“ABOUT THE BEANIE BABY RAFFLEBeanie Baby raffles benefiting Hearts United for Animals have been been ongoing for a few months now. The two current raffles, which end on Monday, Nov. 1, are for a set of three Spangles Bears and a Princess Buddy. The next raffles will be for the trio of International Bears, Brittania, Germania and Maple, and the Spangles Buddy. It will run through Nov. 15. Tickets are $1 each or 25 for $20. They are available at the Briar Patch and Whidbey Stationers in Freeland, at Wild Birds in Clinton and Honey Bear in Coupeville; or by calling Herrera at 730-5458. The Beanies in the raffles, along with the many others that are for sale, can be seen at the Briar Patch. Because HUA is a nonprofit charitable organization, any amount over $5, the normal selling price for a Beanie Baby, is tax-deductible. For more information on HUA call 402-274-3679 or visit HUA’sWeb site.The little dachshunds that are Margaret Herrera’s prize pets are almost as small as the Beanie Babies she has collected avidly since they were first introduced. It was through her interest in those tiny dogs that Herrera, a Freeland resident, became aware of an organization to which she has now dedicated passionate support, and for which she is raising funds through raffles and sales on South Whidbey of rare and hard-to-find Beanies.Hearts United for Animals is a no-kill shelter in the Midwest that provides homes and adoptions for animals from around the country. It is situated on 40 acres of fenced fields where animals are brought to recover from abuse and abandonment, are given needed medical care and kept until homes can be found — or for the rest of their lives as Sanctuary Sweethearts. The shelter also runs a puppy rescue program, Jet Set Dogs (which saves dogs from all over the country and was nominated for the Computerworld Smithsonian Institute Award Program) and Prisoners of Greed, a campaign to shut down “puppy mills” across the country.Herrera discovered HUA through the Internet while browsing for sites about dachshunds. She found that the organization had just effected a dachshund puppy rescue from a puppy mill..The more I learned about HUA, the more I wanted to help them, Herrera said. She started by setting up a booth selling Beanie Babies at the Western Days celebration in Valley Center, where the Herreras live in the wintertime. It was a hit. She raised $780 for the animal shelter.Back up on Whidbey this summer, she decided to start a new effort, and came up with the idea for Beanie Baby raffles.I have a source through my daughter Susan for Beanies that are brand new and very hard to find, she said. The first raffle, held in September, was very successful, and sales of other Beanies not in the raffle are steady, too. So far, Herrera has been able to donate $800 to HUA, and she expects the interest to continue.One person bought Wallace and Groovy for $60 each, she said. Others are pricier: Lefty (the Democratic donkey) and Righty (the Republican elephant) are for sale at $250. Germania is priced at $300, and Maple at $169.But there are also baskets of Beanies for $6.50 apiece and others ranging from $12.50 to $20.“I have all the new bears coming and all the new buddies,” Herrera said. And while these are for sale, some lucky ticket buyer will win a Princess Buddy or the Spangles Bears at the raffle drawing on Monday.“The Spangles bears are the pink face, the white face and the extremely rare blueface. It was just released and there will be only one production. Not everyone will get it,” Herrera said.The last raffle, running through mid-November, will feature the three International Bears — Brittania, Germania and Maple — and the Spangles Buddy. That raffle will end on Nov. 15, but the sales at the Briar Patch in Freeland will be ongoing, handled by owner Cindy Buchanan. And Herrera says she will start up new raffles next spring. “