Dog-A-Thon Wrap-Up!

I just got done crunching some numbers and as it stands, TEAM IBKC has brought in a whopping $48,734.05 (this include money donated online to all team members, online auctions, and offline donations I collected from friends and family) There were a total of 880 donations. The average donation online was $42.59, which is up about $10 from last year!

During our fundraiser, we had three "devoted" days. One for The Senior Cat Medical Fund, one for the Foster Program, and one for Spay and Neuter programs. Here are the total amounts raised for each of these days.

Senior Cats Med Fund (Drewey's Fund)= $3095
Foster Program = $3185
Spay and Neuter Programs = $3344

I used a random number generator to determine our raffle winners. We're giving away prizes to TWO lucky winers. Both will receive naming rights to an Itty Bitty Kitty from our next litter and an assortment of IBKC cards.

And the winners are... drum roll please.......

Lorelle Mill

AND

Marcia Davidson

If you two could kindly shoot me an email at kittywrangler@gmail.com and let me know what your mailing address is, I can mail off your cards. As soon as the next litter arrives, you will be assigned your kitten to name.


Thanks again to everyone for making this fundraiser such a HUGE success. I'm going to keep the Firstgiving counter up for a little while longer just so I can marvel at that number a little while longer. Also, a couple of you emailed to say you wanted to make a donation still, but needed to wait until the first of the month to do so.

This fundraising put me a little behind on life, so posting may be light while I play catch-up.

Thanks, friends.

xoxoxxo

Gone to the Dogs...

Well, Dog-A-Thon was a whole lot of fun. A huge variety of people and pooches showed up for the event.

I heard lots of nice words from the HS folks. Everyone was SO excited about all the money we raised during our fundraiser. The event brought in $152,000 and as you know, a HUGE chunk of that came from us!!!

I met up with Team IBKC and some other friends from the kitty community and we all did the walk together. Sarah and Shana walked Princess and Tank, a couple of adoptable dogs from the HS. Sue walked HS Director Kathleen's dog. It was quite a scene. Just a few feet into the walk, leashes were tangled and Sue was carrying her dog. What can I say, we're cat people.

I brought my camera, but got distracted, and didn't get a ton of photos. Here are a few to help illustrate the spirit of the day.







This is Sarah's dog for a day, Princess.



And here's Shana and Tank.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow... I'll be announcing our raffle winners, HOORAY! And,, I'll fill you in on a few fundraising stats.

Thank You, Part Two!

Here's the glorious moment in time when we cleared that $40 squillion hurdle! And as you can see, it's Miss Opal's five cents (a penny per kitten) that took us over the top! A huge thanks to G for having capturing this, and sending the picture to me!!

Ok,, I'm not done thanking you yet. I need to give a big shout-out to some special folks that helped make our fundraiser such an unbelievable success.

Here we go....

Sarah, Shana, and Marguerite (AKA Team IBKC)

Thank you for being the fabulous women that you are, thanks for being a part of the team and thanks for bringing nice little chunk of change for the kitties!

Sue
Thanks for being an awesome cheerleader. And thanks for crying happy tears all the time. You're the bestest.

G
Thank you G for your fundraising expertise, and for inspiring me to set a higher goal. I appreciate your knowledge and know-how, and encouraging words along the way.

Opal
Thank you dear, sweet little Opal for you generous, heart-felt, $1.05 donation. Thanks for showing us that every single penny counts. Thanks for inspiring so many to give. Thanks for loving kitties so much.

Jenna
Thank you for turning your sweet sixteen birthday party into an IBKC fundraiser. You're a special girl.

Our Auction Winners

Thanks to those who oh-so-generously bid on our kitty names, tea with the bean, and art. You guys rocked it! And you kitty namers, Nanette, Eleanor, Cynthia, and Christina,, nice work...you came up with some AWESOME choices. Alison, the Bean is looking forward to tea with you!

Lynda

Thank you Lynda,,, you know why. ; )

Craig

Thanks for being the sweet, supportive husband you always are. Thanks for not complaining when other parts of our life got put on the back-burner during the fundraiser. Thank you too for the beautiful paintings you made, and gave.

Cynthia, our superhero.

Where do I begin. Thank you for your generous spirit, enthusiasm, humor, and caring nature. You gave, and gave, and gave, and gave and your matching donations inspired others to do the same. I'm not so sure we wouldn't of hit our goal with out your support. Bless you and your kitty-lovin' ways.

