By Amanda Amsel
Staff Writer
Santa poses with a a pack of dogs during a photoshoot at PetPeople in Columbus. Franklin Township Trustee John Fleshman takes all photos and donates $10 from each package to local animal shelters.
A Franklin Township trustee is finding more ways to help the community.
Trustee John Fleshman is using his photography business, Fleshman Photography, to bring some holiday cheer to animals throughout the state.
“Basically this all started 10 years ago when someone asked me to take a photo of their pet with Santa,” Fleshman said. “After that, other people started asking me to take similar photos and I realized this was something people were really interested in.”
After creating a pet night where people could get photos with their pets and Santa, Fleshman decided to reach out to PetPeople, a chain of pet stores in the Midwest, to see if he could take holiday photos of pets with Santa on a more regular basis.
“PetPeople was interested in this idea, but said if we wanted to do this, we had to donate a portion of our sales to local animal shelters,” Fleshman said. “We decided that was fair and now donate $10 for every package to local animal shelters near the store we are serving.”
Today, Fleshman takes photos of pets with Santa in PetPeople stores in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois and donates approximately $9,000 during the holidays to different shelters.
With two different packages to choose from, guests pay $35 or $40 per package, depending on which package they chose.
“Each session we take a portion of the funds we make and donate it to the shelter closest to that store,” he said. “We donate over 30 percent of our proceeds to these shelters.”
Donating to places like the Capital Area Humane Society and CHA Animal Shelter, the funds Fleshman donates are used for food, bedding and veterinarian care for the animals.
“Pets can’t talk for themselves, so it is up to us to help them,” Fleshman said. “If everyone did something small like this, we could get more animals off the streets and help them find their forever homes.”
Fleshman said all animals are welcomed to participate and if you don’t have any animals you can still come to PetPeople and get your photo with Santa and a portion of the proceeds will still be donated.
“The price for these photos if very responsible, you really can’t get this quality for this price anywhere else,” he said. “Also, most importantly you are helping the defenseless animals of your area.”
To find a PetPeople location Fleshman Photography will be taking Santa photos at, visit www.fleshmanphotography.com.
