(FUN)draising

I have to admit that fundraising was/is the part of this whole process that I dread(ed) the most. I spent a lot of time thinking, ok, how many emergency shifts would I have to pick up in order to fund this thing...I had no idea how to find the time and motivation to get anything rolling and then what happened if it didn't amount to much??? (I'm sure everyone in our situation has had the same thoughts and fears.) But, as someone wise once said, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step so we just picked something and started there. Somewhere simple. And that has morphed into five different fundraisers. A few are already well on their way, a couple just started, some are still in the works but the one thing they all have in common? All of them have shown/reminded me how much love and support is out there, if only you're willing to ask. We have been absolutely OVERWHELMED by the amount of time, effort and money people want to give to Charlie. People keep telling us how awesome this thing is that we are doing but I look at the person donating $20 for a bag of cookies or the woman buying $50 worth of raffle tickets for a gift basket she doesn't really have a need for and I think, Y'ALL are the amazing ones. So thank you to everyone. We are once again completely humbled (there's that word again) and words cannot express how utterly grateful we are. Here's to you, Charlie!

 Here is a list of the fundraisers we have going on or planned. If you want to get in on the action, leave a comment and let me know.

Cookies for Charlie
This fundraiser came out because my five year old kept trying to give me her tooth fairy money. She'd tell me, Mama, I don't want it, why don't you give it to Charlie? I told her that was very sweet but that was her money. But, if she wanted to do something, we'd find a way for her to contribute. We decided to make cookies and put them on the front desk at my office. We put up a flyer explaining what she and her sisters were doing and asked people to donate what they wanted. I will be honest, I didn't think this would amount to much. Do you know that, in two weeks, those sweet treats have paid for both our home study and FBI fingerprints??? We've made at least five batches of cookies and even had people ask what was coming up next week because they wanted to buy more.

Center Court Spirit Night
One of the women I used to work with at the clinic is now working full-time at Center Court Pizza and Brew in Cinco Ranch. My technicians asked her about having a night where a percentage of the proceeds would go towards our adoption fund. She talked to her manager and he graciously agreed to do it! So, if you are in the Katy area on Thursday, April 28th, stop by and have lunch or dinner. Put your itemized receipt in the bucket and 10% of what you paid goes towards getting Charlie home. Pizza, craft beer and adoption - what more could you ask for??? Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lacey, Jackie, Marquie and Center Court - Cinco Ranch!

Gift Basket Give Away

We just started this fundraiser today and I am SOOOOOO excited about it! We made two HUGE gift baskets of heartworm and flea preventative, toys, food and treats for you and your pet (big shout out to our office manager Dawn for her amazing basket arranging skills!). Each of these baskets is valued at over $250. Each $1 donation buys you 1 chance to win and every $5 donation gets you 6 chances to win. The baskets are on display at Main Street Animal Hospital and, on April 30th, we will draw two random winners. We had an amazing response today and this was just day one; I cannot wait to see how the rest of the month goes! 

We have two more fundraisers in the works and I will definitely be updating you as we get those up and running. Tomi, owner of Farm to Market Produce, has offered to do a casserole fundraiser (and she makes some DELICIOUS food) and Shirley, the wonderful owner and director at the girls' day care Tender Care, mentioned a BBQ sandwich fundraiser in our honor to me when I picked the girls up this afternoon.

Have I mentioned how fantastic all this is???   Turns out fundraising isn't so bad after all.  =)