Will is shown with his bunny, Oreo. A story of Will and his family adopting Oreo won the Upper Peninsula Animal Welfare Shelter $25,000. (Courtesy photo)

NEGAUNEE — A boy and his bunny — plus a generous contractor — have brought good news to the Upper Peninsula Animal Welfare Shelter.

And more good news is possible if the community helps out.

The story of a little boy named Will, who with his family adopted a bunny named Oreo, won in a national contest. Each year, the Petco Foundation invites adopters to share the story of how their adopted pet changed their lives during the annual Holiday Wishes campaign, giving the organization that they adopted from a chance to receive a grant award. The story of Will and Oreo — which can be read through a link on upaws.org — won the Upper Peninsula Animal Welfare Shelter a 2018 Holiday Wishes award worth $25,000.

Now the public can help UPAWS secure another $25,000 in the People’s Choice Award category from this Petco program. Visit www.petcofoundation.org/holiday-wishes/ and vote for Will and Oreo.

But that’s not all the positive news: Hall Contracting supported UPAWS’s Imagine the PAWSibilities Capital Campaign for the construction of its new animal shelter with a donation of $20,000.

The gift was announced at the annual UPAWS Gala, Cause for Paws, on Nov. 10.

“This has really been an exciting project to work on,” Bromley Hall said to the crowd at the gala. “It has been one of my favorite projects and we are excited to announce our support with this $20,000 gift.”

To date, UPAWS has raised over $3 million of the $3.7 million project to build an animal shelter that can be more than an animal shelter, it can be an animal community center. The campaign will retire the 40-year-old facility that currently houses UPAWS and the 1,500 animals that come through the doors every year. UPAWS has a consistent award winning 98 percent save rate and is in dire need of a new facility, according to a UPAWS release.