Creature Comfort
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The Mummers Museum will host an animal advocacy group’s anniversary celebration.
By Joseph Myers
“I know exactly why I was put on this earth,” Megan McFarland recently declared. “It’s to continue to make a difference in the lives of those who do not have a voice.”
Since March 2010, the Whitman native has proven a vigorous mouthpiece for the downtrodden as the founder and president of Mums & Mutts. This is the 10th year she has worked to improve matters for shelter and rescue animals. To mark the occasion, the 33-year-old and her peers will celebrate the thousands of success stories with a gala at the Mummers Museum, 1100 S. Second St., this Saturday, May 18th at 6pm.
“Looking back, I’m just so blown away by how much support we have had,” McFarland, who recently left her lifelong neighborhood for Mount Ephraim, N.J., said of the prosperous span. “I hadn’t known that people could care so much about bettering the existence of those animals.”
The proud overseer noted that a winter Mums & Mutts board meeting bore the idea to commemorate the non-profit’s stamp on the tri-state area, with 13 rescue organizations receiving fundraising, marketing, social media and public relations assistance to sustain their livelihood. The name Mums & Mutts incorporates a shortened form of the Mummers, who, as a whole, have assisted McFarland since her labor of love’s infancy, combined with the pooches whose plight came to inspire her. Mums & Mutts holds that shelter and rescue occupants need ample assistance, and, fortunately for them, Saturday’s celebration will mark what she calls “another introductory win along the way.”
“I’d say that we’re just getting started,” McFarland said, beaming. “Every single dog and every single cat we help give me this reassurance that we are changing the system and not deciding to let these poor creatures just go neglected.”
Via its Facebook page, Mums & Mutts notes how proud it is to involve the community in its efforts, a measure that McFarland takes seriously through fall celebrations at Burke Playground, Second and Jackson streets. It is that devotion to local efforts that led the team to choose Mark Squilla, 1st District Councilman, and Richard Lazer, Deputy Mayor for Labor, as Saturday’s gala honorees, owing to their commitment to the community-building organization.
“When you consider how many animals need assistance, it can be pretty overwhelming if you lack perspective,” McFarland, who will make a speech at the event but leave the limelight to others, said of Mums & Mutts’ decade of diligence. “Sometimes, the odds for some of them seem insurmountable, but I’ll always feel that it’s all worth it if we compel someone to save an animal’s life.”
Saturday will serve as affirmation that each day offers a new chance to help a dog and/or cat in need and that her circle of supporters deserves more praise than she can think to summon.
“When I began Mums & Mutts, I had zero plan,” McFarland replied when asked if she had envisioned being in her 10th year of serving as a source of hope for rescue pets. “Now, through each donation, each event, and each life saved, I’m never going to doubt that this is my calling, and I’m grateful to everyone and for everyone who has ever said, ‘Hey, let’s help to give this animal’s life the respect that it deserves.’”
For tickets, which are $55 per person and $100 per couple, email mumsandmutts@gmail.com. No tickets will be available at the door.
