July 18, 2025 • 17 mins
When compassion meets commitment, extraordinary things happen. This episode spotlights Angela Prodrick, Executive Director of Blue Ridge Humane Society, whose nine-year journey from volunteer to leader exemplifies the heart of Henderson County's animal welfare movement.
What happens when disaster strikes and animals need protection? Angela shares the harrowing story of Hurricane Helene's impact on their shelter operations, revealing how dedicated staff members slept at the facility for five days without power, ensuring every animal received care despite the chaos. Her emotional recounting of evacuating animals down treacherous mountain roads at 4 AM showcases the lengths this organization goes to protect vulnerable pets.
Throughout our conversation, we uncover impressive statistics that demonstrate Blue Ridge Humane Society's impact: approximately 1,000 animals rehomed annually, 300 active volunteers, and a 75% increase in community support program demand following recent storms. The adoption center in Edneyville not only serves as a second chance for pets but includes thoughtful touches like daily "naptime" for animals to rest from visitor interactions.
Beyond adoption, Angela explains their innovative initiatives including the "field trip volunteer" program where community members can check out shelter dogs like library books for day outings, and humane education programs that teach children compassion and responsible pet ownership. She attributes her service mindset to parents who modeled community involvement throughout her childhood - a powerful reminder that compassion is learned and passed forward.
Want to make a difference in an animal's life? Blue Ridge Humane Society welcomes volunteers, donations to their thrift store (which provides one-third of their operating budget), and of course, adoption applications. With special $20 adoption fees this summer, there's never been a better time to add a furry family member while supporting this extraordinary organization.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The George Real Estate Group radio broadcast is
celebrating 10 years on WHKP.
The George Real Estate Group iscelebrating 10 years on the
radio, live every Thursdaymorning at 10.05 on WHKP 107.7
FM and AM 1450 and streamingonline at WHkpcom.
(00:24):
Each Friday morning at 845,.
The George Real Estate Grouppresents the Hometown Hero Award
to someone in our community whogoes above and beyond to make
our hometown a better place tolive.
Here's this week's HometownHero Show.
It's 845 on Friday morning andthat is always our George Real
(00:46):
Estate Group Hometown HeroSeries time.
Every Friday morning we gatherwith our friend Noah George from
the George Real Estate Groupand honor some of the community
members that take care of ourfurry friends.
This morning we want to welcomeAngela Prodrick from Blue Ridge
Humane Society in just a moment, but first, noah, how are you
(01:09):
doing Well?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
so much to be thankful for and we're so
grateful to be here every Fridaymorning sponsoring the Hometown
Heroes series.
You and I have been doing thisfor a number of years and it's
incredible to meet incrediblemen and women serving our
community and that's what makesour community what it is just
the sense of the generosity, thevolunteering, the philanthropic
(01:32):
mindset that our community has.
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
It's very strong here in Henderson County and that's,
quite honestly, one of thereasons we do this show and,
quite honestly, I'm sure it'sone of the reasons that you are
a a beneficiary of uh sellingreal estate in a in an area that
has this kind of uh plank inits platform people certainly
are attracted to like,like-minded, like attracts like
(01:58):
and so when people are cominghere, they they recognize it and
when they get involved and theya lot of our clients moving
here say we were involved involunteering where we were
previously.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
We want to continue to do that and so when they come
here and they discover what anactive volunteer community we
have, it is amazing and so veryinvolved and there's so much
opportunity and so people arecoming here for quality of life.
But part of that is again beinginvolved in the community.
So it's a privilege and honorto help our clients navigate
through when they're we'rehelping people here locally.
(02:30):
Obviously you know downsize,upsize, right size, and then
we've been helping a lot ofpeople relocate here and it's
funny about that is more peopleare tend to stay here or move
here.
Very rare are we helping peoplemove out of the community, okay
just an observation, but itdoes happen right.
Life happens.
You know.
There's circumstances thatmight cause someone to need to
(02:52):
move, maybe to an aging uh youknow parent or or maybe they
want to get.
They can't convince thegrandkids to move here, but but
they're moving closer to theirgrandchildren and maybe another
state.
