Heart of fundraising

SENECA COUNTY --- Animals, nearly everyone in the world loves them, but not every animal lover does "good" with that love. Eric Hall took that love and started a fundraiser that profits the Humane Society of Seneca County. Back in 2016, Hall, who is a runner participated in the Columbus Children's Hospital marathon. "When I signed up for it, they asked, 'Would you like to do fundraising for the hospital?'," Hall said. "So, they give you a link to share. And if people donate, it goes (toward) your goal." He said by only sharing the link to his social media, he was able to raise $1,000 for the Columbus Children's Hospital. "This year, my goal is to run a full marathon and qualify for the Boston Marathon. To get there, I wanted to do another half first and get myself back into shape because I hadn't run in a few years," he explained. "I work for my buddy Nate (Mullins) down at Heart of Ohio Sports and it started out as kind of a way to get him to pay my entry fee. So, joking around with him, I said 'If you pay my entry fee, I'll wear some Heart of Ohio Sports gear on my run, you can sponsor me'." After a couple of days, Hall released there was an opportunity to do fundraising. "He and I were trying to decide who to fundraise for," Hall said. "We both went, well, we love animals, everybody loves animals. The Humane Society needs help, so we reached out to them to see if they would be interested, and they were." Hall said he decided he would share the runs on social media and inform people that he was raising money for the Humane Society. Then his sister, who runs an online jewelry store, to see if she could donate something to help raise money. That act led to him starting his weekend giveaways. In the first weekend giveaway, $500 was raised and he realized if he got other local small businesses involved, it would be a good way to raise more money and help promote the businesses. "So, it was kind of hard starting out. But the more it started growing, I was able to fill every single weekend spot. It all kind of grew naturally." Hall and Mullins work together on a Monday evening podcast called "The Pulse," which airs every Monday at 8:30 p.m. on Heart of Ohio Sports' social media pages. The two decided it would be the perfect platform to do their giveaways. Eventually, the business owners began making an appearance on the podcast when their items were up for giveaways. The following businesses have donated to Miles for Mutts: Roselee Crystals and Pearls Soul Boutique Poignon Project Kesler and Co. Madison Street Tavern Fort Ball Pizza Happy Days Nutrition/Simply Susan's Nerdy Nuts Level up Tiffin Shake Shak Tiffin Pedal Company Tiffin Inflatables Culligan Water Hoffmann-Gottfried-Mack Funeral Home and T Town DJ have provided monetary donations. "The runs for the dogs were built into that," Hall said. "I'm already going for a run every single week of my training program, so I talked to the shelter and signed up as a volunteer and arranged to take a dog out on each of my runs. That's been one of the favorites of the fundraiser. "I'd like to grow it next year. We're going to ask people 'What do you want to see next year?' Let's make this bigger and better." So far, Miles for Mutts has raised over $3,000 for the Humane Society. An upcoming event for the fundraiser is in partnership with Tiffin Pedal Co. It is a food and supplies drive for the Humane Society. The event starts at 5 p.m. April 19. Hall will be doing the longest run of his training and will be creating a route based on the locations of donations. The pedal bike will be following along the route. There are also 10 seats available on the pedal bike to ride along during the event. There are currently four spaces left on the bike and are available for purchase for $50. Tickets are available here: Tiffin Pedal Company https://www.tiffinpedalcompany.com/. If you are interested in donating, contact Miles for Mutts by searching for it on Facebook or email Hall at hallzy21@gmail.com with what you would like to donate and where you are located. All proceeds raised by Miles for Mutts go to the Humane Society of Seneca County. To donate to Miles for Mutts, visit this link: https://tinyurl.com/MilesforMutts. Heart of Ohio Sports is available on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Twitch, Spotify or at heartofohiosports.com tune in for the upcoming baseball season. It live streams local high school teams including Columbian and Calvert, and the schedule of games covered can be found on its website.