And thanks, once again, to all of you. Thanks for still stopping by everyday, and not tuning out during the fundraiser. Thanks for caring and giving so much.

I know a lot of you who donated, do so much for cats and kittens already.. you foster, you blog about them, you volunteer at your local shelter... I appreciate the fact that you're so willing to give more than you already do.

Thanks for spreading the word far and wide, and letting others know about what we were up to. Lots of new folks found their way to the blog, and lots of those folks made a contribution to our fundraiser.

And finally, a huge thank you to everyone for the sweet, supportive words you've given throughout our campaign. Your kind comments kept me going through this long month. I appreciate you all so much. You are a loving community, and I am so happy to have you in my life.

I hope I haven't forgotten anyone. If I have,, it's only because my heading is still spinning from all of this excitement.

xoxo Love to you all,,,, Laurie

More to come:

We're Exhausted.

I have so much to share, but I am dog-tired and don't even know if I'll stay awake long enough to finish this sentence.  

Good night.  More soon.  Sweet dreams, sweet friends.  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Thank You Part 1

If you were here,  I would give you all a HUGE hug.  Every last, single one of you.   Sadly, that  isn't something easily done given the vast number of you fine people and also, your geographic locations.   


I will try my best to express my gratitude, but please do me a favor and take these words and multiply them by a squillion.   And then double,  no, triple it, and please feel them like I mean them. 

So from the very, very bottom of my heart , I thank you for giving, caring,  supporting, and cheering so much.    


I am so touched by your generous, loving spirits and huge hearts.   Thank YOU for getting behind this campaign with such passion and zeal and seeing it through to it's glorious end.    Thank you for wanting to reach the goal as much as we all did.  And thank you for making it happen. 


I never thought we could top the wonderfulness of last year's fundraiser, but we did, and then some.   I am quite proud of what we accomplished together.  There were a lot of people out there (not you, of course) who didn't think we would be able to reach such a huge goal, but we did!     We are powerful!!


The money is still trickling in, and as it stands, with all we raised online combined with what the other gals on the team brought in AND then add the money from the auction items,   and our total is at $48,529.05.   


 Can you believe it?   I wouldn't be surprised if by the time we're all through,  and all the matching donations from employers come in, we'll clear $50,000.    Simply remarkable.  No, it's completely mind-blowing. 


This money will go far and help many, and  I promise to keep you updated on how and who it's all used to help. 


I am by no means done thanking you (there are some VERY special individuals that need thanking) but right now, it's very late, and Dog-A-Thon is only a few hours away, so I need to sign off. 


So, what's to come....
- More thank-yous to some special individuals who played a special part in the incredible event.
- I'll crunch some numbers, and let you know how much we raised for the senior cats, the foster program, and the spay and neuter programs.
- Pictures of dogs!  What, Dogs? !!!  and pictures of Dog-A-Thon
- Winners!  Yes!  We've got some raffling to do.
- More Suprenants going  in for snippity-snippin', and we'll start saying goodbye!   Yep.  It's that time. 




Good night,  dear friends.  Sweet dreams,   I love you. 


xoxo Laurie


OH,  If you're in the area, please come on down to Dog-A-Thon, and look for us.     Click HERE to find out details on the day. 

Floating on Air!

Just a little bit ago, Marguerite, Director of Development at the Humane Society, popped over with a giant bouquet of celebratory balloons and get this... a GIANT tub of sparkle balls! Everyone at the HS is thrilled to no end about what we accomplished.

I'm still working on a big old love note to you,, but I've got to go pick up a couple of kittens from the vet right now. I'll be back later to tell you again how fabulous you are.

I feel like I'm floating on air. xoxoxoxooxxoo

FORTY SQUILLION!!! THAT'S RIGHT, FORTY SQUILLION !!!

Can you believe it?   SERIOUSLY?   CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??  WE DID IT !!! We REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, just raised FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS for cats and kittens!!!!   (and that's not even counting the auction money that's still rolling in and the funds raised by the other girls on the team!!!!)

 Good golly, you could knock me over with a whisker right now. I need to gather my wits, stop sobbing like a big old baby, dance a little dance with a few lady-cats,  make a few calls, and I'll be back to tell you  how amazing you are for making this happen.    Please pat yourselves on the back, because you are awesome!        

WE LOVE YOU!   THANK YOU FRIENDS!!!!  

