Helping Hands, Happy Hearts

Helping Hands, Happy Hearts: Venango County Humane Society Donations

By Lily Shook | December 9, 2025

Donations are essential when it comes to non-profit organizations, and can make huge differences no matter the size or amount. At the Venango County Humane Society, a non-profit no-kill shelter, they have been committed to rehoming and providing animals with medical care since 1956. With such a rich history to stay up and running, the shelter relies on a caring and committed community.

In order for the shelter to use its funds for animal safety, medical needs, and building maintenance, donations of supplies are a must. People commonly donate such things as laundry detergent, dog/cat dry food, toys (Kong and chewy toys for the dogs), and gently used bedding. Locals in Venango County consistently show their love and support to the homeless animals through these donations, contributing towards their adoption process and comfort and enrichment.

Katie Parsh, who has volunteered at the Venango County Humane Society for 5 years, highlighted the impact of community involvement: “It's not just one thing, but it's really neat when kids ask for donations for their birthday or the kids take up a donation and bring it in, Parish said, “They're usually pretty excited to bring stuff in for us.”

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The Humane Society offers many different ways to donate, including in-person drop-offs, phone donations, PayPal,an Amazon wishlist, shipping options, or the Treat app. All of these options are available on their organization’s website.

“Sometimes people even leave us in their wills.” Parish added. “There's little plaques around the building that say when people have donated for certain things when the new building was built, the kennels are all sponsored. As well as our play runs outside. The new cat kennels were all donated by one person, which was huge.”

In addition to the shelter itself, the Venango County Humane Society operates a thrift store located at 744 Liberty Street in Franklin to help raise funds. The store consists of a wide variety of donated items, including household items, kitchen supplies, clothes, and jewelry. all generously donated by the public through a door on the 8th street side of the store during open hours. All proceeds go to the Humane Society while also providing the community with affordable second-hand shopping. 

Jennifer Corbett, manager at the Venango County Humane Society Thrift Store, said, “We appreciate their donations because it makes the Humane Society able to take care of stray animals.”

Abigail Nuhfer, a senior at Cranberry High School, donates items to the cause showing that even students like to get involved. Nuhfer stated, “I love just knowing it might help make a pet a bit happier in their stay. People are going to want a happy looking dog if they’re going to go adopt a dog. So there’s a chain reaction, happy dog due to donations plus people seeing it's happy equals adopted.”

The most frequent fundraiser for the Humane Society is its bingo events, which has been held since 1993. Proceeds support the shelter’s Spay and Neuter Program. The event is hosted every Tuesday and Saturday evening at the Lee Bessler Hall in Seneca, with doors opening at 5PM and games beginning at 7PM.

Through community support and generosity, the Venango County Humane Society continues to thrive. From individual donations and fundraisers to thrift store purchases and bingo nights, each contribution plays a role in improving the lives of local animals and helping them find loving, forever homes.