Edith might be the most popular dog in Warren. She's definitely the most successful canine philanthropist.
Since last Autumn, the four-year-old shnauzer/terrier mix and her friend, Haleigh Flowers …
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Edith might be the most popular dog in Warren. She's definitely the most successful canine philanthropist.
Since last Autumn, the four-year-old shnauzer/terrier mix and her friend, Haleigh Flowers DeCesare of 175 Water St., have teamed up to raise more than $500 for the Potter League for Animals in Middletown, one small donation at a time. Haleigh and her dad Jason DeCesare of 175 Water St. provide the tip jar, and Edith provides the cuddles and neck and belly scratches. You can find them out in front of their house on random weekends, soaking up the morning sun and greeting everyone who passes.
Haleigh loves Edith and long ago realized that most people she'd pass on the street during walks around town do too. When Warren held its first six-week-long Walkabout last autumn, Haleigh decided it was time to monetize that love for a good cause. So she talked to her dad, who immediately was all in. They enlisted Water Street artist and neighbor William Schaff to paint a sign, and set up a small table with a tip jar.
"I told her, if we make 20 bucks it's a home run," he said. "Then all of a sudden someone would throw in a five, someone threw in a 10, and before you know it we were way over that."
To date, the biggest donation has been $21, given by a chef at a State Street restaurant who upped his donation by $1 after he heard that a local legislator had donated $20.
Edith and Haleigh took a break over the winter, but are back now that the warm weather has returned. You're liable to catch them a few Saturdays a month.
This past Saturday turned out to be a good one. As Haleigh held tiny Edith in her arms and talked to some friends, a steady stream of drivers heading slowly down Water rolled down their windows and called out as they passed. A woman stopped her walk to throw in a few bucks, and the record-holding $21 chef waved and gave a cheer as he passed by on his bike.
"Everyone, everywhere we go, just wants to pet her," Haleigh said.
Edith declined to comment, but held out her tummy when a reporter approached, dollar bill in hand.