About eight years ago after noticing Zachary’s St. Patrick’s Day party was drawing a large crowd, owner Doug Pellum decided to give that party a purpose.
“It just got so big, we said, ‘Why don’t we do something to help the community out?’” Pellum said. “And so we decided to turn it into a fundraiser and help the (Columbus-Lowndes County) Humane Society at that point in time.”
With that, Zachary’s Pawty was born.
This year, Pellum said, the Humane Society requested the event benefit another organization. The change prompted between five to 10 local organizations and nonprofits with animal-focused missions to reach out and fill that spot.
Pellum said organizers eventually settled on Operation Colony Cats, a nonprofit that assists in applications for spay and neuter assistance for cats and also helps manage feral cat colonies throughout North Mississippi.
“We looked at different (organizations), … and we felt this was the best one to (support) for this year,” Pellum said.
From 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Zachary’s will host its annual St. Patrick’s Day Pawty fundraiser, featuring raffles, green beer and food alongside live music by Carl and the Road Dawgs.
Entry costs $20 for adults and is free for children aged 12 and younger, Pellum said.
The event will also feature a prize raffle, with ticket prices ranging from one ticket for $10, to 12 tickets for $100, according to the raffle’s website. Prizes include a yearlong membership to the Frank P. Phillips Memorial YMCA, a recliner and a pressure washer.
Pellum said the event has grown over the years from a smaller celebration to an event that draws about 1,000 people throughout the day. The last two years, the crowd has raised about $40,000, though this year organizers have set a loftier goal at $50,000.
Terri Doumit, president of Operation Colony Cats, said the money raised Sunday will have a significant impact for the nonprofit’s work.
“We’re hoping that with this money, we can increase what we’ve done,” Doumit said. “… Just OCC by ourselves, because we aren’t very well known yet, it’s hard for us to make the impact we can if we don’t have more organizations supporting us.”
Since opening in 2018, the nonprofit has helped to spay and neuter about 8,900 cats in the area.
With yearly costs that range between $12,000 and $15,000, Doumit said the funds raised would give the nonprofit room to expand while also covering some costs of spaying and neutering more felines in the local area.
“(The funds) will help us continue what we’ve already done, and it does take … a little bit of stress off,” Doumit said. “… It’s going to mean that we don’t have to ask for money for every single little thing we do. We’ll just be able to be a little more independent, and we’ll just be able to reach out and help more people.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
