A Mile-High Kitty Blanket Pile

During our FUNdraiser, Mary offered up a challenge, and for every $25 we donated, she agreed to make a soft and cozy blanket for a shelter cat.

Well, Mary's been busy.  

She stitched fifty, yes FIFTY, beds for the kitties.

Before I left on my trip, I met Mary at the shelter when she delivered the beds.  Look at the stack!   And look at the cute little Tabby roosting on top.





Mary sent over a couple of pictures to share with you.  Here's a portion of the fleece it took to create all the beds.




And here's her Sophie giving the blankets a test and making sure they were soft and cuddly enough for our special shelter cats.




Thank you so much, Mary, for being so generous and creating all these lovely beds for the kittens and cats.  I know the shelter appreciates them, and the cats and kittens do too!  And thanks to everyone who made a donation during her challenge, and helping make this all happen.

And the Winner is...

OK, friends, it's time to announce our prize winners!


Each of these four lucky folks won two sets of iPop IBKC magnets:
MollySusie
Chris Pokorny
Cheri Batsel
Ann-Sofi Emilson

Signed copy of the IBKC Book:
Karen Thompson of Bothell, Wa

Super-Duper Prize Package including magnets, sparkle balls, posters, and naming rights for a future IBKC kitten:

Molly Augustine!


Congratulations, winners!   Please Email me with your snail mail address and we'll get your prizes in the mail!

Thanks to all for throwing your hat into the ring!


I've got one last piece of Dog-A-Thon business before we wrap it all up -
here's a little video that Cynthia made for the Humane Society using photographs shot by staff and volunteers.  Enjoy!

The Numbers!

Total Amount Raised in 2014: 

$131,890

Firstgiving donations: $119,941
Paypal donations $4085
Auctions $3971

Team members:
Shana $1450
Sarah $1883
Marguerite $500

And from this total amount, these amounts will be designated for the following programs/funds:
For the senior cats $23,315.50
For the foster program/ foster room /head-start program  $13,570
For the spay and neuter program  $7,435
For the kitty meals-on-wheels and emergency pet food bank  $6,510
For special-needs cats and kittens  $10,833.50

2009 = $23,000
2010 = $48,000
2011 = $66,000
2012 = $87,000
2013 = $117,190
2014 = $131,890

OUR FUNDRAISING TOTAL =  $473,080
Nice work, IBKC Community!  Nice work!

Walking the Walk

Just like we do each year, we had a great time at Dog-A-Thon.  The event raised over $250,000 and it felt pretty great knowing that our kitty community was responsible for over half of that!

The shelter staff, volunteers, and board members offered many congratulations and thanks and were all quite impressed with this community of ours.    Rightfully so!  You are impressive!

Here are some highlights from the day.  I regret not getting better pictures of the event.  It's kind of an intense day, and it's hard to remember to shoot when so much is going on.

All of the human members of Team IBKC wore matching tee shirts. 

And Blixa wore a coordinating IBKC bandana.



We carried signs on the walk, and the folks passing us on the trail often yelled "we love cats!" in support.



Wylla wasn't the only kitty at Dog-A-Thon.  Ninja Bob was there too, though he calls it "Bob-A-Thon".   It's Bob's world, the rest of us just live here.




Cora entered Bob in the costume content.  He was a martini.

"Drinks are on me!" says Bob.




Here's Craig touring the grounds with Wylla on his shoulder.



And here's some of the team walking the walk.




We were joined by our friend Lynn, mom of Zoubie (Zelda) Lamm.  She dressed to coordinate with Wylla and carried her for part of the walk.




Lynn loves Wylla dearly, and an opportunity to carry her on the trail triggered tears of joy.   Her husband Alex was there to document this happy moment.



At the half-way point, we stopped for a little break.



Wylla needed a little treat to maintain her stamina.   Be carried for over a mile is exhausting!



And after we completed our victory lap, more treats for Wylla.



We sure had fun and felt you all walking with us in spirit!  Next year, you really must join us!!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

Each year I always struggle when writing this post because I always know that no matter how I say it,  I will never be able to adequately thank everyone who contributed to our huge fundraising success.  That $131, 730 came from the pockets and hearts of over a thousand people from 47 US states, and 15 countries.  This is truly remarkable.

It means the world to me that you folks,  very few of which I've met in reality,  chose to support my efforts and a shelter that's most likely far from your home.   I'm guessing this type of giving is not the norm, so please realize that I consider you all to be quite exceptional humans!

