FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — After a $20,000 setback from a failed fundraiser last summer, the Noah Project no-kill animal shelter is hoping to make up lost ground with another campaign this month.

The Noah Project says the money will pay for medicine for animals with special needs and allow it to continue its work finding homes for animals.

The shelter in Fruitport Township, near Muskegon, opened 20 years ago. The pandemic took its toll, but the shelter was able to keep providing care to abandoned and unwanted animals.

Noah Project has a long waiting list for animals — about 38 dogs and 17 cats — so the staff is working double time to get the word out about the pets that are up for adoption.

“We promote them through our social media and through the community. Our staff and friends and family, we all share their stories with each other and people share those on their social media, mostly,” Mashele Garrett-Arndt, the executive director of the Noah Project, said. “So that gets people to come in and meet them and we explain what’s going on with all of them. They all have different needs. Either they’re medical or social or they have anxiety, but things like that. So then we try to match those up with the people that are able to take care of them… So we’re trying to get them adopted quickly so we can bring the next ones in.”

She said Noah’s Project is completely funded through donations. That’s why it was a huge setback for Noah Project when its big fundraiser in the summer was rained out.

The next fundraiser, Tails and Tunes, is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Feb. 18 at Trillium Events Center in Ferrysburg, which seats up to 400.

“It’s going to be a buffet style, it’s going to have live music, it’s going to have auctions and anybody can get a ticket for that,” Garrett-Arndt said. “Tickets are $65 apiece. That includes food and that includes the entertainment. We’ll bring some dogs, some adoptable dogs with us, so that will be fun.”

Tickets can be purchased on the Noah Project’s website.