ST. GEORGE — Luxurious gift baskets sprawled across Hilton Garden Inn’s convention-room tables last week on Aug. 25, some baskets boasting $500 price estimates of valued goods. Adults young and old laughed and entered the event wearing cat earrings and puppy shirts.
By the end of the night, Southern Utah Ladies Society, a two-year-old non-profit organization, raised over $10,000 for RSQ Animal Rescue Team.
Debra Heger, Southern Utah Ladies Society’s vice president and event co-chair, said she and the other members of her organization labored long hours to gain notice of the event and business donations.
“I can’t even tell you how many people I went to,” Heger said. “First of all, we asked for sponsor money. Then we went out and tried to get things to fill multiple gift baskets. It’s a lot of work, but it’s very rewarding.”
Heger said she respects RSQ Animal Rescue due to its devotion to helping animals in rural communities, like Hildale and Colorado City, where there aren’t large animal shelters.
“They’ve got really sad cases out in those areas,” Heger said. “They get a phone call, travel out there and bring the animal in. They’ve got a nice facility, so they provide medical care and get the animals adopted.
“A lot of these animals are ones that people dump out in the desert. People do horrible things to these animals, and (RSQ Animal Rescue Team) is there to pick up the pieces.”
According to RSQ Animal Rescue Team’s website, the organization provides “a voice for the voiceless, bettering the lives of animals in Utah’s rural communities.”
The non-profit is run solely by volunteers and has no paid staff. The organization began in 2017 when founder Kelli Stokes saw animals needing aid in the rural communities around St. George. RSQ gives pet food for families in need and provides “low cost or free spay/neuter services when possible.”
RSQ rescues about 500 animals a year, specializing in taking in critical medical cases of animals.
“We see amazing outcomes when these animals are given a chance,” the website states.
Gift baskets for the raffle included items like Zion National Park stargazing guide tickets, a yearlong gun range membership, Tuacahn Amphitheater family tickets, Sky Mountain golf passes and Utah-bottled wine.
The adult-only event sold out all 157 seats that cost $35 a piece. One ticket included admittance to the event, bingo cards and a meal of cranberry summer salad, roasted vegetables, barbecued pork on brown rice, roasted chicken smothered in garlic gravy and cheesecake. The event also included a bar.
“These people that we do this stuff for, they don’t normally get a lot of money,” Heger said. “They rely on donations and the kindness of people. So we really try to make their day.”
About a month after the organization’s fundraisers, Heger said they host another event where they bestow a massive check to the group for which they raised money. In this case, Heger plans on giving RSQ Animal Rescue Team its check on Sept. 21.
Although Southern Utah Ladies Society is only two years old, Heger said, the organization has quickly made a name for itself in the local charity community.
“The American Legion actually came to us,” she said, referring to an upcoming charity event in November. “They said, ‘We need help. We’re going to be out of money. Would you be willing to do a fundraiser for us?’ We said, ‘Yes, of course.’”
The November event will likely be chili or soup cook-off, she said, something “fall-related.”
Heger said each member of her organization gets a turn to choose the charities they fundraise for. In the past two years, Southern Utah Ladies Society has thrown fundraisers for Bikers Against Child Abuse, Providing Animals with Support (P.A.W.S.), Washington County School District “at-risk students,” Neighborhood Connection and others.
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