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Salem woman makes campaign for animal sanctuary
By Bruce Walton
SALEM
For a $50 donation, Heather Bishop-Pavlich said she’ll carry your pet’s photos as she runs.
For $250, she’ll tattoo your pet’s name on herself, and if she reaches her goal of $10,000, she’ll shave her head if that’s what it takes to raise money for the Forever Safe Farm Animal Education Center.
Though these may seem like odd promises, Bishop-Pavlich, 38, of Salem, said dramatic actions produce dramatic results in order to raise money for her campaign fundraiser she calls “Tell Tail 200.”
“It’s just skin and it’s just hair, so it’s anything to grab the donations [and] the attention for Safe Farm,” she said.
Bishop-Pavlich said she woke up one morning and decided to run the Bigfoot 200 Mile Endurance Run spanning across scenic Washington state.
The race lasts from Aug. 12-16 at Mount St. Helens in the Cascade Mountain Range and finishes in Randle, Wash.
The Bigfoot run is an example of ultra running, a form of running more than the marathon distance of 26.2 miles that can span a number of days to finish.
Then she had the idea to use this opportunity to give back to Forever Safe Farm, 3155 McCracken Road, which Bishop-Pavlich has known for a few years. The sanctuary took care of some of her cats she had to leave behind.
The sanctuary houses many diverse species of rescue and retired animals from dogs and cats to kangaroos and camels. It also educates the public about the animals through tours and visitations.
When Bishop-Pavlich told Karrin Campf, president and sanctuary director of Forever Safe Farm about her idea, Campf had no idea it was coming.
“Out of the blue, she said she was going to run this race and wanted to raise $10,000 for the farm,” Campf said. “I mean that’s an amazingly selfless thing to do.”
Campf said the farm requires tens of thousands of dollars to care for the animals who stay there, which they raise through a number of fundraisers, donors and corporate sponsors.
Bishop-Pavlich just started the campaign in February.
She got the word out about her efforts through making a Facebook page and promoting the online crowd-funding site at https://www.crowdrise.com/tellthetail200/fundraiser/heatherbishop2. It will stay open until Aug. 12 when the race starts.
Bishop-Pavlich said she’s been into ultra running for a couple years and has been training for the Bigfoot run.
“Ultra running is really unique. Only 1 percent of the population [participates],” she said.
“So when I go to these races, the community’s really small, and you just really stand among the few at the finish line.”
Bishop-Pavlich has raised $240, but she said she hopes she can reach her goal if she can get the word out enough.
But she said she’s happy to gain whatever comes out of it for Forever Safe Farm. She hopes her efforts can inspire others to start working for their own cause.