On June 8th, Coffee Coaching, the joint HP & Microsoft program, in association with Intel, Shelter Pro, and Heartland Technology Solutions announced the Joplin Humane Society as the next Extreme IT Makeover recipient. Since that announcement, many hours have been devoted to this project from all parties involved in order for the Humane Society to be ready to move to their new IT network, and the excitement is bubbling over.

As a team of animal lovers, many with pets from shelters, the HTS Joplin team didn’t need long to determine which non-profit organization they wanted to nominate for the Extreme IT Makeover.

"The Humane Society did so many incredible things after the tornado, and they do so many wonderful things in the Joplin community, that we really felt they deserved this," said Larry Hedin, HTS VP Sales & Marketing, "and we were really excited when we found out that they won!"

After the May 22nd tornado, the Joplin Humane Society, with the help of ASPCA, provided emergency sheltering for more than 1,300 animals. More than 500 of those animals were reunited with their owners and the Humane Society held an adoption drive where they found homes for nearly 600 displaced animals in one weekend.

The Humane Society had no real IT network to speak of, mostly donated equipment, making it difficult to handle the increased workload they have seen since the May 22nd tornado. While they were making it work, the Extreme IT Makeover will allow them to greatly improve their operations, adoption, and record keeping processes, and give them the ability to do even more within the community.

Included in the Extreme IT Makeover is:

• Microsoft Small Business Server 2011 Premium on an HP ProLiant Gen8 Server using Intel vPro,
• HP TouchSmart All in One workstations & Elitebooks,
• a 42” Digital Display that will be used to showcase animals at the shelter,
• Shelter Pro records management software to help track animals in the shelter,
• and other technological improvements.

Teams from HP, Microsoft, Intel, and Shelter Pro are in Joplin putting the finishing touches on the install and makeover, which will be completed today, July 24th.

We will post pictures and more information on our Facebook page.

For more information on the Joplin Humane Society, please visit their website or Facebook page.