Welcome everybody to Midday magazine for this Monday, April 21st, 2025.
Have your host James J. Meal off here and we're welcoming it into the studio.
Little charlotte's rescue. We're going to be talking about a really cool event coming up with this organization
and a bunch else. But I want to get you guys, I want you guys to get to know the people that I just
got to get to know a little bit and I'll let you introduce yourselves. And Kim, if you don't mind,
I don't know how much we'll be hearing from Kim, but if you wouldn't mind introducing yourself, Kim,
just in case they hear your voice and like, who was that? So if you wouldn't mind Kim,
introducing yourself.
So I'm Kim Havelin. I am a board member that Sherry brought on when we first started.
I appreciate you being here. Kim, thanks. Sure.
I'm Sherry and I am the director of a little charlotte's rescue. We started little charlotte's
rescue in 2022 after a crazy friend of mine who lives in Harlington, Texas called me and said,
hey, I have these pity puppies and their brother and sister. They've been in a hoarding situation.
But they pretty much have lived in a kennel their whole life and brother got sister pregnant.
And if I bring him to Wisconsin, will you find him a home? And I said, absolutely. And I hung up
the phone and my husband said, what did you just agree to? And that's how it all started.
It's outside. Oh, wow, that's awesome. It's kind of a thank you for that.
Yeah. Now, if we can rewind even a little bit farther if you don't mind, Sherry,
where did this passion and care for animals come from? Or has that, is it something new?
Or has it always been there? It's always been there. So we actually got a dog who is not a rescue
and her name is little charlotte. And she is 100% unconditional love. Like you don't pay attention
to her and she smacks you with her hand or she does this noise. She needs attention. So I just
realized that what she is and what she does for me is absolutely unconditional love. So I wanted
that for other people. And I've always wanted that. So I've always been like, you have to come over
and meet little charlotte. Come meet and everyone's like, she's not little. She's not. She's an 80 pound
American bulldog bombastum. So she's a big girl. Yeah. And she just loves love. And the more people
that I think can experience that kind of unconditional love, the better off I feel like people are.
Better off the world is. Absolutely. I came into animals late. But I started my mid 20s
started working at shelters. And I was in California when I actually got to do some real work at a
real shelter out there. And I fell in love with animals instantly. And certainly dogs,
not having them or anything like that. But there was something immediately that I had
felt a pull towards even though I didn't grow up with them. And I realized real quickly that as much
as they are givers of emotions and love and unconditional love, like nothing maybe on the planet,
they also give you an opportunity to realize what you have in you.
Absolutely. And when it comes to like starting an organization, you said this started in 2022.
Yes. So if I'm talking to you in 2015, 2019, something like that, I got to imagine I would never
have said that this would be my life. Right. Right. Never in a million years. And that is the power
of not only love and passion, but willpower and drive and care. And what human beings can accomplish.
And I feel like going back to animals. I feel like animals remind us of that. Yes. I feel like
animals are every day, especially dogs are such an everyday reminder of what we can be. And how
great we can be not only as people, but to each other. I think in something like this and what
you guys are doing here is a real accumulation of that. So I was so excited to talk with you guys
today and about this great organization. And it's not surprising, but it's really cool to hear that
story. I wasn't expecting that with all the research. I do my homework on these interviews. I
work hard on these. I did not know that that's where Charlotte. Is that where Charlotte came from?
Yes. Little Charlotte is our unconditional love. Sassy 80 pound wants undivided Mama attention 24
seven. And when people adopt dogs, I'm like, this is going to be the worst of it or the best of it
because I can tell you Charlotte's four and she still shoes up everything on Mama's.
If it's mine, she has to have it. When it now, the things that you've described, Sherry,
are things I think that are incredibly relatable. And there's a lot of people that can. But not
everybody has that same passion and love and then starts something like this and gets something
like this going. What made you want to do that? The little Charlotte's animal rescue.
After I originally talked with Charlotte, who's another one of our board members who lives in
Texas, I realized, you know, talking to her that there are so many dogs in Texas that people just
drop. Like you go behind a gas station, a grocery store, anything. You go like in the middle of a
field and there will be puppies just running. And once I went down there and actually did our first
transport, I realized how many dogs are really were. And something about being in Texas and the way
things are there is it's so much different than here. Like here in the winter, things kind of die
off. There in the winter, the coldest it gets is 40. So the dogs kind of huddle up in a little pile
and then as soon as it gets warm like now, it's already 90. They start reproducing and people just
don't fix their dogs there. So it ends up being, you know, 20 dogs on the side of the road. And
people just don't even notice them anymore because they're so used to it.
