Bullards Find Joy in Helping Animals

Blenda and Jim Bullard had talked about wanting to do it for a long time. Then Blenda's parents died and left them stock. In order to sell the stock, they would have had to pay a large tax bill. Instead of paying taxes, they created a charitable trust to care for animals in need. Finally being able to achieve this goal has given them great joy. In addition, they benefited from a significant tax deduction.

Blenda and Jim chose ten animal welfare organizations for their trust—the Humane Society for Companion Animals and the Animal Humane Society were two of their favorites. Giving back in this way was how they wanted to show their appreciation for the joy that animals have given them throughout their lives.

Over the years they have had dogs, cats and even a tarantula. Today they are "owned by" their cat Chester, who was a stray that "adopted them" by taking to living in their cabin's breezeway. Winter was coming, and Jim is a softy, so Chester joined the family permanently. He sleeps with them every night, and no lap would be complete without Chester in it. As Blenda would say, "Chester rules all," and they would not have it any other way.