Yappy Hour Tops $1,500 In Donations At Hammel Woods Dog Park

SHOREWOOD, IL - The fruits of their hard work are starting to pay off thanks to last Friday's fund-raising drive called Yappy Hour. More than 75 people came to the Hammel Woods Dog Park for music, wine, craft beer and a Chicago-style hot dog bar. There was also a dog-friendly cake baked with natural pet food ingredients. As far as we know at Patch, the cake was only eaten by the dogs, not their owners.

On a serious more note, The Nature Foundation is now well on its way toward reaching its $20,000 fund-raising goal to make the expanded Hammel Woods Dog Park a first-class facility. Construction on the more than $200,000 project, which is mostly funded by the Forest Preserve, could start in a few weeks. However, this expanded park geared for little dogs probably won't open until around July. In the meantime, The Nature Foundation is raising additional funds to build a shade shelter as well as other improvements.

The Yappy Hour event alone raised more than $1,500. Also, Elkay Manufacturing of Oak Brook donated $7,000 to pay for new drinking fountains.

"It was a nice, relaxed evening with some great giveaways and raffle prizes and our guests had an opportunity to play with their pups, socialize and support a great project," said foundation executive director Cindy Ham.

The fundraising efforts are expected to continue into 2018.

For past coverage of plans to upgrade Hammel Woods Dog Park:

Small Dogs Will Finally Get A Place To Play At Hammel Woods

Images via Forest Preserve District of Will County