So but on a whole, we tend tosee more people coming in, and
that's true across the country.
North carolina's in the numberthree uh incoming migrated state
, uh in the united states numberthree now, and so we're
(03:15):
certainly experiencing that andjust for context, I mean
henderson county is averaging126 single family homes a month
selling.
Uh, our prices are maintainingwhere Our average price is in
the 530s.
You know, it's not what it wasin the number of volume, as a
few years ago, I mean, we wereup at 180 single-family homes a
month selling but still 126homes a month selling and we're
(03:36):
so grateful.
This is my 20th year helpingclients navigate through buying
and selling and we work withresidential, we work with
commercial, we work withresidential, we work with
commercial, we work with land.
You know, whatever it is, we'regrateful to serve the community
through real estate.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
And easy to find.
One of the things that you dois podcast all of your radio
shows, including this one, andyou can find those at your
website, absolutely, you canalso go to
georgerealestategroupradiocom.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
You can also subscribe on your favorite
podcast platform.
But you can go torealestatebygregcom.
You can stop by our office inFlat Rock.
We have a dangerous locationthere, next to the bakery, the
Flat Rock Bakery and you canalso just call us directly at
828-393-0134.
But it's a privilege and honorto sponsor the Hometown Heroes
series.
Well, it's much appreciated.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
sir Angela Prodrick is the executive director of the
Blue Ridge Humane Society herein Hendersonville.
Good morning Angela.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Good morning.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Well, thank you for coming out today.
We just wanted to shine a light, if we can, on Blue Ridge,
humane Society and all of thegoodness that you do in our
community.
I know that during the stormyou guys had some challenges,
like everybody did, but how areour furry friends doing?
Speaker 3 (04:52):
our furry friends are doing okay and that's thanks to
my staff and our volunteers.
For sure our community hasdefinitely dealt a deft blow
from the hurricane.
For sure that a lot are stillrecovering from uh.
One of our community supportprograms we offer, where we give
free pet food and supplies topet owners in our community, has
seen just a 75% increase in thelast six months.
(05:14):
So there's definitely showing aneed out there for people who
want to hang on to their pets,who love their pets, want to
keep them in homes and just needa little bit of extra
assistance and that's wherewe've kind of stepped in to help
.
So yeah, that's what's going onin our world.
It's kitten season as well, sowe have a lot of kittens right
now, little bitty ones, infoster homes and a big shout out
(05:35):
to our foster families becausethey give their homes, we give
food, we give supplies, but theygive the time, the love in
their homes to take care ofthose little tiny kittens.
But last year we had about athousand animals move through
our adoption center.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Wow, that's a lot.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
It is, and you know each one of those is touched by
our volunteers.
We have about 300 volunteerswith Blue Ridge Humane Society.
Each one of those gets love,food, enrichment, play groups,
walks all that attention fromour staff as well.
So I always like to say it'snot about the quantity of
animals that moves for us, butit's the quality time that we
provide for them while they'rewith us.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
But you rehomed a thousand animals, a thousand
animals yeah.
That's significant.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
It's a pretty good chunk for sure, and about 85% of
those come directly fromHenderson County Animal Services
.
So they are the county facilityin our area.
They have to take any animalthat comes to them and we're
kind of a safety net for them.
So they are the county facilityin our area.
They have to take any animalthat comes to them and we're
kind of a safety net for them sothey don't have to euthanize
for space.
So we come in, we take animalsfrom them to make space for when
they more animals are coming tothem and then we adopt the
(06:40):
animals out you guys are alsopart of a big education uh
initiative too with thecommunity yeah, we do a lot of
uh, humane education programs,both in schools, historic
johnson farms, salvation armysummer camp.
Uh, we, we get around becauseone of the big things that we
want to encourage with youngergeneration and kids and this is
(07:01):
one thing I'm very passionateabout because it's how I started
my career in animal shelteringas I was a humane education
manager um, at the shelter Icame from was teaching
compassion and empathy towardsanimals at a young age.
What responsible pet ownershiplooks like, how a dog is
communicating their needs to you, how cat is communicating their
needs to you.
If we can start at a youngerage with kids and as they grow
(07:23):
up, then they have that more oftheir understanding to be a
little bit better pet owners.
