Julie Cleveland, 17, looks a bit nervous as she goes to pick up Scotty, a large yellow, striped cat waiting for adoption at the Homeward Pet shelter in Woodinville.

Scotty basically pays her little attention, allowing himself to be petted and posed for a quick picture.

Inspired partly by a flier and partly by the dog her family adopted from the center four years ago, Julie just started volunteering at the shelter for unwanted or rescued pets in June. But the Bothell resident already is determined to have an impact.

At 6 p.m. Aug. 23, as her senior project for Bothell High, Julie will host a fund-raiser for Homeward Pets at the Kenmore Community Club, 7304 N.E. 175th St., Kenmore.

Dubbed “Strings on Fire,” the event features six-string violinist Geoffrey Castle. The opening act actually is Julie’s uncle, hammered dulcimer player, Michael Warmuth.

“I just like violin music,” Julie said in explaining her choice of the main act for the fund-raiser.

“The music is so pretty,” she added.

Further, Julie said she picked Castle for the simple reason she likes his playing. She’s seen him perform a few times and her mom also is a fan.

According to Julie, Castle plays classical music, but also does string adaptations of pop songs such as “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” as well as performing original material.

Julie admits she took a little bit of a risk selecting a largely classical musician. But she said ticket sales have gone pretty well so far, adding she doesn’t have a fund-raising goal in mind.

“I really don’t know what to expect,” Julie said.

She said the fund-raiser took a lot of planning in the beginning, starting with what she admitted was a bit of a nervous phone call to Castle.

“I just contacted him and he said he would be willing to help,” Julie said.

Serving as the opening act, Warmuth isn’t a professional musician, but has played around the area, according to his niece. She said he plays a yearly holiday show at a resort in Skagit County.

Besides finding the headlining act for the show, Julie said she naturally had to find a venue and promote the show. She still needs to plot out the food and beverages for the event, find some chairs and talk some friends and family into helping her set it all up.

At Homeward Pet, Julie volunteers in the cat care center, cleaning the neatly stacked cages and helping animals like Scotty learn socialization skills, which basically means playing with and petting the cats.

“I like working with the animals,” she said, adding some obviously arrive at the shelter neglected or abused.

“They really need some attention,” Julie added.

Community development director for Homeward Pet, Peggy Noll said the nonprofit, no-kill shelter operates completely on donations. She said that, fortunately for the shelter, fund-raising happenings seem to be on the increase.

Noll said Homeward Pet recently had a couple of wine-tasting events, which were firsts for them.

Mostly because of liability issues, the shelter requires volunteers be 18 years old before they can work with dogs and 16 to work with cats. Noll said fund-raising gives younger children the opportunity to become involved with the shelter, which regularly benefits from drives mounted by local Boy or Girl Scout troops and other similar organizations.

“The community is really there for us,” Noll said.

Tickets for the Strings on Fire fund-raiser are $15 if purchased in advance or $20 the day of the show. Seniors and children are $12. Tickets can be purchased at www.juliesfundraising.com or by calling (425) 485-9469.