When it comes to wedding registries, most newlyweds take full advantage of the gifts they can ask for from their friends. It’s possible to fill a whole kitchen since most couples request things like mixers, toasters, dining room sets, and more. But this couple did things a little different. Jonathan and Jeananne Wickham. Instead of a materialistic wishlist, they asked their guests to donate to their local animal shelter.
https://www.facebook.com/WayneCountyHumaneSociety/photos/a.450413197136/10156428319207137/?type=1&theater
“We’d been together for seven years and we didn’t have a need for traditional gifts like the mixers and the toasters,” Jonathan said in an interview. “We’re really big into animal welfare and rescue so we wanted to take an opportunity to give back to this shelter specifically because I grew up in Wooster.” Jonathan and Jeananne care about more that just donations themselves, and have adopted six cats and planned on doing even more for the Wayne County Humane Society.
After the Wickham’s big day had come and gone, they went shopping for all the things the shelter needed. The couple bought everything from mops, to food, to emergency vet bills. They bought 1,200 cans of wet food, 750 pounds of dry food, and enough cleaning supplies to get them through months of housing needy animals. One of the most interesting contributions they made was a $2,000 check to any emergency vet bills that came up for animals that may otherwise be put down. Carrie Andrew, the shelter director, said that it could not have come at a better time since two cats had come in that may not have made it without their donation.
“The ultimate goal was so the humane society could use its own money in a more strategic way.” said Jeananne, and the shelter director agreed that this kind gesture saved them thousands of dollars that they can put to other good use within the shelter. The couple never did this for attention, though their story has been seen by many since the shelter shared their photo on Facebook. Jonathan and Joananne are hoping that their story will inspire others to do something similar with an upcoming event. “We accumulate so much stuff in our lives and even if you think in the future. ‘Maybe I’ll need this,’ if you can do some good with a large or small event, then do that. Truly there was nothing in our lives that we needed to have a registry so we could get this or get that. We could get those things for ourselves, but this we couldn’t do by ourselves.”
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