But we're doing the same thingwith adults as well, as we're
always trying to educate andinform where you guys located
yeah, we.
Our adoption center is locatedin edneyville.
So I always say just when youthink you've gone too far, go a
little bit further uh it's right, as the road closes,
essentially because ofeverything that's happening in
(07:45):
bat cave.
So we are right at the top ofthe continental divide.
Uh, that's where adoptioncenter is.
It's open, uh, five days a week, tuesday through saturday, from
10 to 6 o'clock at night.
We close, uh, from one to twoevery day for nap time for the
animals.
I know that sounds silly, butthey need a break from visitors
too, especially in this heat,you know I like it, man, it can
(08:08):
be my kind of place yeah, yeah,come nap with the dogs, why not?
we could volunteer and do thatwe'll take it volunteer for the
nap time randy, come on down,we'll take it.
Uh, and then our thrift storeyeah, that's what I wanted to
ask about yeah, I'm sorry, Italked a lot, no, that's why,
you're here we wanted you to.
This is your platform.
(08:28):
I mean, I've been with BlueRidge Humane Society nine years
Wow, so it's clearly somethingthat means a lot to me.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Have you been in this role for the same nine years as
executive director?
Speaker 3 (08:40):
I started as a volunteer and outreach director
when I moved here nine years agoand, just like you said, this
community, the connection, thelove that each just taking care
of one another you don't seethat often places and it was
just an amazing experience tomove and step into this
community that has been soamazing and welcoming and I've
seen that with Blue Ridge HumaneSociety too.
(09:01):
But I started as volunteer andoutreach director and I have
been executive director forgoing to be seven years in
november that's amazing a bit.
So made it through covid, madeit through hurricane.
Keep on chugging along, youknow was there someone?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
and I?
I love volunteering, I love the, you know.
I'm always curious, though wasthere someone in your life that
modeled that for you?
Oh, 100%, and I'm justfascinated where just connecting
the dots there for you, whichwas so compelling for you to do
this as a career.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
And I get emotional too, so I'll try not to get
weepy.
But my parents they, from avery young age, just instilled
service I in my hometown inwestern New York so very small
town, but we had an AppleBlossom Festival.
They were on the committee forthat.
They helped run that they mymom was my Girl Scout leader,
troop leader.
(09:57):
My dad was my softball coach.
So right off the get-go, from avery, very young age, I learned
that in order to give back toeveryone, you have to contribute
as well.
That that's how, what makes acommunity whole.
And, and even till this day, mydad volunteered for his fire
department for 30 plus yearsuntil just last year.
He said I need a little bit ofbreak from it, but I mean from a
(10:19):
very young age I just look tothem to be the leaders and the
mentors that I wanted to be inthe world as well.
It's awesome.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
What was it like at Blue Ridge Humane Society during
COVID and the storm?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Yeah, I'll try to keep it succinct and not speak
too much.
The storm was.
I will say that was probablythe most difficult time
Challenging, yeah of working forBlue Ridge, especially, too, in
my specific neighborhood inMountain Home is where I live in
that area.
I was trapped in myneighborhood for several days,
(10:54):
had two trees come down on myhouse.
We had staff that slept at theadoption center when we knew the
storm was coming because wewanted someone to be on site to
care for the animals.
And that morning, wheneverything kind of settled and
we were learning what thedestruction was and I couldn't
get a hold of them, it was verydifficult to think how am I
(11:15):
going to get in touch with mystaff and make sure they're okay
and how are we going to getthese animals out of this
adoption center?
Because we don't have power.
We were stuck in the boat witheveryone else and we had dozens
of animals in our care.
But that is a real superhero.
Fawn Horton, who is one of ourstaff.
She stayed at the adoptioncenter for five days taking care
(11:36):
of the animals day and night.
Two staff were able to join hera couple days into it that were
able to make it via roads andthey had enough gas to do so.
Yeah, and myself and one of theother staff kept stopping in
checking on them making surethey had what they need.
But those, those I mean theysacrificed taking care of some
of their personal things thatwere going on in their life to
(11:57):
stay with the animals and takecare of them Until, eventually,
I was able to put together atransport to move all of our
animals out of the adoptioncenter.
