SELINSGROVE, Pa. — It's been a difficult 10 months for many nonprofits, including Ashburn's Animals near Selinsgrove. All its fundraisers were canceled because of the pandemic.
"COVID has actually also really inhibited the amount of animals that we can bring in due to finances. We just don't have any more room that we know we can properly care and feed small and large animals at the moment," said owner Janel Ashburn said.
Ashburn's Animals takes in all kinds of animals, except for dogs and cats. Ashburn says a lot of people bought unusual pets with their stimulus money.
"And in turn needing to get rid of them at some point, whether it has to do with job loss, finances, sick, family members being ill," Ashburn said.
With the increase in animals coming into the rescue, Ashburn's Animals is bringing back one of its most popular fundraisers. The animals are looking for Valentine's! It's simple: Choose any animal from the website.
"Send in a donation of your choice, whatever you want to put in the envelope. Send it to that animal, and you will get a return valentine from that animal and a special picture from them," Ashburn said.
If you don't like Valentine's Day or if you want to send an anti-Valentine, stay tuned to Ashburn's Animals Facebook page to see what they do with these roaches.
If you are more of a hands-on person, you can schedule a private farm tour to get one on one time with your favorite animal.
"Maybe you want to bring your special date out here to be with an animal, or maybe you don't have a special date, and you want to have a playtime with an animal. We can arrange that as well," Ashburn said.