Featured image by Cheryl Landes

Stock up on plants for your garden and buy gifts for Mother’s Day at Sprouts & Sparkles in southwest Portland. You’ll find hundreds of plant starts for sale, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and flowers. Shop for gifts handcrafted by local artisans Art by Reets, Funky Knits by Georgia, Pawsitively Posh Jewelry, and Sofato Designs.

Sprouts & Sparkles is in the SW Auto Body parking lot at 4200 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Satruday, May 11. That’s the day before Mother’s Day!

Portions of the proceeds will benefit Animal Aid, a no-kill animal welfare and rescue organization up the hill from SW Auto Body.

Animal Aid is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Radio talk show host and animal activist Jack Hurd and his wife, Kathryn, founded the organization in 1969.

On his radio show, Jack often talked about the abandoned cats in their Laurelhurst neighborhood. He and Kathryn started their rescue efforts when they found “Chicken Charlie”, a half-dead cat they nursed back to health, followed by 12 other cats from their neighborhood.

As more callers to Jack’s radio show talked about their sick or injured pets and their struggles to afford proper veterinary care, Jack and Kathryn decided that something must be done, and Animal Aid was born. Animal Aid received nonprofit status in 1971.

Today, Animal Aid has a no-kill cat shelter, emergency kennels for dogs, and foster caregivers for dogs looking for permanent homes. For more information about the shelter and adopting a cat or dog, visit Animal Aid’s website.