So I ended up loading them up ina van and myself, a few days
after the hurricane, at 4 am inthe morning, driving down the
mountain to Rutherford with avan full of animals and Caroline
(12:17):
Gunther I don't know if youknow who she is, but she's on my
board and we tried to meetthese people to trade off these
animals, but we didn't know.
If you know electrical lines,it was a really horrifying
experience, but we made it.
Animals got transferred and safe, and the rest of the animals in
our care we managed to get intofoster homes.
So within a week we had all ofour animals taken care of and
(12:38):
that's when we said okay, nowit's time to turn to our
community.
What does our community neednow that our staff is safe and
our animals are safe?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Long-winded, I'm sorry, no, no, thank you for
sharing.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah, and then you guys started fundraising and
trying to repair and replace andwhatever right.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah, and we were lucky we didn't have any major
asset damage to any of ourfacilities, but we had a lot of
staff who had personal damageand things that affected their
life.
So what we have been doing since, and we continue to do, is just
how can we support ourcommunity?
We know that bad things happenin the world that people can't
(13:17):
control, and loving pet ownerswant to hang on to their pets,
but sometimes, you know, lifehappens.
So how can we step in and helpthem a little bit to hold on to
those animals, so the animalsdon't end up in shelters to
begin with and then eventuallymight have to be euthanized for
one reason or another?
So that's one of our big thingsand pushing adoptions right now
(13:37):
we're $20 adoptions just to tryand move as many animals out of
our facility as possible duringthe very busy summer months.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
You'll be at the Acousta Trail grand opening
today, right.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yep.
Two of our staff, katie andbridget, will be there hanging
out with the acoustic trailopening very excited, yeah, uh,
we're trying to encourage fieldtrip volunteers to step up a
little bit more, so that'speople that can just check a dog
out like a library book for theday and take him on a walk or a
hike and then bring him back tothe adoption center uh, what a
great program yeah so we'retrying to encourage more of that
(14:12):
to get the dogs out of theshelter for the day.
Uh, so they're going to be theretalking about that and also
just talking about, uh, withthis heat, about how to take
care of your animals, with withall of all this hotness going on
, especially with pavement, andwatching for being careful with
paws on hot pavements and I'msure there's a ton of other
volunteer opportunities with youguys.
(14:33):
Yeah, coming out to our adoptioncenter and I mentioned the
thrift store before and then Igot sidetracked, as I do.
But we have our thrift store.
A hundred active volunteers arethere every single week doing
at least three hours.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
A hundred volunteers, yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
We depend on them.
Big.
That thrift store is one-thirdof our budget.
A lot of people think it's cakeor it's extra, but no, we
depend on that money.
We need that money.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
And that was the biggest thing from the storm is
that?
That ended up closing forseveral weeks and hurting us,
hurting your income there.
Yeah, oh gosh.
Angela Proder, we are so happyyou came in and talked to us
today about our furry friendsand taking care of them.
We've got a certificate therethat says thank you, that's very
kind and then some giftcertificates from local
businesses, that's very sweetthank you so much for what you
(15:24):
do in our community and if wecan ever help you in any way,
let us know.
Noah, you are the man takingcare of our sponsorship.
Thank you so much.
It's a privilege.
We'll be back with you nextFriday morning on the George
Real Estate Group Hometown HeroSeries.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Thinking about estate planning for your real estate.
Without a smart approach, theproperty you leave behind could
become an unwelcome burden foryour kids.
Many children simply don't wantto co-manage an inherited house
or deal with the tenants.
Fortunately, you can preventthat with the right plan.
The George Real Estate Groupspecializes in tax-efficient
(16:01):
strategies like 1031 exchangesand Delaware Statutory Trust to
simplify inheritance and incomeplanning.
A 1031 exchange can defer yourcapital gain taxes now and help
your kids avoid a big tax billlater.
And a DST lets you continueearning rental income without
landlord headache.
Plus, it can be split amongyour children, making
(16:22):
inheritance easier.
Planning ahead is one of thekindest gifts you can give your
family.
Let us help you secure yourlegacy.
