CONNOQUENESSING TWP —#1 Cochran cares.

The company has donated books to schools and money to cancer research, but one of its biggest charitable causes puts money and pet chow in the hands of the Butler County Humane Society.

“They donated over $65,000 to us last year,” said Debbi Aglio, assistant executive director for the Butler County Humane Society. “We greatly appreciate their generosity and what they do for us.”

Aglio said in addition to money raised through the Subaru dealership's Share the Love event, the humane society has received donations in the form of food, toys and other pet care items.

Mike Rizzitano — who overseas multiple locations, including #1 Cochran of Butler — said the company has donated more than $100,000 over the past few years that the company has participated.

He said the donated items come from an array of sources.

“We get a lot of donations from team members from other businesses and people who live in the community,” Rizzitano said. “We load up a bunch of vehicles with a bunch of these supplies, whether it be cleaning supplies, food supplies for the animals or other pet supplies, you name it, and we take them over there.”

Rizzitano said that around Christmas, the dealer also helps families adopt pets by sponsoring families to help absorb the costs. He said the dealer helped with 10 adoptions last year.

“It's a lot of fun to partner with them,” Rizzitano said. “Our customers and team members love their pets.”

Aglio said the Butler County Humane Society is not struggling, but it can't risk having a bad year. She said it costs about $1 million per year to run the location.

“We're doing good, but we're always accepting donations,” Aglio said. “We are always busy — very, very busy, so things are good.”

Last year, there were 505 adoptions — 251 dogs and 254 cats — Aglio said. She noted that the organization also bettered the lives of 200 animals through other community events.