Competitors bag boiled peanuts in preparation for last year’s Palmetto Peanut Boil. (Photo courtesy of Animal Mission/Carolina News & Reporter)
Looking for boiled peanuts? A new dog? Animal Mission’s annual peanut boil and adoption fundraiser takes place this Saturday.
The mission’s 17th Palmetto Peanut Boil will be on Devine Street on the blocks near the Columbia fire station from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The city of Columbia’s Animal Services will have adoptable, spayed and neutered dogs out on leashes to help find them new homes.
“They’ll have some of their adoptable dogs out to meet you,” Animal Mission’s Executive Director Jen Coody said. “And we hope people come out and meet some dogs and hopefully find somebody to take home.”
Animal Mission’s goal is to “raise as much money as possible and have as much fun as we possibly can,” she said.
Admission is free. Food and beverages will be for sale. All proceeds go to Animal Mission.
“It’s a really good time …,” Coody said. “We close Divine Street and everybody comes out and they have a nice, long, fun day of cooking and drinking beer and listening to music and raising money for the puppies.”
A record number of competitors are registered to participate in the boil. The peanut junkies will vie for first prize.
Fifteen teams will compete for the judge’s choice and people’s choice awards. Attendees can vote on their top three favorites. Judges will choose the 1st place, runner up and most creative winners.
Everette Livingston is last year’s 1st place judge’s award winner. It was his first year competing. And he is returning for this year’s event.
“It’s something I’m passionate about,” Livingston said. “I love peanuts, but also correlating with the mission of animal mission … and what they’re doing for animals, which is another thing I’m very passionate about … So it’s just two things that I love.”
Livingston plans to cook 120 pounds of locally grown, handpicked peanuts for his return to the boil.
Columbia Animal Services is Animal Mission’s sister organization. They work together to fundraise and provide support for projects when they can’t afford things on their city budget.
“Sometimes we do emergency medical cases for shelter pets. Sometimes we provide new facilities and new equipment and things like that that they aren’t budgeted for. But mostly, 85% of our work is the free spay and neuter voucher program,” Coody said.
Columbia Animal Services’ Superintendent Victoria Riles said the peanut boil is Animal Mission’s largest fundraiser of the year.
“We like to take shelter dogs (there) and give them an opportunity to find a home and of course support the cause to increase funding for spay and neuter,” Riles said.
Riles says it’s “always very uplifting” to see animals go home.
The spay and neuter program allows Richland County residents to pick up a voucher for a discount on their pets’ surgery any time.
Animal Mission has been around since 1991. But Coody said in 2006 the organization changed its focus to spay and neuter services.
