After nearly two years of planning and waiting, Ouachita Behavioral Health and Wellness was able to host the Paws-A-Thon, a fundraiser to help raise awareness of mental health, at Entergy Park on Saturday.
“This idea has been brewing for probably a year and a half, almost two years,” said OBHAW Marketing Director Renee Bartholomae. “We were going to do it last year, but because of COVID, we postponed it to this year.”
Bartholomae said the plan was to host an event that would also help attendees think about mental health.
“We knew we wanted to do an event, but we had to correlate it with mental health,” she said. “And so our slogan was ‘Paws for Mental Health,’ paws like a dog’s. And so we moved from there to our Paws-A-Thon. The idea kept flowing, it kept growing. Bounce houses, face painting, dog contests with great judges and of course our dog walk.”
All proceeds will benefit the children’s program at Ouachita Behavioral Health and Wellness.
There were several sponsors of the event who attended and set up information tables for the attendees.
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“We’re very fortunate to have wonderful sponsors who took the time to come here and be with us and support us, and not just our company, but mental health in general,” said marketing assistant d ‘OBHAW, Abril Reyes.
“We had a lot of sponsorships for this event,” Bartholomae said. “We have a lot of great sponsors, and we want to thank the community for coming to our rescue and helping us put this on. If it wasn’t for our community, we couldn’t have done it. .”
Bartholomae said there were about 70 participants in the dog show, and in addition to being able to walk and socialize with other dogs, four-legged participants in both the show and the walk could receive treats and tennis balls free
“This is our first big fundraiser we’ve ever done for Ouachita Behavioral Health and Wellness, so we were nervous,” she said. “But, my goodness, we had such a great turnout. And so many dogs, and they were all so nice. There’s no fighting. So everything went well. We’re really blessed.”
While organizers did not say there would be a repeat event next year, they did agree that future events are a possibility.
“Like I said, the community sponsorship was amazing,” Bartholomae said. “I mean, we all know how important mental health is in our community right now, and our community is aware of that and they really came out for us. We really appreciate it.”
Owner Cindi Adams’ Snoopy is judged by, from left, Justice of the Peace Esther Dixon, State Rep. Les Warren and City Manager Bill Burrough as Renee Bartholomae introduces the pair at Entergy Park on Saturday . – Photo by Lance Porter of The Sentinel-Record
Bailey Paige Morgan, owned by Evelin Morgan, drives to the judges’ table during the dog show at Entergy Park on Saturday. – Photo by Lance Porter of The Sentinel-Record
