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Staff at 5X����’s Center for Corporate and Professional Development decided to support a worthy cause by delivering supplies to a local pet shelter. Seven employees from the Center for Corporate and Professional Development visited One of A Kind Pets in Fairlawn, Ohio, to bring animals warmies, tennis balls and blankets.

Brie Loesch, marketing coordinator, organized the volunteer project.

“We decided to volunteer at the pet shelter because we are all animal lovers and all have cats or dogs,” Loesch says. “It is a common interest amongst us and a great team-building exercise. Also, getting everybody together in a different setting other than the office was fun. Everyone was able to step up and play a part in donating.”

Loesch says everyone wanted to volunteer, but the shelter recommended they donate items instead.

“The shelter requested that we make warmies, which is a sock stuffed with rice they heat up for the animals that are coming out of surgery,” Loesch says. “We were able to schedule a time to all get together and make them as a team.”

Amy Lane, associate vice president for Corporate and Professional Development, says she was able to help the team by getting tennis balls donated from North Canton Racquet Club.

“I play tennis at the club, so I asked the owner if there were any old tennis balls we could have,” Lane says. “The club gave us two garbage bags of tennis balls that we were able to take for the animals to play with.”

Additionally, the department was able to get 50 blankets donated from Things Remembered.

“Alivia Lapcevich, one of our team members who used to work at Things Remembered, asked their human resources department if we could get some blankets for a lower price that did not pass their quality inspections and couldn’t be sold to customers,” Lane says. “They ended up just donating the 50 blankets. It was a great collaboration.”

Lane says they would definitely consider volunteering at One of A Kind Pets again as a way to give back.

“The shelter is very impressive,” Lane says. “They arrange adoptions of homeless animals, have a spaying/neutering service and rescue animals that are in imminent danger of euthanasia from other locations such as nearby pounds. The workers are very passionate. You can feel that as soon as you walk in.”

For more information on One of A Kind Pets, visit .