Randy and Penny LaValley of Lavalle Transportation and The Body Shop Fitness and Salon are shown at center presenting a check to the Potsdam Humane Society. At left is LTI Comptroller Mark Norman, at right is Potsdam Humane Society Board Member Bonnie Boyd, and sitting at right is Dallas, a nine-year-old lab mix who is waiting for a new family to take her home.

POTSDAM -- The owners of LaValle Transportation, Inc. and The Body Shop Fitness and Salon in Potsdam are donating $15,000 to the Potsdam Humane Society to aid with operation of the Potsdam Animal Shelter.

To be given in $5,000 dollar installments over three years, Randy and Penny LaValley are supporting the mission of Potsdam Humane Society at the “Gold Level” of giving.

The gift is part of the “Adopt the Shelter” program that the Humane Society created to support operations, which service over 1,200 animals and their human companions annually.

The North Country community, along with the LaValleys, came out in large numbers to support the building of the new shelter from the start of the campaign in 2008 through the construction at 17 Madrid Ave. in 2011.

While over 5,000 hours a year of volunteer help are on the books, the Humane Society’s Bonnie Boyd said she and the society are grateful to the LaValleys, whom she says realize that it takes cash to keep the new larger facility running—larger utility bills, more payroll of a superior staff, extension of more educational community services, and a new mortgage payment.

The “Adopt the Shelter” program is aimed at local businesses or individuals to help with the smooth running of the “no kill” shelter that serves a huge geographic area-- over 11 towns in North Country and beyond.

LTI and The Body Shop join others, including Save-A-Lot/UPS Stores in Potsdam, The Sweetgrass Foundation, and First Class Services of Parishville, who have committed to help the 1,000 needy animals that come through the doors each year.

Potsdam Humane Society operates the animal shelter at 17 Madrid Avenue in Potsdam.

Information can be found online at potsdamhumanesociety.org.