Walking the Walk

This was Wylla's fourth Dog-A-Thon, and just like the previous years, our unflappable girl did great. She saw lots of old friends, made a few new ones, and delighted many folks who were surprised to see a cat in that sea of dogs!

Nearly the whole shelter staff was at the event, and many volunteers, too. Many kind words were said about you all --- they're so thrilled about the money raised and appreciate your support so much. So if your ears were burning on Saturday morning, it was because we were all talking about you!









We met our group near the registration tent, and went right to the trail for our walk. Lynn, who just happens to be Zoubi's (formerly know as Zelda Lamm) mom, was the high-bidder on the cute cat hat auction.  Here she is sporting her prize and looking adorable!   Alex, her husband, joined us too, and so did his father!



We also had another kitty with us this year!



This is Puntino, and we were so a happy to have him and his mama, Dannie, join us on the walk!
Tino is a certified therapy cat through  Pet Partners and they go weekly to the American Lake Community Health Care center to visit our Veterans in hospice, memory care, and long term care.

You could see he had a lot of experience out in the world -- he was so calm and happy as we walked the trail. The many dogs we passed did not rattle him one bit.  It was nice spending time with Dannie and learning about the awesome Pet Partners program.





Craig carried Wylla most of the way. If we would have let her walk the whole route, we would probably still be there now!    She did hop down every now and again to explore a little, but most of the time she was on Craig's shoulder.

One of the signs we carried said "We're walking for the cats". One person on the trail laughed at us and said "You ARE walking for the cats!" and pointed out the fact that none of the cats were actually walking.   I got a good chuckle out of that -- he was right.



We encountered a big tree stump just off the path and Wylla took a moment to cool her belly and take a rest on it. From this perch, she could see the ducks on the lake.  She was pretty happy up there, and would have gladly stayed there much longer if we would have allowed.





Here are some of the humans patiently waiting for her royal highness to return to the trail.




Lots of folks stopped us on the way to say hello to Wylla and Tino and take a few photos of our kitty crew.




We were nearly done with the walk when Wylla and Tino both finally realized they weren't the only cat on the walk.]. There may have been a tiny bit of hissing coming from a certain girl kitty.  Tino had much better manners.



After we were done walking the walk,  we said our goodbyes and parted ways with the group.  Craig went to find a quiet spot to hang out with Wylla, while I walked around and I mingled with many dogs, visited the vendor booths, and said hello to shelter friends.














It was a great morning,  a fun time, and thanks to all of you, we proudly walked our "victory lap".

Thank you once again, big-hearted, generous friends.  It was a very special day, thanks to you!

 



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Bid on the Itty-Bitty Magazines!

The auction for the itty-bitty magazines used on the telethon set just went up for auction!



The auction runs for 24 hours and ends at 1:20 PM Pacific Time tomorrow. If you care to bid on these tiny things, please visit the auction HERE. Thanks!

More Thanks and Our Grand Total

 Good morning, friends!

I still kind of can't believe we did it.  When I charted out the 12 days of the FUNdraiser, decided on times for the matches, programs, projects, and auctions,  and looked at it all on paper, it did feel like an impossible task. We had to bring in an average of $8,333 a day to hit that goal --- which is a tremendous amount.   

BUT you wanted to see this through as badly as I did, and you stayed close, gave what and how you could, and made sure we hit that big goal, then pushed beyond.  I'll never be able to adequately thank you for all the love and support you show.  Just know that your generosity and compassion for cats and kittens in inspiring -- you move me quite deeply and trigger more happy tears than I can count. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, you are a very special group of humans.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you for being who you are. 

As it stands right now with auctions, print sales, and other donations I've collected,  we've raised a remarkable  $117, 048 for homeless cats and kittens!  There's still a little more trickling in, so I expect that will a rise a little bit before we totally wrap things up. That mighty total is going to help support senior cats, special needs cats, adult cats, neonates, foster kittens, and the feral and free-roaming population, too! It's going to help ALL cats, and it's going to fund some important programs and projects, as well!  

I'm so happy for this and I can't wait to see the good things that will happen because of your generous gifts!

I haven't had the chance to sort out all of the beans yet, but once I do, I'll let you know how much we raised for each program.    

In all of our years of fundraising, guess how much we've raised?  

Get ready, it's pretty awesome.  

$749,224!!   

