The Social Side of Social Capital

Willie

Turning What You Love into What You Do
By Patrick J. O’Connor

Recent segments of Turning What You Love into What You Do have addressed social capital. A recent event reinforced the dynamics of social capital and illustrates how contagious it can be. A few hundred smiling people with their tail-wagging dogs gathered for the Dog Days of Summer festival.  

Social capital elements including individuals, businesses and organizations/foundations enable people to work together for a common purpose. Studies show that people with higher levels of social capital report being happier, healthier, and have increased levels of community trust because of their positive relationships. Dog Days of Summer is a great example of these three groups working together in harmony. It’s a good kind of contagious.

Began with a Rescue
The Madonio Animal Trust (MAT), managed by the Portage Foundation, started in 2013 to make an impact on as many animals’ lives as possible. The idea began in 2004 with the adoption of a stray Beagle running free in theMadonio family’s Kent neighborhood. They love animals of all kinds and adopted him even though they already had numerous pets. 

They named him Willie and their lives were forever changed. Willie’s life was changed  too as he was close to being destroyed. They cherish the 11 years they spent with him and want to make it possible for every animal to have a chance—just like Willie had. 

‘Caws’ for Paws
A lot of good people have a good time and lots of animals are better off. If only for a few hours, everyone is on the same happy page this day.

A poet might describe it this way:

Folks of all ages, shapes, colors, and sizes
Celebrate the pups getting all the prizes.

Some folks with canes and some without
Most with hair but some in drought 

Some in walkers along with rollers
Some cruising with baby strollers

Lots of happy pups with tails a-waggin’
Dog lovers galore and a few a-braggin’

The music is lively with guitars, keyboard, and drummer.
Everyone had a doggone good time at the Dog Days of Summer.

Fun-Raising & Friend-Raising
The Dog Days of Summer is a major MAT fundraising event (Dog Days of Summer Festival (madonio-animal-trust.org).  It is also a major fun-raising and friend-raising event for the Kent community.

Now in its eighth year, the festival brings together dogs and dog lovers to the Hometown Bank Plaza stage for a good cause. The proceeds (about 20,000 annually) support many local animal groups, including the Portage County APL, Rose’s Rescue, Tree City Cats, Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary and others. They also partner with Family & Community Services to fund the Doggie Bags program providing pet food for owners struggling with food insecurity. 

Events include live music, a dog parade, local craft beer and even a few pools for dogs to cool off. The Buddy Sessions Top Dog award is given in memory of Buddy Sessions. Top Dog recipients including Buddy and Waylon (2023) are listed with photos on the Dog Days of Summer website. The Buddy Sessions Top Dog Contest (madonio-animal-trust.org) 

 The “Strut Your Mutt” Parade is one of the original events started by Eddie White and her husband, Bill. Well-known for their work with Love on a Leash, Eddie continues the tradition of leading the parade in Bill’s memory. The parade also includes dogs up for adoption. Everyone  applauds all pets and their mom/dad (formerly called owners) as they are introduced by volunteer announcer Jeff Kurtz, former radio voice of the KSU Golden Flashes.

Sponsors such as the Jaycees, Hometown Bank, local veterinarians, animal advocacy groups, 34 vendors and others are the foundation of the event. The festival is so popular organizers turn away some vendors. 

Boy Scout troops 253 and 7253 help and testify this is their favorite activity. And, they have more volunteers than they can use! This is an amazing example of the contagious social side of social capital. Most groups these days struggle to find sponsors, vendors and volunteers. For an event to turn away support is incredible. 

~~85% of those who volunteer during retirement find it helps them to build new friendships~~

Suddenly, Everyone is Your Friend
People who are as different as the many varieties of dogs have a great time together at the Dog Days of Summer. There is constant chatter, especially from children, with questions such as, “What’s your dog’s name?” “How old is it?” “What kind of dog is it?” “Can I pet your dog?” and the endless “awwww!”

People who otherwise might just pass each other on the street without saying a word are connected because of their pets. It’s uncanny how people warm to each other the moment a tail starts wagging. It’s a wonderful thing to see and something we need to celebrate—the contagious, social side of social capital.