Four hundred-fifty people attended the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri’s Power of Pawsitivity fundraiser Saturday, raising more than $28,000 before expenses, according to executive director Tracy Poston.

After expenses, the total of which were not completely finalized as of Tuesday afternoon, the event raised roughly $22,000 for the shelter, which Poston said is “about in line” with the annual fundraiser’s typical proceeds.

The shelter has a yearly operating budget of about $700,000, and most of the money raised Saturday will go toward that fund. Only about $695 was donated specifically for the shelter’s capital campaign for a new adoption center.

“The event is for day-to-day operations,” said Charlotte Craig, president of the shelter’s board of directors, “but we felt like we needed to ask. You know, I tried to look at it as $700 more that we didn’t have.”

The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri announced its capital campaign for a new, 12,000-square-foot humane education and adoption center facility in October, with a price tag of $3.7 million. Of that goal, Craig said the shelter has secured about $1.5 million, with another six-figure estate donation on the way.

“Once it gets settled, and it’s probably going to be another month or two, that should put us right at $2 million,” Craig said.

Despite the relatively small amount given toward the capital campaign over the weekend, Poston said shelter leadership will push ahead toward the planned groundbreaking date of June 1.

“It does not change any plans,” Poston said by text message. “We no longer have an option; we absolutely must build.”

“We’ll get along,” Craig said. “We’ve already talked to several banks. ... It’s going to happen either way.”

The shelter is depending on the community to “step in and realize the importance and the impact that we have in the community,” Poston said. “We are putting a lot of trust and faith in our community that they will pull through for us.”

If she could open minds to anything, Craig — who has a background in nursing and worked with the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center for about 38 years — said she would open people up to the understanding the shelter is more than a place to adopt a pet or drop off a stray.

“It is a place that is keeping animals safe, for sure,” Craig said. “But it’s also keeping the community much safer from bites, diseases, rabies, distemper. It is an integral part of a good, healthy community.”

For more information about the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri, its ongoing capital campaign for a new facility or to donate, visit www.semopets.org.

This rendering shows the exterior of the proposed Humane Society of Southeast Missouri building in Cape Girardeau.Submitted