Fundraiser held for animal welfare organization

TORRINGTON — Jake’s WayBack Burgers at 320 E Elm St. hosted a fundraiser for area animal welfare organization For The Love of Jack on Thursday, June 16.

The organization, which started three years ago, is dedicated to helping sick, injured and malnourished animals.

For The Love of Jack acquired their name when an injured cat in Riverton brought many phone calls to Riverton animal control officer Les Archer. 

Bystanders could not get close enough to the cat to help, so Archer used his Have-A-Heart trap to get the pet to emergency care. 

It was determined that the cat had a broken femur and he needed an operation to live. Town funding was not available, so Archer took it upon himself to ask for donations for his surgery. When Archer acquired more than enough than needed, the inspiration came to start the animal welfare organization, which was named after Jack, the cat that was saved. 

Winsted resident Michelle Smedick, co-coordinator and treasurer of For The Love of Jack, was present at the event on June 16. 

“After Jack’s surgery, we thought, what if this is something we can keep doing?” Smedick said. “What we do with For the Love of Jack, is if someone is having a financial hardship, they can call us for help. Usually, emergencies is the bulk of what we get. We point people in the right direction of affordable vaccinations and we are hoping to do a vaccination clinic in the near future, with the potential for spaying and neutering as well.”

“The group is open to most any venue and happy to take on new projects,” Smedick said. 

Makayla Williams, 12, of New Hartford was pleased to help the cause on Thursday, and came to serve food to hungry customers. 

“My mom told me that the fundraiser was going on, and my Girl Scout Troop 4310 has been helping out with For the Love of Jack a lot lately,” Makayla said. “One girl in my Girl Scout troop lost her dog this summer, and they helped her to find it, so she got us involved.”

For more information on For the Love of Jack, go to www.fortheloveofjack.com.