We still have a little more trickling in, so my fingers are crossed that once it's all in, we will hit $750,000. Wouldn't that just be incredible?   Not that what we've done isn't amazing already -- but rolling past that milestone would really be something else   

I have lots of people to thank, and my brain is a little fuzzy because I'm still catching up on lost sleep, so I hope I con't forget anyone!  

HERE WE GO: 

  

First, thank you everyone who gave, shared our story, and stuck around through all of this. SO yes, thank you to everyone in this whole, giant, cat-loving community of ours.  

Thank you to the HS staff and volunteers who gave generously -- it seems there was a record number of you this year. You all give so much time and energy to the HS every day. Going beyond and above that by giving in this way, illustrates the depths of your devotion to this organization. and the animals. 

Thank you, dear Craig.  Thank you for listening to me talk about the fundraiser  all the dang time, thank you for being extra-patient when I got tired and cranky, and thank you for not complaining when the house kind of fell to pieces or on those nights when we had cheese and crackers for supper because I didn't make it to the store that day. Thank you, too, for the beautiful art you created for the fundraiser.  

Thank you to Charlene and Wylla for being so understanding when breakfast wasn't served on time and playtime was cut short. Thanks for the hugs and purrs,  even when I wasn't being the best mama. 

Thank you Shelby and Helen for all the support from within the walls of the Humane Society. 

Thank you to all of our auction winners who bid so generously to win the rights to name the kittens, and other prizes, too. And thank you for doing such a great job picking out names for our the babies! 

Thank you to Marguerite, for the adorable knit cat hat you created (and for the other Marguerite who modeled it for us). 

Thank you to Katherine and Susan for the beautiful quilt you lovingly made for us. 

Thank you to Opal, Ellis, and Lola for raising so much money for the kitties. You three young, generous souls are remarkable! 

Thank you to Christy and Mackenzie who supported us by giving a portion of their sales from their businesses  to our fundraiser!  I love you both, dear friends, and I appreciate you so much! 

Thank you to all who walked the walk with us -- I'll tell you more about those folks when I share the story of the walk tomorrow!  

Thank you Awesome Anonymous Donor.  Awesome is an understatement. You are awesome times a squillion, and then some.  We never would have even gotten close to our goal without your generous support. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.  

AND Cynthia.  What would we do with out you, dear Cynthia. You've been with us since our first year of fundraising, and we would not be just a hair under $750 squillion if you didn't have so much love for our cats and kittens. Thank you all of your generous gifts, which have inspired so many others to give. You are special and we love you so much. We're so grateful you're a part of this community.

Thank you SO MUCH beautiful community. 

You are special, special people. 

(((((((( ONE BIG GIANT GROUP HUG )))))))))

Stay tuned --- I'll be starting a couple more auctions that I couldn't squeeze in last week  - we've got our teeny magazines from the set and one other item, too. 

Today's the Day We Walk the Walk!!

The day has come! Today we walk the walk!

I dusted off the signs and Wylla's tote is packed. Kittens have been fed, boxes scooped, I just need to get myself ready to go, then we will head over to Ft Steilacoom Park in Lakewood.

If anyone cares to join us on the walk, we are meeting by  the Dog-A-Thon team check-in tent at 9:30 AM.  We'll be easy to spot -- just look for the only cat in the sea of dogs!  And look for our signs, too!




It's an exciting day -- something I look forward to all year long.  Thank you for giving us a reason for walking proud today!

Love, love, love you all!

More Thanks.

It's been long couple of weeks here. Just as long for you, too. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you sticking around while I pushed hard and asked for so much. Our timeline was just so much shorter this year -- only 12 days long --  the only way to get to the goal was to go at that pace.

We didn't have breathing room between the big days, so I know it must have just felt like two solid weeks of  non-stop pressure. I appreciate you being here, and responding so generously.

I hope I didn't push too hard.  


It's just that I've seen so many positive changes for cats and kittens at our shelter because of the money that we raise -- huge changes.   When you give the shelter's forward-thinking and hard-working staff the resources to put new programs into motion and improve upon old ones,  big things happen fast.  

Every year, intake numbers are going down, and they're able to do more for the senior and the special need cats.  They're going into the community and addressing the needs of ferals and free-roaming cats, too. They've even at the point where they can reach out to other cities and states to help other rescues when they are beyond capacity.  We played a huge part in all this -- I hope you feel proud.  

Thank you, dear Itty Bitty Kitty Committee Community, for being so caring and supportive and for putting so many good projects and programs into motion because of you generosity!

Many more thanks yous to come over the next few days! There are some special individuals that I need to thank. I also need to gush on this fine group a little more.  

