Game of Homes

You could pick out the guests long before the Four Seasons Hotel Denver came into view. Somewhere between the valet stand and the lobby doors, downtown had been overtaken by crowns, capes, and the occasional jingle of chain mail. Everyone was dressed to the nines, or more accurately, to the Middle Ages. The occasion was the annual gala for True Companions Animal Shelter & Clinic, and this year’s theme, “Game of Homes: Whiskers Are Coming,” was a nod to Game of Thrones that the crowd took to heart, and to the tailor. In Westeros, winter is coming. In Denver on Oct. 17, it was the whiskers.

The name on the invitation is new, but the cause behind it goes back to 1987, when veterinarian Dr. William Suro and his wife, Nanci, took up a collection for a dog brought into his clinic after being hit by a car. They called him Max, and the jar on the front counter read “The Max Fund.” A year later, it was a nonprofit, and for almost four decades Denver knew it as MaxFund. This March it became True Companions, a name meant to honor the relationships that hold the whole operation together: people and their animals, and a shelter and the community that keeps its doors open.

The promise didn’t change with the signage. Colorado’s largest nonprofit No Kill shelter takes in every animal it has room for and keeps it until it finds a home, whether that takes a week or a year. The gala, now running for close to 40 years, is the shelter’s biggest fundraiser, and every dollar goes straight to the care of its adoptable animals. Last fall’s gala, also at the Four Seasons, was the most successful in the organization’s history, and this year’s crowd arrived looking every bit like it intended to defend the crown.

A Night to Remember

After check-in came cocktail hour, and with it the silent auction: dog- and cat-adorned quilts, decorative plates, a boozy basket for every combination of spirits imaginable, and activity packages for bowling, Jeep tours, and paint-and-sips. The real attraction, though, was the menagerie of adoptable cats and dogs making their rounds between the auction tables and the regalia. They had dressed for the occasion too, in flower collars, many of them already stuffed with a few dollar bills from admirers. If money could be raised by tail wags alone, this crew would have funded the next year before the first round of drinks was finished.

Before dinner, the adoptables went on parade, a gala tradition, each one introduced to the room like nobility. Two of the dogs had already been adopted, including Shayla Jane, a 3-month-old pit bull/Lab mix you may remember from MyDenver’s September issue. For the ones still waiting, it was the best audition a shelter animal could ask for: a ballroom full of people who already love animals, and every reason to fall for one more.

When the program began, Kathy Gaines took the microphone first with some genuinely inspiring words, and Tory Schulman, host of 9News’ Colorado & Company, followed with her fair share of both inspiration and jokes. Then came the moment that sent more than a few napkins to the corners of more than a few eyes. John Moore, the longtime Colorado arts journalist now with the Denver Gazette, took the stage to talk about LunaStar, the companion he found at this very shelter after she had spent months waiting for him. Under the No Kill mission, the length of that wait never mattered; she only had to be there when the right person walked in, and she was. She spent the next 12-plus years by his side, and from the way he spoke about her, her little paw prints have left a permanent mark. It’s safe to say we all went home and gave our animals a hug they did not ask for.

“The purpose of this event is, of course, to celebrate our mission, but also to keep the animals’ needs top of mind. The generosity of our attendees, sponsors, and donors directly translates into a second chance at life for some of Colorado’s most vulnerable dogs and cats. When they have nowhere else to turn, we open our doors. It’s hard to put a price on the significance of that—permitting a life to continue, as John so eloquently put it—so that its future has a fighting chance,” says Sophia Guerriero, media and communications manager at True Companions.

Once the napkins were put away, the paddles went up. Auctioneer Kevin Rutter worked the live auction and the paddle-raise donations with the kind of cheerful pressure that makes people forget their budgets, reminding the ballroom more than once, “It’s only money!” He meant it. Every winning bid, he pointed out again and again, was a gift that kept on giving. The high bidder went home with a getaway or an experience, and back at the shelter, that same money became a vet visit, a surgery, or a few more months of patience for an animal still waiting on its person. The vacation was just the receipt; the real purchase was the graciousness of knowing exactly where the money was headed.