Tell me Please, Are We There Yet?? !!

We're almost there, Biscuit. Almost.

It's midnight now. I just checked our total, and it looks like we've got to raise $3,705 to meet our $40 squillion goal. With so many squillions behind us now, it absolutely feels within our reach.

I'm so excited to see this day unfold!

I'm getting up early tomorrow, taking a couple of the girls in for surgery (YES it's time already) and then I'll be planting myself at my computer for the duration. Expect lots of posts, lots of pictures, frequent updates, and hopefully, by the time the day is done, LOTS of cheering!

Thank you EVERYONE for all your amazing support. Thank you for sticking around for the duration. Thank you for wanting to reach this goal as much as we do, and thank you for helping us make it happen.


Click HERE, to help us reach our goal, and help make wonderful things can happen for cats and kittens.

You Rock.

In all seriousness, you do.  You rock.



I  just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for taking us so far.     I can hardly believe that we've blown past thirty squillion.  I really do feel that 40 squillion is within our reach now, even with just two days of fundraising remaining.   My hopes are high, and my fingers are crossed.

Earlier today, I was looking at a list last years contributions and contributors.    There are so names I've seen repeated on this year's list.    It's so nice to know you're all still here.    There are lots of new ones too - our community has really grown.

 I do a fair share of bouncing around blog-land, and I have to say this group of ours is a unique one.  It's  a warm and lovely, positive and supportive community.   You make this a happy place.  I love all the care and concern you have for our kittens, and each other too.   I appreciate your willingness to give so much.

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to see all the good that will be done with our contributions this year.    I saw what happened last year when Butterbean Quarantine opened, and the new cages purchased with the funds we raised were placed in the lobby.  More cats got adopted this year, and more lives were saved.

Because we rallied so hard from places literally around the world, many people took notice.  And even after all the funds we raised were used, the impression of our passion remained, and today, it continues to inspire people to make things better for the cats.

When we join together, we are mighty powerful!  

Thank you for caring and giving so much.
Thank you for being a part of this community.

Thank you, thank you,  thank you.

The Tail End

Well, Dog-A-Thon is getting REALLY close now.   We've just five day until the walk, and the end of our fundraiser.

To those out there who have been thinking about making a donation, now is the time, because we're running out of time!    

For many, these little kitties we foster are a part of your daily life.    I know you care about and love these kitties, just like we do.     A donation of any amount  helps our kitties, and all the other cats and kittens at the shelter too.  

When we pool our donations  we can feed, vaccinate, microchip, shelter,  and provide medical care for SO MANY cats and kittens and help them find their way to their forever families.

It feels pretty good to be part of the process.

Please click HERE to make a donation, and help us help cats and kittens.


For those of you who would like to help, but aren't in a position to make a donation, you can help just by spreading the word.   Please email, blog,  link, Tweet and Facebook about our fundraiser if you can.  Here's an image to download if you would like to share it with your friends and followers.

Thanks so much.   We all appreciate your generosity, love and support of this amazing community.

OK...
I've got lots to share with you today,,, including some grown up pics of some of our little kittens, so please check back often.    

xo

A Little More Auction Action!

Craig, my dear, sweet, talented, husband was kind enough to paint and donate a couple of amazing little watercolor paintings of Ms Bean to be auctioned off for our fundraiser.

They are as sweet as can be, and so fabulous. It sort of kills me that we can't keep them.

If you would like to find out more about these paintings and place a bid on either (or both!!) pieces click HERE and HERE. The auctions ends in three days.

We're also auctioning off an AUTOGRAPHED copy of this awesome book, To the Rescue - Found Dogs with a Mission by Elsie Lufkin. To find out more about this book and place a bid, please click HERE.

Thanks! Happy bidding!!!

ANOTHER Matching Challenge!!

That's right, we've got another matching challenge from our dear friend, Cynthia!  

She will be matching all of our donations, until they reach $1000. So for every dollar we donate, she'll be donating a dollar too!!

Here's a chance to double your dollars and help turn ONE squillion into TWO squillion!! The challenge runs until Six PM Pacific Time, so that gives us five  hours to make it happen. I know we can do it. With our first challenge, we did it in just about an hour.


Thank you, Cynthia! Thanks so much EVERYONE for caring and giving so much. Our money pooled together will do some incredible things for cats and kittens!


OK, let's put those kittens to work and double that squillion!!!
To make a donation, click HERE.