Call the George Real EstateGroup at 828-393-0134 today.
You've worked hard to buildyour legacy.
Now let us help you protect itfor your loved ones.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
The George Real Estate Group is located in Flat
Rock, north Carolina, nearHendersonville in Henderson
County.
You can find them online atrealestatebygregcom.
The George Real Estate Groupcan be reached at 828-393-0134
or stop by their office at 2720Greenville Highway, flat Rock,
(17:02):
north Carolina.
Tune in live each week onThursdays at 10.05 am, at 10.05
am on WHKP 107.7 FM and 14.50 am, or stream online at whkpcom or
download these podcastswherever you get your podcasts.
The George Real Estate Groupbrings you the WHKP Hometown
(17:26):
Hero Series every Friday morningat 8.45.
The George Real Estate Group radio broadcast is
celebrating 10 years on WHKP.
The George Real Estate Group iscelebrating 10 years on the
radio, live every Thursdaymorning at 10.05 on WHKP 107.7
FM and AM 1450 and streamingonline at WHkpcom.
(00:24):
Each Friday morning at 845,.
The George Real Estate Grouppresents the Hometown Hero Award
to someone in our community whogoes above and beyond to make
our hometown a better place tolive.
Here's this week's HometownHero Show.
It's 845 on Friday morning andthat is always our George Real
(00:46):
Estate Group Hometown HeroSeries time.
Every Friday morning we gatherwith our friend Noah George from
the George Real Estate Groupand honor some of the community
members that take care of ourfurry friends.
This morning we want to welcomeAngela Prodrick from Blue Ridge
Humane Society in just a moment, but first, noah, how are you
(01:09):
doing Well?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
so much to be thankful for and we're so
grateful to be here every Fridaymorning sponsoring the Hometown
Heroes series.
You and I have been doing thisfor a number of years and it's
incredible to meet incrediblemen and women serving our
community and that's what makesour community what it is just
the sense of the generosity, thevolunteering, the philanthropic
(01:32):
mindset that our community has.
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
It's very strong here in Henderson County and that's,
quite honestly, one of thereasons we do this show and,
quite honestly, I'm sure it'sone of the reasons that you are
a a beneficiary of uh sellingreal estate in a in an area that
has this kind of uh plank inits platform people certainly
are attracted to like,like-minded, like attracts like
(01:58):
and so when people are cominghere, they they recognize it and
when they get involved and theya lot of our clients moving
here say we were involved involunteering where we were
previously.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
We want to continue to do that and so when they come
here and they discover what anactive volunteer community we
have, it is amazing and so veryinvolved and there's so much
opportunity and so people arecoming here for quality of life.
But part of that is again beinginvolved in the community.
So it's a privilege and honorto help our clients navigate
through when they're we'rehelping people here locally.
(02:30):
Obviously you know downsize,upsize, right size, and then
we've been helping a lot ofpeople relocate here and it's
funny about that is more peopleare tend to stay here or move
here.
Very rare are we helping peoplemove out of the community, okay
just an observation, but itdoes happen right.
Life happens.
You know.
There's circumstances thatmight cause someone to need to
(02:52):
move, maybe to an aging uh youknow parent or or maybe they
want to get.
They can't convince thegrandkids to move here, but but
they're moving closer to theirgrandchildren and maybe another
state.
So but on a whole, we tend tosee more people coming in, and
that's true across the country.
North carolina's in the numberthree uh incoming migrated state
, uh in the united states numberthree now, and so we're
(03:15):
certainly experiencing that andjust for context, I mean
henderson county is averaging126 single family homes a month
selling.
Uh, our prices are maintainingwhere Our average price is in
the 530s.
You know, it's not what it wasin the number of volume, as a
few years ago, I mean, we wereup at 180 single-family homes a
month selling but still 126homes a month selling and we're
(03:36):
so grateful.
This is my 20th year helpingclients navigate through buying
and selling and we work withresidential, we work with
commercial, we work withresidential, we work with
commercial, we work with land.
You know, whatever it is, we'regrateful to serve the community
through real estate.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
And easy to find.
