South Elgin shelter could win $25,000 with your help

With some help from the voting public, Anderson Animal Shelter hopes to have a holiday wish come true to the tune of $25,000.

A pair of local adopters from the South Elgin shelter who submitted stories about how a pet has changed their lives were selected among 50 national winners this year by the Petco Foundation in its annual Holiday Wishes campaign.

Now, the public gets to vote on their favorite entries, with the adopting agency of the top five People's Choice winners receiving cash grants from the foundation.

"We encourage our community of animal lovers to vote for Anderson's stories," Anderson CEO Beth Foster said in a news release. "If 2020 has shown us anything it's that pets change our lives for the better. Your vote can help us earn lifesaving funds so we can bring more pets in need together with loving families."

The two winning entries came from Don Johnson, an Arlington Heights man who adopted his dog Helena 10 years ago, and T.P. Mulrooney of St. Charles and the cat Murry that his family adopted.

Johnson adopted Helena after losing his wife of 54 years to cancer. Johnson's entry ends by saying: "Without her in my life, I would have been lost and lonely. Helena is my companion and source of joy. I am thankful that I found her and made the decision to bring her into my life."

The Mulrooney family adopted the 26-pound cat after someone at the shelter promised to show them "the nicest cat here." Ten months after bringing the cat home, T.P. Mulrooney was diagnosed with Stage 4 throat cancer. "I lost 55 of my 178 pounds and looked really bad, ghostly gray and emaciated," Mulrooney wrote. "The worse I looked, the more affection Murry gave me, and the more he gave me his "gonna be alright" expression." Murry was right and Mulrooney recovered.

Voting is open until noon Dec. 16, at petcofoundation.org/vote, and winners will be chosen in mid-December. The first place vote-getter will receive $25,000, with $10,000 going to each of two second-place winners and $5,000 to each of two third-place winners. The contest has been around since 2013 and has received more than 20,000 entries from adopters in its history.