-------------


If you're in/near Tacoma tomorrow,  Dog-A-Thon runs from 9 AM to 2 PM at Ft Steilacoom Park in Lakewood, Wa.  We plan to gather near the Humane Society's  Dog-A-Thon check-in tent at 9:30 and will begin our walk from there. Look for Wylla and the dorks waving the kitty signs.  

We hope you can join us!



LOVE YOU ALL,
and good night.

Sleep well knowing you helped make a difference.
XOXOXO

Kitten Mission Accomplished!

OH MY GOODNESS!  We did it!!  Our last big match was met, I threw Cynthia's match money into the kitty, and we just rolled past the $100,000 mark!


WE DID IT!!!    WE RAISED ALL OF THAT IN ONLY 12 days!

It's funny, but this is my 8th FUNdraiser now, and I always know the end is coming and at some point we're going to roll past our goal, but I am never prepared for it.  It always hits me right in the gut and I cry the hardest, happiest tears you can ever imagine.  And then I call a bunch of my friends who are criers, and we cry more happy tears together.

Thanks for the good cries, dear ones.

Your generosity is inspiring. Your hearts are as big as they come. Your love for all the cats and kittens is vast.


I AM FAR FROM DONE THANKING YOU.  I just had to let you know that our kitten mission was accomplished!

Now, I've got to make some more calls, high-five some kittens, high-six some kittens, kiss my patient husband, hug Charlene and Wylla, and get some coffee. I HAVEN'T HAD ANY COFFEE YET TODAY!


NOW,  kick your feet up everyone and relax. You've been working hard. Maybe fall asleep on a deep, shag rug with a tiny magazine.



How does that sound, Tegan?  You earned a nap. WE ALL DID.


I'll be back soon.   Until then, just think about how special you are.  Meditate on the goodness of this group.  Feel all of this kindness.



Huge hugs all around!

LIVE from the IBKC FUNdraising Headquarters: Kitten Competition

We have a friendly wager going on here.




The kitten that takes the most donations over the phone during this telethon gets first dibs on every freshly scooped litter box for a whole week.


And all of the fuzzy mice in the entire world.

So far, it's a tie.

This next call will put me over the top. That's all it takes. just one call.

 Because we're all currently tied at "zero".






GEE, Tegan. I WONDER WHY???






We're getting close!!  $2113 is all that remains in our very last match of the FUNdraiser.   Click HERE to make your donation and get your dollars doubled by Cynthia's awesome matching donation challenge!!

And don't forget, if you would like to support a specific fund, like the Foster Program, Spay and Neuter Programs, Barn Cats and Back Yard Buddies, Senior Cats or Special Need Cats,  please let us know in the comment section when your make your donation!

WE'RE GETTING THERE! Thanks to all of you!!  xoxoo  ALMOST DONE!

Live From the IBKC FUNdraising Headquarters: All Hands on Deck

Russell: I guess it's supposed to be a little busy around here today. It's the last day of fundraising, there's a big matching donation challenge happening, and the phones will be ringing off the hook.

Nicholas: That's why we're all working this shift. "ALL HANDS ON DECK," mom said. 




Dinah: I suppose we should take our positions and get right work.


Tegan: Guys, I think I have a better idea... 

 




OH, dear! Maybe we should try making our donations online today!

We've already met Mary's match this morning, thanks for all the help with that!!!   But still we have a long way to go with Cynthia's --- there's $4000 left for us to meet!

To make a tax-deductible donation and help us hit our big $100,000 target, please visit HERE. 

And don'f forget, you can donate to whichever program you prefer! Pick your passion!! More on that HERE.


Thank you, Mary, Cynthia, and all of you generous folks out there!  You matchers and match-ees are the best!!

Pick Your Program!!!

This is it, friends! Our final day of FUNdraising! Having it condensed into less than two weeks  really made it all zip by so quickly.

We've been working SO hard and have met some huge matching donation challenges along the way. We're in a great place right now, so rolling past $100,000 today is totally possible.

I'm very proud of what we've done together, and so happy we're funding so many incredible programs and projects at our shelter.  Thank you for believing in the good work our Humane Society does and choosing to support it! We're providing them with the resources to change the lives of so many cats and kittens for the better, and I can't even begin to tell you how happy this makes my heart!

We've had days along that way where the donations received helped fund some special programs: The Senior Cats, The Special Needs Cats, The Foster Program, The Barn Cat/ Backyard Buddy Program and the Spay and Neuter Programs. If you missed out on the opportunity to give on those days , today you can earmark your donation for a fund of your choice.  Here's the opportunity to give to what you feel most passionate about and help fund the program of your choice.

