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Leanne Lauricella fell in love with a special needs goat and then gave up everything she knew to dedicate herself to helping as many special needs goats, pigs, dogs, cats, and other animals as she can that would otherwise be left to die or immediately euthanized.  

                   

Recently, she had a very special little boy named Lawson who had a congenital heart defect among other challenges.  Leanne worked tirelessly to find a human heart surgeon who would operate on Lawson.  The surgery was a breakthrough success and after several days in an ICU Lawson came home only to die in her arms on his first day back.  Needless to say she was absolutely devastated but she has turned that into motivation to work even harder to make sure that Lawson's death was not in vain.  She has started a new social media initiative, @lawsonsheart to help match special needs pets with people willing to take them in and give them the love and care they need.  

In the past she has raised funds through donations, books and even special Lawson socks.  A button maker would be perfect for her because it is simple to use and people would love to display a custom button with their favorite animal from GOA - sweet Lawson, Polly in her duck costume, Finn the puppy goat, the twins - Chibs and Layla, Amstel the troublemaker, Prospect and Ruby - the lovebirds, Winston the handsome pot belly pig, and on and on and on!  Leanne has so much love and dedicates herself entirely to these beautiful creatures that would usually be cast aside with no regard for the true strength and spirit within them.  She and her babies deserve anything and everything that could help them thrive and continue their amazing lives!

2)  Central Florida Pugs Rescue (http://cfpugs.org/) - 

                

Right now they rely on their internet site to help them find homes for these pugs. The only other way they have is to go to different events to get their name out there. A button machine would help in this cause. People tend to keep cute buttons and they could make these to give out at the events they go to so people will remember the pugs when they get ready to adopt. All the monies that come into the organization is used to vet the pugs. Several times a year they will hold auctions to raise money. These ladies could use this to help get their name out there. 

3)  From Stetson with Love (Facebook Page) - 

                

At the time AWF was founded, Jones County had a procedure in place for picking up, holding and euthanizing dogs. So this is the place where the couple first focused their attention. Working in cooperation with Sheriff Mark Denniston and the county’s three vet clinics, the couple established a procedure that is still in effect today. When a stray dog is picked up by the county, an AWF volunteer takes digital photos of the “Urgent Dog” (so named because the dog may have only seven days to live), evaluates his/her personality, and sends the photos and written description to a volunteer who makes a flyer. The flyer is routed by e-mail to a group of over 200 people who print the flyer and post it in vet offices, grocery stores and businesses in four counties in an attempt to find the dog a home by the end of the seven day holding period. At the same time, an Urgent Team of volunteers networks via e-mail and phone to find an AWF foster home or a reputable animal shelter or rescue to take the dog in the event he/she is not adopted at the end of the seven days.

While AWF was able to help a limited number of Jones County cats the first few years, the numbers were restricted due to difficulty in recruiting people willing to foster cats. That eventually changed, however, and the group was able to save 40 cats in 2007 and 50 cats in 2008, thanks to the efforts of a handful of cat-minded volunteers who joined AWF’s ranks. Today, AWF uses a network of state-licensed foster homes for dogs and cats as well as the Cat Adoption Center. It’s the dedication and commitment of our foster parents that allow us to save the orphaned animals of Jones County. We have saved over 1500 homeless dogs and cats. An amazing accomplishment when you consider we have no paid staff.

In May 2006, AWF embarked on a campaign to raise funds to build an animal shelter in Jones County.  In 2012, AWF was able to make the first step to attaining the goal of building a shelter in Jones County. The organization purchased land to be used for construction of a shelter.  This land is 8.68 acres that would provide a home for the animal shelter, a dog park and hopefully many other animal related events.

The Shelter construction was completed in October of 2016! The shelter is now open, and serving the animals of Jones County, IA.  Recently, the shelter took in 9 dogs from a kill shelter in Tennessee.  A volunteer from Tennessee drove her minivan with 9 dogs crates to deliver the dogs to the shelter.  

The committee and dedicated volunteers have worked tirelessly over the past 15 years to raise the money to build this facility.  They are run entirely on donations and a ABM button machine with allow them to more easily publicize their shelter and/ or use the buttons as an additional income stream.

So there you have it!  Your first set of nominees!  Be on the look out for round 2 coming to your email soon!  Until next time, happy button making!

By Brighid Brown, Director of Blogging and All Things Cool at ABM