Tuesday evening the city of Vicksburg held a public meeting to discuss the animal shelter and its potential need for a new building and location.

The standing-room-only crowd was full of animal lovers and Vicksburg residents who are passionate about God’s creatures and ensuring they are taken care of.

There were many who attended in silent support of the animal shelter. There were many who asked good questions, there were some who pointed fingers and cast blame, and there was a small group who offered some potential solutions.

One of the latter stood out as someone who went above and beyond, both in creativity and ingenuity, in finding a potential solution.

Marilyn Terry, a longtime Vicksburg resident, stood in front of the room and shared her opinion that the city needs a new animal shelter in a new location.

She didn’t stop there, however. Terry went on to showcase posters displaying the work of a Pennsylvania-based Amish company that makes prefabricated animal shelters and dog runs. Terry shared The Dog Kennel Collection could provide the city with a prefabricated 24-foot by 60-foot insulated kennel with 24 runs and other amenities like heating and air conditioning and ventilation systems at a cost of $113,608.

She said adding an additional 24-foot by 40-foot isolation kennel would add $56,000 to the overall cost.

That is much less than the $1 million-plus interim Community Development Director Jeff Richardson estimated would be needed to build a new shelter.

Terry’s delivery of the idea was impressive, from her materials to her attitude and disposition that the potential solution was simply “an idea.” Terry’s aim was not to ensure her specific idea was selected, but rather to provide a potential solution to a problem she would like to see fixed.

Our community needs more people who, like Marilyn, are willing to invest the time and resources to offer viable solutions to problems.