Skokie, Illinois — A local animal rescue organization will hold a live event at a new location for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak in Illinois on the weekend after Thanksgiving.

The Skokie-based non-profit Community Animal Rescue (CARE) will be at the Oakton Community Center (4701 Oakton St.) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on November 27.

The pet-friendly expo will include biscuit walks, photos of pets with Santa Claus, silent auctions, and the debut of the CARE 2022 "FURever Grateful" calendar, which includes photos of cats and dogs from CARE with frontline and public safety workers.

"The calendar project is all about building a community," Paulette Ciofani, CARE calendar project manager and long-term volunteer. "It's about acknowledging and thanking first responders and frontline staff for going through crazy times so that the rest of the world can maintain a certain degree of normalcy."

The organizer said that all proceeds from the sales calendar will go to CARE Cats and Dogs.

"We had a lot of fun, met so many good and dedicated employees, and saw so many smiles. I think these photos will tell everything," Giofani added. "They showed that CARE is about the community. We hope that this project will encourage more people to participate in our mission."

The auction items include tickets, gift certificates, jewelry, artworks and autographed sports memorabilia. CARE Faire also plans to include the first CARE Market, a series of unique products suitable as holiday gifts, and a number of handicraft suppliers.

All attendees were asked to bring pet food for adoptable pets or CARE’s pet food storage room as a suggested donation to the exhibition. The organizer requested to provide unopened bags of dog food and cat food, canned food, kitten food and cat litter.

Now in its 34th year, CARE is Evanston, Kenilworth, Glenview, Northfield, Northbrook, Niles, Morton Grove, Skokie, Wilme Services are provided in the North Shore community of Te and Winnetka and parts of Chicago’s North District.