LIVE from the IBKC Fundraising Headquarters: WTD ??? !!! (What the Duck)

The kittens we're exhausted after a long day on the phones, so we called for a replacement to cover the evening shift.

Thank you sir. I've got you down for $100, now how would you like to pay for that?

Of course. Just put it on my "bill". I haven't heard THAT one before.

Sir, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that joke, well, we wouldn't need to have this fundraiser. Visa or Mastercard?

Good grief.

Did I hear you guys are ordering sandwiches?? Can somebody save me their crusts? Thanks.

Sounds like he's going on break soon,, if you would like to make a donation online,, please click here.

You Give, I Give

Dog-A-Thon is getting REALLY close now. It's just a week and a day away, and we still have fifteen squillion to go. I'm confident we'll get there, but I'm hoping it doesn't turn into a total nail-biter like it did last year.

To inspire you all to give sooner, rather than later, I'm going to sweeten the pot.

Today, and today only, for every thousand dollars in donations that comes in, I'm going to relinquish naming rights to another kitten from our next litter, and raffle it off to one of you. (there's already one up for grabs to one lucky donor).

So, suppose we raise $3000 today, then, I will relinquish naming rights to 3 more kittens from the next litter, and three more lucky donors will get to name kittens. And if by chance we raise $15,000 today, well, we'll move onto the next litter, and the next litter, and the next if need be. You get the picture... you give and I give.

Everyone who donates during the course of this fundraiser is entered into these raffles, not just those who donate today.

You've got until midnight tonight (Pacific Time) to join in on the fun! So, throw your name in the hat, by making a donation HERE today!

The winners will all be announced after fundraiser's end.

We're at $25,030.10 right now. Let's see if we can really rock it today!

Thanks, friends!

Just in Case You Didn't Know.....

Good afternoon,, It's me, The Bean.

Lots of new faces have visiting the blog lately, and I wanted to be sure that everyone knew what our fundraiser was all about.

On Saturday, July 24th, my mom and dad, along with a few of our kitty-loving friends, will be participating in "Dog-A-Thon" , The Humane Society of Tacoma/Pierce County's annual walk for homeless pets. The walk is a fundraiser for the shelter we foster kittens for, and even though it's called "Dog-A-Thon", we'll be raising money specifically for the cats and kittens.

For last year's fundraiser, we set our goal initially at $3000, and because of the generosity of our friends, family, and the followers of the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee blog, we raised over $23,000. A large portion of the money we raised went towards the build-out of a cat quarantine room at the shelter.

Cats surrendered to the shelter by their owners are temporarily housed In Butterbean Quarantine. After a brief health isolation, these cats are spayed or neutered and taken to an off-site venue such as PetSmart or Petco, or to the new "cat condos" in the shelter lobby. By keeping the cats separate from the stray cats housed in the larger cattery, it keeps them healthier, calmer, and ultimately, more "adoptable".

An amazing number of lives have been improved or saved since the opening of Butterbean Quarantine, and this never would of happened without the generosity and support of all who contributed to our campaign last year.

This year, we've set the goal a little higher, and we're hoping to raise $40,000. So far, things are going well and after 3 weeks of fundraising, we've raised over $24,000. We still have a ways to go, but less than two weeks to do it, so we're hoping for your support.

A pledge to our fundraiser will help provide care, food, shelter, bathing supplies, vaccines, and many other essentials for shelter cats and kittens. It will support the foster program, cat adoption program, trap/neuter/release program, and Drewey's senior cat fund. Bottom line, it will help save lives and help cats and kittens get adopted.

Last year showed that when we join together for a cause, we can do huge things. I'm excited to see all the good that comes from this year's fundraiser.

To make a donation to our campaign, please click HERE.

Every itty bit helps! (and it's tax deductable!)

Thanks so much! We appreciate your support!

xoxo Lots of love,

Charlene Butterbean

Kittens of Mass Destruction

The other morning, I heard an unusual rustling coming from the kitten room. I went in to investigate, and caught some naughty kittens in the act.

I had left their little kitten climber too close to the table I had set up our little telethon set on. Betty and Marie-Noire had climbed up there, got on the table, and were trashing the joint. I'm not sure they were the only ones responsible for the mess because the others weren't too far away, involved in similar merriment.

The tiny chairs were turned over, tote board numbers with teeth marks were on the ground, the telephones were strewn about. One kitten was behind the curtain and batting at the other on the other side.