One of the things that you dois podcast all of your radio
shows, including this one, andyou can find those at your
website, absolutely, you canalso go to
georgerealestategroupradiocom.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
You can also subscribe on your favorite
podcast platform.
But you can go torealestatebygregcom.
You can stop by our office inFlat Rock.
We have a dangerous locationthere, next to the bakery, the
Flat Rock Bakery and you canalso just call us directly at
828-393-0134.
But it's a privilege and honorto sponsor the Hometown Heroes
series.
Well, it's much appreciated.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
sir Angela Prodrick is the executive director of the
Blue Ridge Humane Society herein Hendersonville.
Good morning Angela.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Good morning.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Well, thank you for coming out today.
We just wanted to shine a light, if we can, on Blue Ridge,
humane Society and all of thegoodness that you do in our
community.
I know that during the stormyou guys had some challenges,
like everybody did, but how areour furry friends doing?
Speaker 3 (04:52):
our furry friends are doing okay and that's thanks to
my staff and our volunteers.
For sure our community hasdefinitely dealt a deft blow
from the hurricane.
For sure that a lot are stillrecovering from uh.
One of our community supportprograms we offer, where we give
free pet food and supplies topet owners in our community, has
seen just a 75% increase in thelast six months.
(05:14):
So there's definitely showing aneed out there for people who
want to hang on to their pets,who love their pets, want to
keep them in homes and just needa little bit of extra
assistance and that's wherewe've kind of stepped in to help
.
So yeah, that's what's going onin our world.
It's kitten season as well, sowe have a lot of kittens right
now, little bitty ones, infoster homes and a big shout out
(05:35):
to our foster families becausethey give their homes, we give
food, we give supplies, but theygive the time, the love in
their homes to take care ofthose little tiny kittens.
But last year we had about athousand animals move through
our adoption center.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Wow, that's a lot.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
It is, and you know each one of those is touched by
our volunteers.
We have about 300 volunteerswith Blue Ridge Humane Society.
Each one of those gets love,food, enrichment, play groups,
walks all that attention fromour staff as well.
So I always like to say it'snot about the quantity of
animals that moves for us, butit's the quality time that we
provide for them while they'rewith us.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
But you rehomed a thousand animals, a thousand
animals yeah.
That's significant.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
It's a pretty good chunk for sure, and about 85% of
those come directly fromHenderson County Animal Services
.
So they are the county facilityin our area.
They have to take any animalthat comes to them and we're
kind of a safety net for them.
So they are the county facilityin our area.
They have to take any animalthat comes to them and we're
kind of a safety net for them sothey don't have to euthanize
for space.
So we come in, we take animalsfrom them to make space for when
they more animals are coming tothem and then we adopt the
(06:40):
animals out you guys are alsopart of a big education uh
initiative too with thecommunity yeah, we do a lot of
uh, humane education programs,both in schools, historic
johnson farms, salvation armysummer camp.
Uh, we, we get around becauseone of the big things that we
want to encourage with youngergeneration and kids and this is
(07:01):
one thing I'm very passionateabout because it's how I started
my career in animal shelteringas I was a humane education
manager um, at the shelter Icame from was teaching
compassion and empathy towardsanimals at a young age.
What responsible pet ownershiplooks like, how a dog is
communicating their needs to you, how cat is communicating their
needs to you.
If we can start at a youngerage with kids and as they grow
(07:23):
up, then they have that more oftheir understanding to be a
little bit better pet owners.
But we're doing the same thingwith adults as well, as we're
always trying to educate andinform where you guys located
yeah, we.
Our adoption center is locatedin edneyville.
So I always say just when youthink you've gone too far, go a
little bit further uh it's right, as the road closes,
essentially because ofeverything that's happening in
(07:45):
bat cave.
So we are right at the top ofthe continental divide.
Uh, that's where adoptioncenter is.
It's open, uh, five days a week, tuesday through saturday, from
10 to 6 o'clock at night.
We close, uh, from one to twoevery day for nap time for the
animals.
I know that sounds silly, butthey need a break from visitors
too, especially in this heat,you know I like it, man, it can
(08:08):
be my kind of place yeah, yeah,come nap with the dogs, why not?
we could volunteer and do thatwe'll take it volunteer for the
nap time randy, come on down,we'll take it.
