Community Corner
Canceled Wedding Has 'Paws-itive' Outcome
When it was too late for a bride to get her money back from her reception site at the Crowne Plaza, she donated the time and space to a charity founded by a Cranberry resident with a love for pit bulls.
Although Caitlin Stroop of Monongahela canceled her Oct. 1 nuptials, her change of heart will have a "paws-itive" outcome.
Stroop, 25, donated what would have been her wedding reception at the Crowne Plaza, Hotel South in Bethel Park to Hello Bully, a local pit bull rescue group, to use as a fundraiser.
“Katey called off her wedding too late for us to get our money back,” said Caitlin’s mother Karen Stroop, of Finleyville, who had paid in full for 200 guests. “So I said to her, ‘Pick a charity.’ She liked Hello Bully, because of her own pit bull Sophie. I found them on the Internet, and sent them an email.”
Hello Bully volunteer Nicole Meloy, who makes her living as an events planner, downloaded the message and was initially skeptical.
“To be quite honest, I didn’t really understand at first what we were being offered,” she said. “I work with brides every day and had never known anyone to do anything like this.
"Karen was adamant that I call her back, and quickly. When I realized they were totally sincere, I couldn’t believe their generosity. Even now, I can’t wrap my head around this really gracious gift.”
Meloy contacted Hello Bully president Daisy Balawejder, of Cranberry, who was in North Carolina on a pit bull rescue mission with the Humane Society of United States.
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“She asked me to repeat what I was telling her,” Meloy said. “because she couldn’t believe it either.”
The timing couldn’t have been better, since Hello Bully recently purchased property in Cranberry that it plans to turn into an refuge for pit bills awaiting adoption.
“We’re calling it a halfway house because the dogs will be halfway home,” said Meloy.
Run entirely by volunteers, Hello Bully was founded six years ago by Balawejder and is supported entirely by donations and merchandise sales. Money is used to rescue, rehabilitate and repair the reputation of the American Pit Bull Terrier, a breed made famous by the Little Rascals’ Petey but one that has fallen out of favor in recent years.
“The media reports only the negative stories, usually involving some sort of attack, because that’s what sells news. But these are isolated incidents and always go back to irresponsible ownership,” Meloy said.
Her group works to show the public that pit bulls can make wonderful pets. Caitlin said she knows this first-hand, having adopted Sophie when she was just eight weeks old. Now two, Sophie is the chocolate and white pooch advertising the Oct. 1 event—There’s No Place Like Home—on the Hello Bully website.
“She’s the best dog and so smart,” said Caitlin, who fell in love with the breed while volunteering at Angel Ridge animal sanctuary in Washington, PA. “I was living in an apartment where I couldn’t have pets, or I would have adopted sooner.”
The halfway house is much-needed, and she said she is thrilled to support the plan.
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“I was so excited when I heard Hello Bully bought some property,” she said. “I hope the reception will help them.”
Caitlin and her mother both plan to attend the event.
“I know how you can change attitudes,” Caitlin said. “When my grandmother heard I was adopting Sophie, she tried to talk me out of a pit bull, and now she sees what a big baby she is and always asks me, ‘When are you bringing Sophie over?’”
The Oct. 1 event begins at 7 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza, Hotel South, at 164 Fort Couch Road. Tickets are $50 and include open bar, dinner and dancing. For more, visit www.hellobully.com.
