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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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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 />
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