A special fundraiser will include the showing of a PBS program chronicling the heart-warming tale of Orcutt cross-country runners who hit the trails with shelter dogs.
The March 4 event will include viewing Shelter Me: Community Matters, hosted by anthropologist Jane Goodall and featuring the St. Joseph High School cross country team running with the Santa Maria Animal Center dogs.
A video of the first run posted by cross country team coach Luis Escobar on social media went viral last year, with the first story appearing in Noozhawk helping spread the team’s tale, he said.
The producers of Shelter Me heard about the running program and spent three days recording the high schoolers and dogs last fall.
“It was incredible to see our story come to life on the big screen,” said Stacy Silva, community outreach coordinator for Santa Barbara County Animal Services.
“It’s really surreal.”
Silva was among a handful of locals who attended a Jan. 31 premiere of the episode in Los Angeles.
“It’s amazingly well done,” she said. ”It brings such positive light to our Santa Maria community and the work being done inside our three Animal Services facilities.”
Escobar also attended the Los Angeles showing.
“It was great,” he said. “It was wonderful. I think they did a great job of telling our story.”
Shelter Me depicts the school, shelter, team and town in a great way, Escobar added.
Most in the audience weren’t aware of the story so Silva said she enjoyed hearing their reactions as they watched the episode.
“It was just so cool to hear, to be surrounded that,” she said.
A preview of the episode is available on the Shelter Me Facebook page, including Escobar saying, “They want to be outside, and here at the school we’ve got a group of kids who love running.”
Shelter Me, produced by Steven Latham Productions and presented by the Petco Foundation, tells uplifting stories about shelter pets and the people who help them. The Santa Maria story is included in Episode 7.
As word of the running program spread, the number of dog adoptions rose significantly, according to Silva’s review of data from 2015 and 2016.
The fundraiser is scheduled for 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. March 4 at St. Joseph High School, 4120 S. Bradley Road.
A reception with hors d’oeuvres and a no-host beer and wine also is planned. Dress is business casual.
Tickets cost $12 for the showing or $25 for the showing and reception. A table of four costs $250 and includes a DVD of the show plus a photo album from the Shelter Me filming. Click here to purchase tickets online.
The event is sponsored by the Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation and will benefit the animals in the three county shelters. The nonprofit Animal Care Foundation helps pay for medical care needed for homeless but adoptable animals.
“They really do help us save lives,” Silva added.
The foundation also acquired several special running harnesses for the high schoolers to use on their dog runs.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.