Celebrities Andie MacDowell and Rainey Qualley lead Helen Woodward’s animal welfare campaign

Actor Andie MacDowell and her daughter actor-singer Rainey Qualley are partnering with Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe. Qualley visited the center in early August to begin promotional prep for the center’s annual worldwide pet adoption campaign, called “Remember Me Thursday.”

The event, held on the fourth Thursday of September, draws support from hundreds of thousands of animal lovers in 190 countries and more than 1,000 animal welfare groups across the world. Participants organize candle-lighting ceremonies in person and online, and share the the message of the importance of pet adoption on social media.

MacDowell, known for her role in “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” among other films, and Qualley, who writes and releases music under the name Rainsford, are spearheading this year’s effort to get the word out around the world, and support animal welfare.

Qualley recorded a public service announcement at the center urging folks to participate in the “Remember Me Thursday” campaign by encouraging pet adoption on social media sites. Qualley and MacDowell plan to share social media posts to urge their followers to support animal adoption on “Remember Me Thursday,” which is set for Sept. 28.

The campaign, which started 11 years ago, brings together animal-lovers across the world to support animal welfare groups and “become an online voice advocating for orphan pets.”

Both mother and daughter are animal lovers. MacDowell has numerous pets, including horses and a rescue dog, a terrier blend named Ava.

Qualley has three cats named Jesus, Myrtle and Wizard, along with Arlo, a Schnauzer-blend pooch she adopted from Helen Woodward Animal Center, and five backyard chickens. Qaulley serves as a volunteer in the Los Angeles area helping foster kittens get adopted.

Team members from Helen Woodward Animal Center met MacDowell and Qualley at the Hollywood Beauty Awards in March, which raises money for the nonprofit center. A number of orphan puppies from Helen Woodward came to the event, and Qualley fell in love with one of the furry pups and adopted him. Both Qualley and MacDowell talked about their commitment to animal welfare and rescue.

“We are incredibly grateful when celebrities share our heart for animals and are willing to use their star-power to spread the life-saving mission in such a public way,” said Jessica Gercke, spokesperson for Helen Woodward Animal Center.

Thanks to celebrity support, the “Remember Me Thursday” message has spread and become a trending topic each year on Facebook and Twitter (now called X), with more than 2 billion social media impressions since it began in 2012, according the the center .

For more details, visit remembermethursday.org.