In a world often characterized by numbers, statistics and impersonal transactions, too few moments remind us of the beauty in connecting with individuals. This rings true for Kevin Keefe, owner of Brilliance Honda in Crystal Lake and Brilliance Subaru in Elgin.
For the past two years, Keefe has worked alongside Elgin’s Anderson Humane to help more than 600 rescue dogs find their forever home.
Anderson Humane provides services including low-cost spaying and neutering, in-home pet care assistance, training classes and resources. Each year, the group’s South Elgin shelter facilitates more than 4,000 pet adoptions.
Among those numbers are more than 150 beagles who’ve found a forever home. A reunion event this past August brought the beagles and their new owners together to celebrate a new outlook on life.
Their story begins in July 2022 when Anderson Humane helped to rescue some of the 4,000 beagles discovered at the Envigo breeding and research facility in Cumberland, Va. Brilliance Subaru provided vehicles to bring more than 150 of the maltreated dogs back to Elgin.
Anderson Humane and Brilliance Subaru have been working together since early 2021, when one of Keefe’s sales managers suggested bringing rescue dogs into the retail environment.
Soon after that first introduction, Keefe’s daughter Kelly, who serves as director of marketing and advertising, introduced the Rescue Dog of the Day, where one animal got a day to play at the dealership. A few months later, Keefe helped Anderson Humane to rescue more than 130 dogs from Oklahoma.
These days, adoption events are becoming a tradition at Brilliance Subaru. The next occasion, the October Mega Adoption Event, is the second of its kind this year and the fourth to date. In preparation for the event, which runs Oct. 14 and 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Keefe plans to once again pack up volunteers and rescue a fresh collection of animals who need a loving home.
“When a dog gets adopted, we celebrate because that connection is something we can’t get enough of,” says Keefe.
Brilliance Subaru is located at 1500 N. Randall Road, in Elgin.