When you make your donation on the Firsgiving page, you'll see a field to leave a comment. In that field, designate where you would like to see that donation go - you can pick from any of the  programs listed above.

If you don't want to pick a program and would prefer to let the HS decide how to use it, you can do that too.

To help us get to our $100,000 goal today, we've got TWO matching donation challenges. The first is from our friend, Mary,

It's the Cozy Bed Challenge.

Three years ago, we had a super fun match where instead of dollars,  donations were matched with handmade fleece beds for the shelter cats.  It was Natalie's idea, and with the help of her feline assistants Scarlett and Melly, she generously stitched over 50 beds for Humane Society cats and kittens.

Our friend Mary loved Natalie's idea and for the past two years she has offered a similar match. I can't recall how many she stitched each year, but the stack was tall.






Mary is back, has a huge pile of fleece, and is ready to get stitching. I know the shelter will be happy to hear this -- they love the beds because they're machine washable, durable, and they make the cubbies cozy and the cats happy!  Here's some of the fleece Mary picked out for this year's match.

For every $25 dollars that's donated this morning,  Mary will be matching it by making a fleece bed for a shelter cat!  She's game for stitching up to 30 beds, so I do hope we'll put her to work, and meet the cap on this match!



UPDATE:  MARY'S MATCH WAS MET!!!!  HOORAY! Thanks to all who helped us complete it! And thank you, MARY!

BUT, WE'RE STILL WORKING ON CYNTHIA'S!!


In addition to Mary's Cozy Bed challenge, we also have one last matching  donation challenge for the 2016 FUNdraising season,  and it's being offered up by our dear friend, Cynthia!

Starting immediately, for every dollar we donate, she will match it until we hit the $5000 cap, or until 6:00 PM Pacific Time, which ever comes first.

And when we meet the match and throw Cynthia's money in, THAT will roll us past the $100,000 mark!


So, let's jump right in, folks.  Donate now, your dollars are doubled, and a shelter cat gets a cozy bed!

To make a tax-deductible donation to a program of your choice, please visit our Firstgiving page.


THANK YOU, incredible people of the IBKC community!  Thank you for caring and giving so much!

Thank you Mary and Cynthia for offering up these awesome matches!!

SO MUCH TO COME TODAY!!!  I've got lots of posts planned to help keep us entertained while we work hard to HIT THAT BIG GOAL!  I can't wait for it to happen!!

OK, little Dinichis, time to focus! There is work to be done!

Match Met, But It's Not Over Yet!

Much to my surprise, and over three hours ahead of schedule, we met our big $3,500 matching donation challenge offered up by our friend, Cynthia.

Thanks to all who stepped forward to support these incredibly important Spay and Neuter programs! And thank you, Cynthia, for providing another awesome match for us to meet!

Even though the match has been met, I wanted to remind folks that all of our donations that come in before midnight (pac time) will be put towards the Spay and Neuter programs


So, don't worry, you may have missed out on the match, but you can still help out!

How about donating $35 to neuter a male cat?
Or if that's too much, how about $17.50? That will cover one testicle!
Or how about donating $40 to spay one female cat?
Or $75 to spay one female and neuter one male?
Or be inspired  by Opal, Ellis and Lola's generous donation and give $105.77?

Every bit really does help!
Thanks, friends!

More to come! Do stay close!

LIVE from the IBKC FUNdriaising Set: The Birds, the Bees, and the Tortie

Though I don't understand what "spay and neutering" is, they're telling me it's very important.  And because it's important, we're raising a bunch of money for it today.   

We're supposed to have a talk about it later today. Some how birds and bees are involved. I'm not exactly sure what that has to do with kittens, but I guess I'll find out soon enough. 



Forty-five minutes later:  

WAIT A MINUTE.  THEY'RE GOING TO SHAVE MY BELLY AND DO WHAT?? 






Maybe we should try making our donations online for now.  I'm not so sure we're going to be able to convince Dinah to pick up another phone today.

All we raise today supports the Spay and Neuter programs at the Humane Society. AND we've got a $3500 match on the table, thanks to our friend, Cynthia.  We're chipping away at it, but still have $1595 to go before it's completed.

If you would care to support these important programs, please visit our FUNdraising page!


Thank you for all the support!  xoxoxo!!!

Teeny-Tiny Set Tour!