The tables had stayed loyal to the theme all night, each one topped with a dragon egg or a sword centerpiece, so it was only fitting that dessert arrived as more dragon eggs, these pink and green and very much edible, resting on a bed of golden chocolate nuggets. Most tables managed a second of collective hesitation before the first spoon went in, and then no hesitation at all.

The evening closed with a performance from Paul Borillo Entertainment that leaned all the way into the theme. In proper Westeros fashion, the story’s dogs and cats squared off for a duel to the death, an idea swiftly dismissed (this is a No Kill house, after all) in favor of each side performing tricks to settle their differences. Lighthearted, sure, but beneath the costumes was the creed True Companions has lived by since the first jar on the front counter: Nobody in this story is expendable, whether they bark, purr, or bid.

True Companions doesn’t publicly share its gala totals, but the room was generous, which fits this city’s track record with the shelter. When 9News’ Next with Kyle Clark featured it in the show’s Word of Thanks campaign last year, viewers donated more than $100,000. Still, the need doesn’t clock out when the ballroom empties, and the gala is only one way in. Plenty of supporters simply give monthly. Others give time instead of money, walking dogs and keeping the cats company a few hours a month, and if your partner or roommate is allergic, that’s the way to get your fix and leave most of the fur at the shelter. Then there are the fosters, who turn a spare room into a recovery ward for a dog on the mend from surgery, a nursery for a bottle-fed kitten, or a soft landing for an old-timer who just needs somewhere better than a kennel to spend his days.

If golf is more your speed than ballgowns, True Companions will host its second annual Fore the Animals Golf Tournament on May 17, 2027, at Cherry Creek Country Club. The inaugural round this past spring, presented by Academy Bank, played straight through a rainstorm. The gala will be back next fall, too. MyDenver was proud to be among this year’s sponsors.

It all started with one injured dog and a jar on a front counter. Nearly 40 years later, the name on the door has changed, and the knights hang up their capes at the end of the night, but the idea that started with Max is still the same: every animal that comes through the door gets its chance at a home. That’s a house worth pledging your sword to.

How to Help

Whether you have a few dollars, a few hours, or a spare room, there’s a place for you at True Companions.

Give

$250 feeds 10 healthy shelter dogs for seven and a half days and 10 healthy shelter cats for 17. Donations are accepted year-round as a one-time gift or a monthly one, online at truecompanions.org or by mail.

Foster

Who fosters help: animals healing from surgery or working through medical or behavioral challenges, nursing moms, bottle-fed kittens and puppies, pets in hospice care, and long-term residents who’d simply do better in a home than a kennel.

What’s covered: the vet care, from vaccines and medications to prescription diets, plus emergency care with a coordinator’s OK. Beds, blankets, and kennels come along too, when they’re available.

What you bring: the food, the litter box, the toys, and a safe place to land.

The fine print: you’ll need to live within 30 minutes of the shelter, everyone under your roof meets the animal first, and there’s a home inspection once a year.

To apply: head to truecompanions.org, or send questions to fostering@truecompanions.org.

Volunteer

Who can help: anyone 9 and up at the cat shelter, and 14 and up at the dog shelter. Volunteers 9 to 15 bring a parent or guardian along, and that adult goes through the application and orientation too.

The commitment: six hours a month for at least six months in a row.

Getting started: a $50 fee covers the paperwork, background check, and your badge, followed by a reference check and one two-and-a-half-hour training session.

To apply: truecompanions.org/Volunteer.

Visit

Cat Shelter: 720 West 10th Avenue

Dog Shelter: 1005 Galapago Street

Veterinary Clinic: 1000 Inca Street

Save the Date

Fore the Animals Golf Tournament: May 17, 2027, Cherry Creek Country Club