The Hawaii Animal Rescue Foundation (HARF) in Waihee is uniting with animal lovers and animal welfare organizations around the globe to participate in a Remember Me Thursday candle-lighting ceremony.

The fifth annual event aims to join individuals and pet adoption organizations on the fourth Thursday in September to be an unstoppable, integrated voice advocating for orphan pets to live in forever homes – not die waiting for them.

The candles lit will shine a light on the millions of healthy pets who are still awaiting adoption, encourage communities to opt to adopt and reduce the millions of orphan pets euthanized each year and remember healthy orphan pets who lost their lives.

HARF invites the community to participate in the Remember Me Thursday candle-lighting ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 7 p.m.

You don’t have to go anywhere – simply share photos or videos of pets you have adopted from HARF on their Facebook page with #RememberTheRescue and #RememberMeThursday.

“There are approximately 7,000,000 pets in homes throughout the U.S., but only 30 percent of these pets come from rescue facilities. The rest come from pet stores, puppy mills and breeders,” said Dawn Hall of HARF.

“Millions of beautiful, healthy orphan pets die every year without the benefit of a loving home, simply because the public is not aware of how truly amazing these animals are,” she continued.

“The team here at HARF sees so many wonderful pets that are simply abandoned because their owners had to move or didn’t understand the time and care that a pet requires. These pets can be purebred, well-behaved, loving animals, but they don’t get a second chance because there is so little awareness of the types of animals available at local rescue facilities.”

For more information on HARF, visit www.hawaiianimalrescue.org. For details on Remember Me Thursday, contact Hall at (808) 876-0022/dawn@hawaiianimalrescue.org and visit www.remembermethursday.org.

If you are looking for a new best friend, opt to adopt and save orphan pets.

Animal lovers hope the event on Sept. 28 will have a big impact.

Mike Arms of the Helen Woodward Animal Center said, “We all come from different countries, cultures and backgrounds, but together we can raise our voices… share one lifesaving message, and literally save millions of pets on this one day.”