City Resident Donates To Humane Society

Jun 5, 2023

Wallace Rankin, 18, is pictured with a check he presented to the Chautauqua County Humane Society.

A Jamestown resident recently donated his own custom merchandise to the Chautauqua County Humane Society.

Wallace Rankin, 18, was born in Russia and lives in Jamestown, attending Randolph Central School, and is set to graduate soon. He designs his own content online and decided to donate the proceeds from that to the Humane Society.

Rankin designs different types of mugs, shirts and face masks with designs based on his YouTube channel. He typically sells to friends and family off of his website, itswallytdude.com.

"I made about $100 from selling, and I decided to donate that to the Humane Society so they can get extra supplies that they need for the animals after COVID," he said.

Rankin decided to donate because the Humane Society means a lot to him and his family. They have adopted multiple animals from there in the past, and Rankin knew that not as many were being adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The rules changed as to how you could go in and adopt the animals during the pandemic," Rankin said. "I am an animal lover so I thought I could give this to them and they can put it towards things that they need for the animals until COVID is less rampant."

Rankin also donated a customized face mask to the Humane Society's director Brian Papalia. Over the time Rankin has had his website, he estimated that he has sold around 12 items. He said he has not sold a lot, and everything is designed with his own YouTube logo. Everything is set up and available on his site and it goes directly into his PayPal.

This is the first time Rankin has done a donation like this, but he plans on eventually doing another. During the time he talked with The Post-Journal, Rankin's website was down, but he hoped to get it back up and running soon to continue to sell items and eventually make another similar donation.

He wanted his first donation to be to the Humane Society, as the Humane Society is very important to him.

"I think when animals don't have a home, they need a place where they are safe and well taken care of until they get a home," Rankin said. "The first dog we adopted from there was left in a field with no food or water for three days until someone found them and brought them to the Humane Society. It is a safe place for animals."

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

Changes to New York's citizens arrest statute have passed the state Senate, with state Sen. George Borrello ...

City Council members will hear more about a pedestrian safety project at Sixth and Cherry streets during their ...