Uh, and then our thrift storeyeah, that's what I wanted to
ask about yeah, I'm sorry, Italked a lot, no, that's why,
you're here we wanted you to.
This is your platform.
(08:28):
I mean, I've been with BlueRidge Humane Society nine years
Wow, so it's clearly somethingthat means a lot to me.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Have you been in this role for the same nine years as
executive director?
Speaker 3 (08:40):
I started as a volunteer and outreach director
when I moved here nine years agoand, just like you said, this
community, the connection, thelove that each just taking care
of one another you don't seethat often places and it was
just an amazing experience tomove and step into this
community that has been soamazing and welcoming and I've
seen that with Blue Ridge HumaneSociety too.
(09:01):
But I started as volunteer andoutreach director and I have
been executive director forgoing to be seven years in
november that's amazing a bit.
So made it through covid, madeit through hurricane.
Keep on chugging along, youknow was there someone?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
and I?
I love volunteering, I love the, you know.
I'm always curious, though wasthere someone in your life that
modeled that for you?
Oh, 100%, and I'm justfascinated where just connecting
the dots there for you, whichwas so compelling for you to do
this as a career.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
And I get emotional too, so I'll try not to get
weepy.
But my parents they, from avery young age, just instilled
service I in my hometown inwestern New York so very small
town, but we had an AppleBlossom Festival.
They were on the committee forthat.
They helped run that they mymom was my Girl Scout leader,
troop leader.
(09:57):
My dad was my softball coach.
So right off the get-go, from avery, very young age, I learned
that in order to give back toeveryone, you have to contribute
as well.
That that's how, what makes acommunity whole.
And, and even till this day, mydad volunteered for his fire
department for 30 plus yearsuntil just last year.
He said I need a little bit ofbreak from it, but I mean from a
(10:19):
very young age I just look tothem to be the leaders and the
mentors that I wanted to be inthe world as well.
It's awesome.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
What was it like at Blue Ridge Humane Society during
COVID and the storm?
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Yeah, I'll try to keep it succinct and not speak
too much.
The storm was.
I will say that was probablythe most difficult time
Challenging, yeah of working forBlue Ridge, especially, too, in
my specific neighborhood inMountain Home is where I live in
that area.
I was trapped in myneighborhood for several days,
(10:54):
had two trees come down on myhouse.
We had staff that slept at theadoption center when we knew the
storm was coming because wewanted someone to be on site to
care for the animals.
And that morning, wheneverything kind of settled and
we were learning what thedestruction was and I couldn't
get a hold of them, it was verydifficult to think how am I
(11:15):
going to get in touch with mystaff and make sure they're okay
and how are we going to getthese animals out of this
adoption center?
Because we don't have power.
We were stuck in the boat witheveryone else and we had dozens
of animals in our care.
But that is a real superhero.
Fawn Horton, who is one of ourstaff.
She stayed at the adoptioncenter for five days taking care
(11:36):
of the animals day and night.
Two staff were able to join hera couple days into it that were
able to make it via roads andthey had enough gas to do so.
Yeah, and myself and one of theother staff kept stopping in
checking on them making surethey had what they need.
But those, those I mean theysacrificed taking care of some
of their personal things thatwere going on in their life to
(11:57):
stay with the animals and takecare of them Until, eventually,
I was able to put together atransport to move all of our
animals out of the adoptioncenter.
So I ended up loading them up ina van and myself, a few days
after the hurricane, at 4 am inthe morning, driving down the
mountain to Rutherford with avan full of animals and Caroline
(12:17):
Gunther I don't know if youknow who she is, but she's on my
board and we tried to meetthese people to trade off these
animals, but we didn't know.
If you know electrical lines,it was a really horrifying
experience, but we made it.
Animals got transferred and safe, and the rest of the animals in
our care we managed to get intofoster homes.
So within a week we had all ofour animals taken care of and
(12:38):
that's when we said okay, nowit's time to turn to our
community.