I years ago had a blue tequila that came from Texas. And she was in a hoarding situation.
And she had only ever like her, she we got her young, but she had only ever experienced stuff in
in a garage and eating on concrete and stuff. And so when she came here and you saw her like
hitting the grass, like just the, I can still picture this. This is almost 10 years ago now,
but I can still picture to look on that beautiful dog's face of the excitement she had and everything
from that. This last transport we had that we called her whiskey and she was the mama of some
Chihuahua's. And when we got on grass after we had gotten her out, she just started rubbing her
belly. And I had to video her. And I was like, oh my god, you guys look at her. She just loves
to scratch her belly. And before that, like we could barely touch her. After she rubbed her belly
on the grass suddenly, she was like, these people love me. And I was like, I want to keep her.
Yeah. I just, I have to keep her. My husband's like, no, you cannot keep them.
I appreciate that. And I bring up what I was about Chloe, the dog of the blue tequila that we had.
In part, because this is something that has been going on for a long time, especially this almost
pipeline between Texas and Wisconsin or Texas and Midwest. And a lot of that involves the laws
and the rules that they have there in Texas and in some other southern states. I want to be really
clear, I am not saying any of this as a judgment on that. I'm not going to tell them to other
state how to do their business or what they're going to do. I do prefer and lean towards what we do
here in the Midwest with our animals. And I think it's not only a more humane way of doing it,
but a smarter and a more financially smart way of doing it and a number of other factors.
But I think that it's noteworthy also because it's not common knowledge. Whether it's
having no kill shelters here and not so much down there or Euthanasia with animals or any of these
other topics that might come up in the conversation. Not only do I think it's noteworthy, but I do
think it's something worth looking into for people out there and seeing why organizations like
Little Charlotte's Animal Rescue or something are so vital and so needed. And let's talk about
now the what you've been able to do with this organization and the work that you've been able to
get done. So we actually have saved over 400. I would love to have an exact count for today,
but I can't, but at some point I wish I had my ringing bell like that's amazing. 400.
Yeah. So every transport is between 30 and 40 or 50. Just don't tell my husband.
He never asks anymore. He just kind of says, so how many are you bringing? And I just laugh and say,
I don't know until I get there. That's a good guy. That's a good guy. So he is 100% the support
for me that I need. And I will never say that he's right, but he is absolutely right in the
scenario of if I'm down there and somebody says, Hey, there's one more. I'm going to say yes.
Yeah. Yeah. So we we definitely have done quite a bit of work. We make sure that all the dogs that
come up here get fixed are up to date on their shots that they, you know, have the flea and
tick treatment that they have everything that they need to be successful here. Yeah. We have a contract
that says, you know, something happens. We'll bring them back. We have gosh, like 15 or 20
fosters now in Texas who bring the dogs into their homes and get them safe and secure so that we
can transport them here. We have another 15 to 20 up in Wisconsin that, you know, take dogs for
us and get them in a home environment so that we can find out for sure 100% are they dog friendly?
Are they kid friendly? You know, things that people want to know before they adapt a dog.
If for some reason they're not dog friendly, we don't adapt them to a family that has another
animal. You know, we want to make sure that we're doing the best fit for the dogs and to make sure
that it's a successful transition. Talking to people over the years, starting a non-profit can
be difficult in itself adding on these add that are added on layers to this, like not only the
transportation, but you know, the contracts that you mentioned there and some of that. Again,
it just comes down to you, you do something like this because you love it, you're passionate about
you care, but you also because you see a need in the community for it or in life in society for it.
Absolutely, like as a non-profit, we, me, myself, and Kim would say this exactly, it's not,
like I don't get paid to do this. I don't make any money. I actually, over a year ago,
quit my full-time job because I just, it wasn't something I was passionate about and I started
grooming so that ultimately I could take off whenever I want so that I can go to Texas.
It's definitely not something that you get paid for and if you talk to people who do
rescue and who do transports, they'll tell you that you need to have a tough skin. Like if you
don't have a tough skin and you have a soft heart, it's, you're not going to last and I've seen
so many people who do rescue, especially in the last year actually, who have quit doing rescue
because it's so hard and it's just so, so much and it seems like every day it's like there's
another dog being euthanized, there's another dog being dropped, there's another dog being mistreated
and you can only save so many and that's a really hard concept for me to understand.
