(bright music) - The Golden Bark Foundation's Derby for the Dogs is an event where you'll find a mix of competition plus community and advocacy.

Here with more details on how this event helps dogs find new forever retirement homes is Seth Schilling.

Welcome to the show, Seth.

- Thank you for having us.

- So tell me about the Golden Bark Foundation.

Well, I guess, let me back it up.

First of all, Derby for the Dogs is not derby with the dogs.

There won't be dogs on skates, but there will be people supporting this great cause.

- Correct.

The dogs will not be skating, just the humans.

- Yes, absolutely.

But tell me about the Golden Bark Foundation.

- So, we're a senior dog rescue.

We started in 2022, so we've been around for a few years.

And we help senior dogs in our community find their forever homes.

Or if they're not able to be adopted, we also have a hospice program where we keep them with our fosters for the rest of their life.

- How did you spot this need in the community?

- Well, I started adopting senior dogs in 2015, and after my first senior dog, I just got hooked on being there for, you know, the last part of their life.

And we adopted a second dog when she passed, another senior.

And then years later, I was like, well, we need to do something, 'cause there's a lot of seniors in shelters, a lot of seniors that, you know, their families pass away and they don't have anywhere to go.

And so we finally made it happen in 2022.

- And who do you have here with us today?

- This is Akirra.

She's an 8-year-old Akita.

She's one of our dogs.

She was found as a stray.

She had four legs, but it had cancer, so we had it amputated, and now she's doing so well and looking for her forever home.

- I love that you say "Forever retirement home for dogs."

- Yeah, I'm like, they're just like, they just want, you know, love, connection, you know, treats, and they just wanna be loved for the rest of their life.

- And I love to hear that organizations are reaching out, saying that they wanna help support organizations like yours.

- No, it's incredible.

Community, you know, is so important to nonprofits, especially small nonprofits like ours.

And we have a wonderful, you know, village behind us, and we're so excited.

- Well, I'm excited that you're here.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

If you would like to check out the Derby for Dogs, we'll have that information on the screen.

It's May 2nd from 3:30 to 8:30 PM at the Golden Spike Event Center.

To find out more on how you can support this incredible organization, you can go to goldenbarkfoundation.org.

I'm Liz Adeola, and thank you so much for watching "Contact."

(bright music) Philanthropy, Arts, culture.

It's what brings us together.

Hi, I'm Liz Adeola, the host of Contact, a show that connects you with local events and organizations that serve your community.

If you work for a nonprofit and would like to be on Contact, please visit pbs.org/contact