What does our community neednow that our staff is safe and
our animals are safe?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Long-winded, I'm sorry, no, no, thank you for
sharing.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah, and then you guys started fundraising and
trying to repair and replace andwhatever right.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
Yeah, and we were lucky we didn't have any major
asset damage to any of ourfacilities, but we had a lot of
staff who had personal damageand things that affected their
life.
So what we have been doing since, and we continue to do, is just
how can we support ourcommunity?
We know that bad things happenin the world that people can't
(13:17):
control, and loving pet ownerswant to hang on to their pets,
but sometimes, you know, lifehappens.
So how can we step in and helpthem a little bit to hold on to
those animals, so the animalsdon't end up in shelters to
begin with and then eventuallymight have to be euthanized for
one reason or another?
So that's one of our big thingsand pushing adoptions right now
(13:37):
we're $20 adoptions just to tryand move as many animals out of
our facility as possible duringthe very busy summer months.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
You'll be at the Acousta Trail grand opening
today, right.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Yep.
Two of our staff, katie andbridget, will be there hanging
out with the acoustic trailopening very excited, yeah, uh,
we're trying to encourage fieldtrip volunteers to step up a
little bit more, so that'speople that can just check a dog
out like a library book for theday and take him on a walk or a
hike and then bring him back tothe adoption center uh, what a
great program yeah so we'retrying to encourage more of that
(14:12):
to get the dogs out of theshelter for the day.
Uh, so they're going to be theretalking about that and also
just talking about, uh, withthis heat, about how to take
care of your animals, with withall of all this hotness going on
, especially with pavement, andwatching for being careful with
paws on hot pavements and I'msure there's a ton of other
volunteer opportunities with youguys.
(14:33):
Yeah, coming out to our adoptioncenter and I mentioned the
thrift store before and then Igot sidetracked, as I do.
But we have our thrift store.
A hundred active volunteers arethere every single week doing
at least three hours.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
A hundred volunteers, yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
We depend on them.
Big.
That thrift store is one-thirdof our budget.
A lot of people think it's cakeor it's extra, but no, we
depend on that money.
We need that money.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
And that was the biggest thing from the storm is
that?
That ended up closing forseveral weeks and hurting us,
hurting your income there.
Yeah, oh gosh.
Angela Proder, we are so happyyou came in and talked to us
today about our furry friendsand taking care of them.
We've got a certificate therethat says thank you, that's very
kind and then some giftcertificates from local
businesses, that's very sweetthank you so much for what you
(15:24):
do in our community and if wecan ever help you in any way,
let us know.
Noah, you are the man takingcare of our sponsorship.
Thank you so much.
It's a privilege.
We'll be back with you nextFriday morning on the George
Real Estate Group Hometown HeroSeries.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Thinking about estate planning for your real estate.
Without a smart approach, theproperty you leave behind could
become an unwelcome burden foryour kids.
Many children simply don't wantto co-manage an inherited house
or deal with the tenants.
Fortunately, you can preventthat with the right plan.
The George Real Estate Groupspecializes in tax-efficient
(16:01):
strategies like 1031 exchangesand Delaware Statutory Trust to
simplify inheritance and incomeplanning.
A 1031 exchange can defer yourcapital gain taxes now and help
your kids avoid a big tax billlater.
And a DST lets you continueearning rental income without
landlord headache.
Plus, it can be split amongyour children, making
(16:22):
inheritance easier.
Planning ahead is one of thekindest gifts you can give your
family.
Let us help you secure yourlegacy.
Call the George Real EstateGroup at 828-393-0134 today.
You've worked hard to buildyour legacy.
Now let us help you protect itfor your loved ones.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
The George Real Estate Group is located in Flat
Rock, north Carolina, nearHendersonville in Henderson
County.
You can find them online atrealestatebygregcom.
The George Real Estate Groupcan be reached at 828-393-0134
or stop by their office at 2720Greenville Highway, flat Rock,
(17:02):
north Carolina.
Tune in live each week onThursdays at 10.05 am, at 10.05
am on WHKP 107.7 FM and 14.50 am, or stream online at whkpcom or
download these podcastswherever you get your podcasts.
The George Real Estate Groupbrings you the WHKP Hometown
(17:26):
Hero Series every Friday morningat 8.45.
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