Turning tragedy to a positive

BY STACI WILSON

Family and friends of Kelly Conklin came together Aug. 2 to spearhead a fundraising effort benefiting a cause she whole-heartedly supported. Conklin was killed in October 2014 outside her Susquehanna home.

The group – dubbed Kelly’s Voice – held a golf tournament, followed by a gathering at the Moose Lodge in Susquehanna with raffles, and raised over $9,400 for True Friends Animal Welfare Center. They presented the check Friday at the non-profit, no-kill animal shelter.

True Friends director Dory Browning said, “The Conklin family is wonderful and the whole town of Susquehanna – the outpouring of support was touching to see. It was an amazing one-day event. We depend on donations and fundraisers just to keep the doors open.”

She said the funds would be used to help renovate the shelter’s back kennel area. “They are in desperate need of repair,” Browning said.

Kelly’s father, Bill, said he had spoken with a few people and came up with the idea to host a golf tournament in memory of Kelly and to make something positive. With the help of Debbie Wescott and Jamie Conklin, the golf tournament grew to include the basket raffles, silent auction and other raffles, including a stone bench donated by Herb Kilmer & Sons Bluestone.

Bill said his daughter brought home a Chihuahua named “Diego” from California she had rescued at a shelter. “She’s always been an animal lover,” he said.

Kelly’s mother, Lee, said the outpouring of support from the community since her daughter’s death has been phenomenal and overwhelming. “If it wasn’t for friends, family and the community, I don’t know where we would be today,” she said adding the tournament – which the family hopes to make an annual event, was a way to “make a positive out of a negative.”