SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — The Griffin Pond Animal Shelter hosted its first-ever Rescue Run along the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail on Sunday morning.
More than 300 runners came out to take part in the event, raising money and awareness for the Animal Shelter while participating in a 5k, 10k, or a fun walk with their animals.
The idea for the event came from one of the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter’s volunteers who took part in the Scranton Half Marathon and thought it would be a great way to bring together runners and animal lovers alike to help raise money for the shelter.
“It means so much to the animal shelter; we don’t get any state or federal funding so all the revenue that we generate comes from events such as this,” Michael Latrella, Director of the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter Rescue Run, said, “So, the community helps us and individuals like all these runners, we can’t say enough how much this does to help our shelter out.”
Latrella says that while this might have been the first Rescue Run organized by the shelter, Latrella and fellow volunteers are hopeful the race will be a yearly tradition with plans to make it bigger and better for 2027.