A sweet treat to help man?s best friend

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

Lauren Novak fell in love with pooch Macy as soon as she saw her online. But rescuing Macy wasn?t enough. Novak, age 7, wants to find a forever home for all of the animals at Ft. Madison?s P.A.W. pet shelter, and she?s doing so one glass of sweet lemonade at a time.

?Hi, would you like some lemonade?? Novak asks; the excitement raising her voice an octave by the time she finishes the sentence.

It?s hard to say no to her sweet smile and brightly decorated sign declaring her lemonade as ?delicious.?

?We also have chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies,? she adds, opening a container and allowing the mid-day sun to warm the homemade cookies back up.

Novak is perched behind a foldout table adorned with an orange, five-gallon jug, a few sleeves of plastic cups and a two containers of cookies. She?s been sitting outside of the Midwest Old Threshers office since 10 a.m.; it?s nearly one p.m., and she has an hour left at her stand.

?It?s been going very nicely,? said Novak.

Novak?s helper, MacKenzie Notestein, an intern at Midwest Old Threshers, said the public response has been great.

?It?s been really busy this morning, lots of people have come out,? she adds, noting somewhere around 30 to 40 people have visited the stand.

Novak was united with her furry friend two years ago. She first saw her on the P.A.W. website and instantly fell in love. The affection only grew when she met her four-legged pal in person.

Novak?s smile grows even bigger as she revisits their first encounter. She and her mom went to P.A.W., and told a worker they had seen Macy online and would like to meet her.

?She came running towards us and even broke the screen door,? Novak says.

Once in front of them, Macy circled around Novak and that was it, Macy came home with her that day.

But Novak hasn?t stopped thinking about the other animals she saw at P.A.W., the ones she couldn?t bring home. That?s when she started going to the pop can drives in Burlington. Pop can drives, which are done by the no-kill organization, are held every third Saturday of the month at Southeastern Community College, by the 600 building. Money from the pop cans, and donations, go towards new fencing, paying for medical expenses, veterinary care and everyday expenses, to name a few.

?I?m very proud of her and that she has such a big heart,? said Novak?s mom, Julie Scott.

This is Novak?s second lemonade stand, and most likely not her last. Novak asks for a free will donation for the lemonade and cookies, with all proceeds going to P.A.W.

?It feels good to help,? said Novak. ?I want to make sure every dog has a forever home.?