But that's why I have a board. They remind me of that and they remind me that we've already saved
so many so we just try to kind of follow through with that and just save as many as we can.
I had a really rough upbringing and I've experienced quite a bit in life. I mentioned again that I
didn't grow up with animals so I was warned quite a bit that when I started working in shelters
fostering dogs, hey, you're going to get attached, you're going to be careful of this, this,
and this and certainly listen to those people and heard them but also will come wholeheartedly
and met, I took it incredibly lightly. I could almost draw one of the dogs that I'm thinking of
right now as you were talking about that and the shelter that I worked out in Santa Barbara and
everything. The attachment that you get to these animals, the love and care that you get for them,
you really do need a thick skin. A thicker skin than I realize and I always like to credit people
that are in this job doing that because not only do you guys know that better than most
but you continue to do it, even knowing that. That's not only appreciated but I find it
one of the more beautiful things in humanity that we can do for not only each other before these
animals. We're on a place on the food chain for a reason. It's not so that we can look down
or anything. It's a chain. In order to keep that thing moving, we all got to look out for each
other every living thing and of so much of what you're doing here is keeping that chain moving.
It may not seem like it's the largest scale to some or anything like that but these kind of things
are done on this level and the more organizations like this do we have and the more this going on,
the more we can keep that food chain moving and keep everybody keep this whole thing moving,
this whole world. It's a beautiful thing that you're doing over there and it's so noteworthy
to have things like this and you kind of let us into this and I want to get into now
the little shardless and rescue pet drive that is going on right now and talking a little bit
about this. What is the pet drive exactly and what can people, what are the items we need for
the drive? So we do every time before we do a transport, we do a fill our van or we do a pet drive
or we do something where we collect new or used items that we either take to Texas or we use for
our fosters here and it really honestly it sounds crazy but it could be anything like the other
day someone's like oh my gosh I just threw out a bunch of wash class well guess what we can use
wash class we can use towels you know somebody was like oh I have a bunch of old bleach guess what
pour it into two bottles into one and bring it we'll use it there's always something that we can
take or we can use to help somebody else who potentially is fostering dogs for us or you know
even old leashes and old collars that you're like well I really don't need this anymore like I just
want to save the tag for my dog but I want to help somebody else absolutely we can take them yeah
and now not only anybody out there who's ever owned an animal can I I think immediately think of
oh what could they need or what are things that they could need and probably go through a list in
your own head of that but anybody who has ever moved out and you know started on their own
and had their own apartment or something like that like if you think about it on that level I think
right away you start thinking of things that could be used over there um this is a great plate
a great opportunity and this is a great community to do this with because this community
responds that he's kind of things we have the humane society and every week and love talking
with them about different things that they're doing over there and how the community responds to
that with this event now we got items that we want to drop off as you were saying that I thought
of items that I could drop off where can we drop those items off um so I know that the radio station
has several places and rapids that are accepting donations we also do have a building in
whiting that we can work with people if you go on our website you can definitely
reach out to me through that way and we can even if we have to pick up something if it's a bigger
item or if you have several items you know we're willing to work with anybody to get donations that
you know are acceptable and that we can use and that's going to help somebody.
