The past several years, Friends of the Shelter, the Bell County based non-profit organization dedicated to helping homeless animals, has been conducting a fundraiser at the local Pizza Hut.

On Aug. 13, the tradition will continue.

President of the shelter, Dinah Presnell, got the idea for the fundraiser while out shopping.

“I overheard some people once; a guy was talking to his son and he said ‘now in this cold weather dogs don’t have to eat every day.’ That made me really get interested in providing supplemental food for families who need it,” she said.

The shelter heard that some restaurants host fundraisers for groups and had heard Pizza Hut did so as well for cheerleaders and other organizations. The shelter asked if they could do it at the local Pizza Hut and have been doing their fundraiser for seven years now.

“We usually make around $900 or $1,000. We get 10 percent of the profits for the nights and also the tips,” said Presnell.

This also works for carry out orders. The people who work at the shelter act as the servers for the night.

For the past two years, the shelter has designated the funds for their food giveaway program. They combine forces with the Lighthouse Mission, who have a food giveaway twice a month. The Friends of Shelter buy the pet food for those giveaways.

This year’s fundraiser will take place at the Middlesboro Pizza Hut and begin at 5 p.m. and last until 8 p.m.