Community Corner
Pickleball, Tennis & Therapy Dog Yoga To Benefit Ridgefield Rescue Pets At ROAR
ROAR's June fundraiser features pickleball, tennis and therapy dog yoga to support adoptable pets in Ridgefield.
RIDGEFIELD, CT — Looking for a way to get active while helping local rescue animals? Ridgefield Operation for Animal Rescue (ROAR) is inviting residents to grab a paddle, hit the courts or roll out a yoga mat for its upcoming ROAR Rally for the Animals fundraiser.
The event will take place from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 6, at Silver Spring Country Club, 439 Silver Spring Road, and will feature pickleball, tennis and therapy dog yoga, with proceeds benefiting ROAR's adoptable cats and dogs. A rain date is scheduled for June 7.
According to ROAR board member Andrea Leone-Bay, the organization was looking for a fun way to bring supporters together while raising money for animal rescue efforts.
So why not pickleball?
"Everybody plays pickleball nowadays," Leone-Bay said. "We thought a pickleball event would be a way to bring people together and get them to support animals."
The fundraiser comes as ROAR continues its rescue and adoption work both locally and through partnerships with other organizations.
"It's been a great year for us," ROAR Board of Directors Vice President Karen King told Patch. "We continue to have a lot of interest from adopters coming to the shelter. We're working with lots of other organizations on rescuing animals."
While adoption fees and fundraising events help support operations, ROAR leaders say financial donations remain the organization's biggest need.
The shelter also relies on donated supplies and volunteers.
"We go through paper towels, like you wouldn't believe," Leone-Bay said. "We go through food." She added that professional services donated on a volunteer basis can also be valuable to the organization.
King noted that foster families play a critical role in helping ROAR rescue more animals.
"We always are interested in trying to add new fosters, because that helps us with being able to save more animals out there and adopt them out," King said. "Fostering is a huge part of what we do."
One of the event's more unusual offerings will be therapy dog yoga.
The concept is simple: participants take a yoga class while therapy dogs mingle among them.
"The dogs will just wander among the people who are doing the yoga," Leone-Bay said.
Tickets are $150 per person for tennis or pickleball and $75 per person for therapy dog yoga. All tickets include lunch and beverages. The event will also feature a raffle and auction with 2026 U.S. Open tickets and a collection drive for pet food donations. Registration is available through ROAR's website.