This year's set had a late 1960s/ early 1970s vibe going with lots of avocado and other shades of green --some bright some earthier, along with some wood tones and gold accents.



The first piece I made was for the set was the tiny, lime green vinyl couch with gold buttons.  Once that as complete, I designed the rest of the set around it and went shopping for the rug, wall paper, and materials for the other  furniture pieces and accessories.

The flocked paper seemed fitting for the walls, and I knew the kittens would love the shaggy carpet, which is just a couple yards of "fun fur".

The coffee table and shelving were just small boxes covered with a thin wood veneer.



On the table, a couple of teeny kitten magazines.



Here's a close-up of the covers. After we get through the FUNdraiser, I'll be making these designs (along with last year's) into post cards.

It takes hours to come up with the ideas and design these tiny magazines, but gosh, it's fun, and I just giggle the whole time I'm doing it.





The tiny cat tower was on set last year, but modified to work with this year's design.




Lots of shiny gold and woodgrain on the desk and stage -- a little flashy, a little earthy.





And many potted ferns were sprinkled around the set.  All the pots were glued down to the stage and the ferns were glued into the pots. I knew the kittens would find those interesting, so I had to take some precautionary measures.



And the phones, of course -- there were three different sizes to accommodate growing kittens.



On the desk, tiny coffee mugs. That's Marc Maron on those mugs -- a favorite podcaster/comedian/ cat wrangler.



On the walls were a collection of photos featuring Bean, Wylla, and a few foster kittens in our front window. From left to right: Wylla and Bart Mittenfloss, Bean and Myron/Myra Clover,  Langston VonTussle, The Patmores,  and Bean with Genevieve Patmore.



When I started the set, I had no idea who our phone bank volunteers would be, so I had to pick a palette that would work with a lot of colors of kittens. Our little Dinichi Family coordinates nicely!



I hope you enjoyed the tour!   I sure enjoyed making the set and love sharing it with all of you.


_____


Lots more to come today:

We've got a big match on the table and we're raising money for the spay and neuter programs. Click HERE to donate to these very important programs! And click HERE to find out more about them.

Opal and Ellis visited yesterday, and I'll be sharing photos of our morning with them.

Auctions ending today:
Craig's Watercolor painting ends at 2:20 PM (Pacific Time)
Kate and Susan's Rainbow Kitty Quilt ends at 1:13 PM.
Marguerite's adorable cat hat  ends at 3:20 PM.

Also, don't forget, you can buy a print of Craig's portrait of Bean HERE.


And more!  I'll be here all day asking for your support and attempting to keep you entertained! We've got today, and tomorrow to reach our big goal, and on Saturday we walk the big walk!  We're almost done!!!


OH, and get this, we hit a big milestone last night.  Our all-time fundraising total rolled pst $700,000!  
I hope you all are proud of yourselves -- I know I am proud of us!  What a truly remarkable achievement for this community!     It really is incredible what we can do when we all work together!  I love you all so much -- thank you for the heaping helpings of support you've given!    HUGE HUGS all around!

: )


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More Barn Cats and Buddies!

We shared these two Barn Cat and Backyard Buddy stories last year, and they were such great examples of success, I wanted to share these with you again.

The photos below are from the yard of Brandy, a HS staff member,  who adopted some Backyard Buddies.  Here's the cats' entrance to the garage.

And here's the "safe place" inside the garage. 

She created "hobbit holes" too, so the cats have many hiding places in the yard. Soon, flowers will be planted to conceal them even more. 

Patty, who is in charge of the program, helped our friends Laura and Roger welcome three BackYard Buddies two years ago with great success.  Here is the cat sanctuary they created for their buddies Ranger, Silver and Tonto.

Here a couple of photos of the acclimated buddies enjoying their wonderful new life.

Laura speaks often of how much joy these three bring to their lives.





I'm so proud of the work the shelter is doing for this often-ignored population of cats. I hope you'll chose to support Barn Cats and Backyard Buddies by making a donation today.

As you probably know by now, because I've told you at least a squillion times today,  we've got a big match on the table right now and for every dollar we give, our Awesome Anonymous Donor will be giving a dollar too, until we reach her $5000 cap.

The match runs until 7:00 PM (Pacific Time), which means we've got only 3 hours left to meet it, and currently we've still got $3500 left to raise!

If you're in the position to give, please consider doing it soon! Time's ticking away!

Thank you so much!  We appreciate all of your support and patience through this!




MORE to come. Nope, we're not done today.