On Saturday, CCA volunteers and board members gathered at the Upstate shelter to meet Rhonetta Thomas and her family in person as we celebrated the life – and animal-loving legacy – of her daughter Jayla.
Last year, Jayla Thomas passed away as the result of a homicide, just days after her 21st birthday. Jayla would have been 22 on February 13.
Jayla is remembered as a beautiful and creative person who had a huge heart for people and animals. Despite being allergic to dogs, she was determined to spend her life caring for them and dreamed of one day owning a home with a lot of land and plenty of room for dogs.
This dream of hers is why, when Rhonetta set out to honor Jayla’s memory and love of dogs with a fundraiser, she chose CCA. “When I saw the photos online, I thought of Jayla’s dream of having land with a lot of dogs, and this just looked like somewhere she would want to be,” she explained.
Through a Facebook Fundraiser, Rhonetta raised $625 for CCA, which she presented at the shelter celebration on Saturday. Since then, an additional $200+ in donations have been made in Jayla’s honor.
Following the check presentation, Rhonetta and her family toured the shelter and saw the patio where we will be installing a brick in Jayla’s memory.
This isn’t the end though!
Rhonetta shared that she would like to partner with CCA in honor of Jayla’s birthday every year.
“We would like to do something special too,” said CCA Board President Kim Ledford. “We aren’t sure what that will look like yet, but we would like to celebrate Jayla’s kindness and how she always tried to put others before herself.”
While we think of the perfect way to honor Jayla next year, we wanted to thank Rhonetta and her family for including us in celebrating her daughter’s life. Her donation will make an impact on CCA’s mission in the Upstate. And her story touched each of us.