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The Claiborne County Animal Shelter received a $2,000 donation from funds raised by Ava Cole this week.

Ava has been an active supporter of the Shelter for several years and it was a presentation she gave to the Claiborne Commission that led to the county creating an Animal Control Officer position.

Her fundraising and advocacy efforts caught the attention of an anonymous donor from the Gatlinburg area. The $2,000 was the first of what will be regular contributions to the Shelter.

“She’s a big advocate for animals and she saw all of the hard work Ava has done raising money for the shelter,” said Flora West, Ava’s grandmother. “She wanted to do this in Ava’s name to reward her for working so hard and to keep her interested in working to help the Shelter.”

Shelter Executive Director Misti Roberts said the money and the expected regular contributions will be used for improvements at the shelter.

“We’re donation based only so donations like this are crucial to our survival here,” she said. “Knowing that we can expand and improve on our building is just immaculate. I’m really excited to learn exactly what we’re going to do with this and where we’re going to go from there. We’re really appreciative of Ava and everything she does for us.”