Capitals Raise More than $177,000 for Homeward Trails Animal Rescue

Capitals Better Halves Katrina Connolly, Paige Dowd, Tasha Maltman (Stephenson) and Taylor Pischke (Wilson), along with photographer Virgil Ocampo, presented Homeward Trails Animal Rescue with a check for $177,700.49 on behalf of Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation to Sue Bell, founder and executive director of
Homeward Trails Animal Rescue
, during the March 24 Capitals game.

The funds were raised through the sale of the 2019 Capitals Canine Calendar. The calendar featured photos of Capitals players John Carlson, Brett Connolly, Nic Dowd, Lars Eller, Matt Niskanen, Brooks Orpik, T.J. Oshie, Alex Ovechkin and Chandler Stephenson with their dogs; Nicklas Backstrom, Travis Boyd, Pheonix Copley, Christian Djoos, Braden Holtby, Dmitrij Jaskin, Michal Kempny, Jayson Megna, Dmitry Orlov, Devante Smith-Pelly, Jakub Vrana, Nathan Walker and Tom Wilson with dogs from Homeward Trails Animal Rescue; and Andre Burakovsky and Evgeny Kuznetsov with the Stanley Cup, which is also featured throughout the calendar.
All photography was generously provided by Virgil Ocampo Photography.

One hundred percent of the proceeds from calendar sales benefitted Homeward Trails Animal Rescue. The funds will allow Homeward Trails to provide medical and behavioral care, as well as permanent homes for rescued animals. Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation has donated nearly $430,000.00 to Homeward Trails through the sale of its Canine Calendar since 2014.
Homeward Trails Animal Rescue is a nonprofit organization that provides pet adoption in Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland. Homeward Trails seeks to find permanent adoptive homes in the mid-atlantic region for dogs and cats from high-kill shelters or whose owners can no longer care for them. They seek to reduce the rate of euthanasia of adoptable animals through the rescue and placement of homeless animals; to support proactive spay/neuter practices; to promote positive and ongoing behavioral training; and to educate the public about how to care for their animals in a humane way. Homeward Trails not only facilitates adoptions from local shelters, but also supports a large network of foster care providers who take homeless dogs and cats into their homes, care for them, rehabilitate them when needed, and prepare them for their permanent adoptive homes. For more information on Homeward Trails, go to
http://www.homewardtrails.org/
.