Two Sherry's point uh these are WFHRWIRI studios if you want to drop something off you can
over here at 1692 Avenue South or right by the roundabout come say hi to Pam uh from the ground
up coffee house at 250 West Grand Avenue here in rapids and of course our great friends over at
family natural foods at 910 West Grand Avenue right here in rapids you could drop these items off
over there and uh Sherry wasn't getting I mean uh you know we were certainly thinking of the
collars and leashes and some of those things but I see as items needed blankets towels uh
kennel grates uh garden hoses cleaning supplies a lot of these things that we could really use and I
again I think if you you might not think of it right away but if you take a couple seconds and
really think about it oh yeah that they could definitely use this absolutely if there's an item
that like isn't on this list or doesn't come to mind right away but I'm like oh I think that
they could really use it can I call up and find out if you can use it uh absolutely okay is there
we'll get the contact information before we wrap up and this is wrapping up everybody it's uh this
has been going on since the 15th we've heard us talking about it on our morning show and some other
places but it is going to be wrapping up on May 1st so I want you to be able to get those items
donated before then keep that in mind if you can get them out there before then it's greatly
appreciated um but as say it is May 2nd and you're hearing this interview or something like that
and we'll figure out a way to get those items to you guys as well absolutely we get we take them all
year long we go to Texas several times so we always fill and get what we can speaking with sharing
and Kim from Little Charlotte's rescue and one thing I wanted to make sure we noted before we let
you guys go and I saw this in your notes um that you don't have a building here in Wisconsin yet they
don't have a location so for uh this yet um but that is a goal that is something you're hoping to do
absolutely now uh the again this community really steps up when it comes to things like this and
everything so I wanted to make to put that out there in the ether and uh make sure that our community
and all these great businesses out there know that um I will bring up um this may seem like a
reach but I don't think it is our friends over at focus and there are a part that are over in the
Sparhawk trucking building uh Mark and the gang over at Sparhawk saw that they needed a building they
opened their doors to them and brought them in and you just heard me mention Sparhawk trucking
three different times right now yes they are not advertising with us I'm mentioning that because
there are local business to put back into this community and I appreciate that that could be you
out there with our friends at Little Charlotte's um opening your doors to nonprofits is not only
one of the greatest things you can do for a community and helping each other out it's PR 101 it's
marketing 101 attaching yourself to a nonprofit is one of the better ways of um I mean what would
you pay for good PR yeah uh any marketing any salesperson out there has no number to be able to
give you on that that's the kind of thing that you're doing when you're helping out or being a part
of things with uh organizations like this and um a rising tide raises all boats you know when
when when we work together when we help each other it's something that we uh not only make better
a better world but better for animal kingdom and uh all our furry friends out there and everything
to that point you guys uh do work with our community and societies and that and uh
aren't communicating with them yes um we bring several dogs actually from kill shelters in Texas
up here so that they aren't euthanized and they get amazing homes up here and we have a lot
of success with it uh Sherry before we let you go not just with the pet drive going on but just
with the organization in general is there anything we as a community can do to help uh there's so
many great listeners out there that maybe they don't have a billion dollars available to invest
in here or something like that but they man they'd really love to be able to help some other way
is there volunteering or certainly bringing items to the rescue or here or to the pet drive here
absolutely we always have times when we need volunteers sometimes it's like handing out flyers
sometimes it's helping me photocopy 35 pieces of paper so we can make folders we have a volunteer
group on facebook um we can add you to that and there's always something that comes up that i'm like
oh my gosh i just can't do this by myself and uh before we let you guys go is there anything else
you want to touch on day we recover everything do we uh yeah so we do um i guess they're companion
dogs so if you are a veteran and you just need something um my husband is a marine and
we've seen firsthand how dogs can help him and other veterans so we do no charge for the dogs
for combat veterans and all you really have to do is reach out to us and say hey i need something
and we are gonna go bend over backwards to get you something that's gonna help you to show you that
you are needed you are loved and that we're gonna support you um sorry that got me sure thank you
um thank you for that i hope you guys enjoyed yourself i hope it went well because you're
gonna be back you did too good of a job we got to bring you back uh we want to keep
talking with you guys not only uh with um other pet drives maybe or any attention we can bring
to little charlotte's rescue but i think uh just for the audience getting a chance to see as this
this grows and i do think it's going to grow uh so we're looking forward to talking with you again
real soon for anybody out there that has any follow up questions or would like to know more uh
about little charlotte's animal rescue or ways they can help is there contact numbers there a
way to reach you or facebook page or anything like that absolutely there's a facebook page um
little charlotte's rescue was constant there is my phone number it's my direct cell phone number and
i may regret this in about 20 minutes but 920 4277735 uh you can leave voicemails you can text me you can
you know reach out through uh the little charlotte's rescue facebook page we have a website
we're always willing to help and we're always willing to look for help and anything that you know
you think that you could do to help a puppy we're willing to work with you little charlotte's animal
rescue has their pet drive going on now until may first and again you can drop items off it from
the ground up coffee shop or family natural foods here in rapids or our wfh rw yr i studios
encourage you and thank you for doing that uh keep up the great work you guys we appreciate you
thank you and we'll have more midday magazine coming up for you right here at 975 FM 13 20 AM
wfh r we are locally grown radio
