, and supporters<br />

who brought and donated<br />

items from the shelter’s wish<br />

list were entered into another<br />

drawing.<br />

Before the night was<br />

through, the entire NAWS<br />

van, which is often used to<br />

transport animals, was completely<br />

packed with supplies<br />

needed around the shelter<br />

with kitten season upon them.<br />

The bingo event was organized<br />

by Darlene Kokotan, a<br />

member of the board of directors<br />

at NAWS, along with<br />

the event committee.<br />

The room was packed<br />

with 124 people playing<br />

bingo, along with volunteers<br />

and servers from Beggars.<br />

“We’ve been doing this<br />

a long time, [and] I think<br />

there’s a lot of camaraderie<br />

that goes into this,” Kokotan<br />

said. “I think we’re finally at<br />

a point where we’re running<br />

bingo very smoothly.”<br />

Gaskins said the quality of<br />

the prizes, which Kokotan<br />

estimated were worth between<br />

$30 and $45, has kept<br />

people coming back. And, of<br />

course, the cause helps, too.<br />

The money brought in<br />

from the event will be used<br />

to build a separate room<br />

at the shelter for sick cats<br />

while they are rehabilitated.<br />

The separate space will<br />

be used to house cats that<br />

are infected with ringworm<br />

or suffering from upper respiratory<br />

issues.<br />

“We have a much lower<br />

risk of cross contamination,<br />

and it will get them through<br />

the process quicker,” Gaskins<br />

said. “Then that will<br />

also clear up some space to<br />

allow us to do more onsite<br />

adoptions.”<br />

They’ll be getting even<br />

more room to spread out<br />

once their small onsite resale<br />

shop moves to its new location<br />

on Front Street in Mokena<br />

next month. That space<br />

will also be used for adoptable<br />

pets, greatly increasing<br />

the number of pets that can<br />

be housed at the shelter.<br />

For more information on<br />

NAWS, their adoptable pets<br />

and their upcoming events,<br />

visit their website at nawsus.<br />

org or call (708) 478-5102.<br />

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MAY 5 TH , 2018 • 11am-2:30 pm<br />

RACE TIME: NOON at the OAKS POND<br />

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& at the Chamber Office • 19150 Wolf Road, Suite C<br />

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WINNING TURTLE - 1ST PRIZE : $500!<br />

ENTERTAINMENT! • FOOD! • GREAT SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITES!<br />

Karen Zurzolo (left) was the first bingo winner of the<br />

evening. NAWS board member Darlene Kokotan helps her<br />

sift through the prizes. Amanda Stoll/22nd Century Media<br />

Have your<br />

picture taken with a<br />

LIVE MUD TURTLE!<br />

Sponsored by Crosstown Exotics<br />

& Traveling Reptile Show

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