Warm hearts raising money for cold noses this Saturday at 5 p.m.: Perry County Humane Society Benefit

It's time for the annual soup & BBQ dinner fundraiser for the Perry County Humane Society. The event will be held on Saturday, Nov. 16 at the Du Quoin Youth Club. It starts at 5 p.m. with a silent auction throughout the evening with many great items for purchase. There is a "Buy it Now" feature to the silent auction for those that would like to eat and shop on a tight schedule. There is also a small live auction, emceed by Keenan Rice at 6:30 p.m.

Here is a list of all the items in the live auction:

1. Disney 1-day Park Hopper Passes-4 Tickets valued at $516

2. Lego Table handcrafted by Bruce Eisenhauer

3. Two tickets to Six Flags for next season and a night at a Drury Hotel

4. Birthday Party Package: a bounce house rental from Ace Hardware, a birthday cake from Mark's Bakery, party supplies from Hallmark, and pizza from Pizza Hut

5. Two Budweiser bar stools donated by Venegoni Distributing

There will also be a drawing for a beef raffle at 6 p.m. Mike and Suzanne Majewski have donated a half-beef to be raffled off for the event. All 300 tickets were sold over the past two months.

The proceeds of the evening are used to fund the annual operating expense of the shelter. This is the largest fundraiser the organization has each year and needs the support of the community to continue the works of rescuing dogs and cats. During the life of the shelter, thousands of animals have been placed in their forever homes. The humane society does not receive any government funding to operate. The organization operates solely on fundraisers and year long donations from our supporters.

There are two platinum sponsors of the event, Linzee Insurance and Fenton's Custom Collisions. There are several more money and product sponsors that have been extremely generous and supportive of the organization.

This year has been an amazing year with the monies received from the estate of George Bechtlofft. That money will be used to complete larger projects on the building which is in desperate need of repair. "With the help of extra money donated and local businesses that donate their labor, we have started seeing progress. Some of the improvements that have taken place are new siding, windows, and insulation on the east and west sides of building, concrete replaced rock in the kennel runs, exhaust fans in the run areas, and a new sign out front. There are still more projects in the works and improvements will continue," said event spokeswoman Brandy Metten.

"Please remember your support is needed to operate, which means keeping the lights on, running water, heat and medical bills for the animals. Throughout the year donations are needed of food, litter, treats and cleaning products. Our volunteers do a great job of updating our Facebook page with requests and the community is always so quick and giving in response," she said.

Tickets are $10 per person and children 3 and under are free.