I got there just in the nick of time. It seemed it was only a matter of moments before the walls would be literally coming down.

Naturally, I grabbed my camera to document the mad scene.

After a few pictures, I plucked the kittens from the set. I had to laugh, Betty had a number two stuck to her foot. Not a number two as in poo, but an actual number two from the tote board.

No major harm done, no one got hurt, and I got a few pictures...

So, if you were planning on making a donation, please do so online. It might be a while before our phone system is up and running again. Thanks kittens... great timing.

To make a donation, please visit HERE. Thanks!

Little Girl, Big Heart

This is my friend Opal. She's four years old, and she loves kitties.




She loves them so much, she has kitties on her shoes.



And she loves them so much, she brought a dollar and five pennies from her piggy bank to donate to our fundraiser. Originally she was going to bring one dollar and three pennies, but when she learned there were five kitties, she wanted to bring a penny for each. She had another dollar in her piggy bank, but she's saving that to buy her dad a coffee on Father's Day, next year.



I was so touched by her thoughtfulness. It just reminded me that ever single dollar (and penny) that has been given to our little fundraiser comes from the same place - a warm, compassionate, kitty-loving heart.

I appreciate every cent, and all the hearts that gave them.

Thank you, friends. We love you.

Twenty Squillion AND BEYOND!!

Well,  with that matching donation challenge, and all the generous bids, we just BLEW past 20 Squillion, which means we're half the way to our goal!   Thank you Cynthia for offering up the challenge, and thank you everyone who took her up on the challenge.

There's  lots of  whoo-hoo-in' going on around here!   I'm not sure if the girls know what's up, but just about the time we crossed the over the 50% there mark, the girls all got up from their nap and started getting rowdy.    They must of felt the excitement.

I'm going to go do a little math, and when I'm done, I'll let you know how much we raised for the Foster Program.     I think we did PRETY dang well!

Thanks so much for caring so much, and giving so much to our little campaign.    

 With love and thanks from the IBKC and ALL the foster cats and kittens that will benefit from your generosity.

xoxoxooxox

Get it Together, Girls! It's Going to be a Busy Day

Assemble yourselves, please! We've got another amazing matching donation challenge, and you girls need to settle down and get ready to take some pledges!











That's right, just like last Friday,, our dear friend, Cynthia, will be matching all of our donations, until they reach $1000. So for every dollar we donate, she'll be donating a dollar too!!


Here's a chance to double your dollars and help turn ONE squillion into TWO squillion!! The challenge runs until Noon Pacific Time, so that gives us 4 and a half hours to make it happen. I know we can do it. With our first challenge, we did it in just about an hour!


And don't forget all the money we raise this morning, goes right to the Foster Program Fund. To find out more about how the money helps fostered kittens and big kitties too, please click HERE and read this post from yesterday.


Thank you, Cynthia! Thanks so much EVERYONE for caring and giving so much. Our money pooled together will do some incredible things for cats and kittens!


OK, let's put those kittens to work and double that squillion!!!
To make a donation, click HERE.


What an exciting day this will be! We'll be reaching 20 squillion shortly! We've got two naming rights auctions ending soon, and hopefully we'll find out the names of two more Suprenant Sisters too.


Be sure to stay tuned!!

Here's Who You're Helping

I wanted to share with you a picture, so you can see who you are helping with your donations to the Foster Program today. It was taken by Marguerite, Developmental Director at the Humane Society.

This is Pinky. She's fresh out of the tub, after getting a bath from the fabulous "Bath Brigade" down at the HS.



Pinky came into the shelter covered in fleas, and on death's doorstep due to flea anemia. She was named "Pinky" because her coat literally turned pink from all of the flea blood in her bath water.

Now that's she's been treated, and is clean and flea-free, she's doing great. She'll be spending some time with a foster family, and once she's made a full recovery, she'll be available for adoption.

Thanks to your generous donations today, kitties like Pinky are getting a chance at a very good life.

I thank you for that. This sweet little kitty deserves it.

xoxo

PINKY UPDATE! First of all,, Pinky's a boy!! Sorry, little man,, I was misinformed! And get this,, SUE (of Pitter Pats fame) is be going to be taking care of this little fellow until he's ready for surgery! You just hit the lottery, Mr. Pinky!

Sue reports he's doing awesome, purring, and zooming about! Yay!!