We appreciate every single cent of each donation. This money that we have raised together will go so far to improve the lives of kittens, adult and senior cats.  It will fund many great programs and causes and provide our shelter with the resources to do so much today and in the future, too!  Thank you for caring and giving so much. Thank you for believing in the mission of our shelter and choosing to support it.

And thank you to everyone for tolerating this long month of asking.  I know it's got to get a bit exhausting at times seeing all of those pleas in your Facebook and Twitter feeds.  I tried to mix in content that wasn't related to our fundraising, but still, there were times when I know I saturated your feed with maybe too many requests for donations - especially when we were getting close to meeting a match. Thank you for understanding and not "unfollowing" us last month

And an extra special thanks to the following folks:

Craig:
Thank you for tolerating a month of fundraising madness yet again.  I know it must be frustrating when important things get pushed to the side and life gets scheduled around what time the matching donation challenge of the day ends.  I appreciate your flexibility during these hairy four weeks.  Thank you for creating a beautiful painting of Charlene for the auction, too.

Marguerite:
Thank you for sharing shelter stories, photos, and statistics.  I know what you shared inspired a whole lot of giving, and I'm grateful for that.

Team Members Shana, Sarah, and Marguerite:
Thank you once again for working hard to raise squillions!  Everyone met their goals (and then some) and helped put us WAY over the top this year!

Opal, Ellis, and Lola:
You are special young people and your generosity touched many hearts and triggered many donations. Thank you for being you.  And thank you for using your creativity to raise so much money.

Cora:
Thank you for crafting those adorable cozies for our auction.  They brought in a pretty penny and are going to make the auction winner very happy!

Ninja Bob:
Thank you for putting on your tuxedo on the hottest day of the year and helping us answer the phones.  You're a trooper!

Kathleen Merryman:
Thank you for writing a very nice piece on the IBKC.  The article brought lots of new fans our way!

All our human, feline, and canine friends who walked the walk:
Craig, Shana, Jim, Sarah, Maya, Cora, Ninja Bob, Bob, Allie,  Lynn, Alex, Boo Boo, Melissa,  and Wylla

Jana and the IPop family:
Thank you for donating the magnet sets for us to give away!

Christy of Libertine Tacoma:
Thank you dear for donation portion of your sales to help the cats and kittens out!   We appreciate your generosity and quality goods!

To our adopters:
Thank you for providing the wonderful updates on your babies. We loved seeing how they've grown!

Mary H, Lynn, and Rosemary:
Thank you for offering up a wonderful matches and inspiring folks to meet them!  And thank you, Mary H, for stitching up all the beds for the shelter cats!

Our auction winners:
Thank you for your generous bids and providing us with entertainment as we watched the bidding frenzy!

Awesome Anonymous Donors:
Thank you for the many huge matches. I will do the rest of my thanking of you in private, because I respect your wish to remain anonymous, but I will say publicly, that you are awesome.

And of course, dear Cynthia:
Your heart is huge for our cause, and we appreciate you so much.   The way you give is beautiful and generous in so many ways. Thank you for the many matches you offered. Your giving inspired so many to give, and you are such a big part of that total we raised.  Thank you too for creating the video  and sharing with us why you choose to give to our shelter.  You moved many people with your words, including myself.

Now please multiply the gratitude I have expressed times a squillion, and know that even that falls short of how I truly feel.

This community is amazing, and unlike any other I've seen online. It's filled with positive, caring, beautiful, giving people.  I hope your heart feels as full as mine does right now.


Thank you, dear ones.   I love you.

Reason to Celebrate!

OH, boy. We're exhausted around here!  All that fundraising, all that walking, and all that  post-fundraising and post-walking partying!  

The Kibblesmiths we're set free and went wild on the set and had one sparkly, shiny good time knocking over and chewing on everything in their path.  This is how kittens celebrate.

And those Kibblesmiths have great reason to celebrate.  You know why?  Because thanks to all of you, Team IBKC raised an incredible $131,730 for homeless cats and kittens!

WhoooOOoo HooOOOooo!























We're sweeping up the confetti right now, and working on our giant thank you note to all of you who made that incredible total happen. We'll be posting that shortly.

There's so much more to come this week.  We'll break down that big total and show you how we got there and we'll let you know the totals for the specific funds and programs we raised money for. I'll share lots of pictures from the walk.  We'll announce prize winners too!!  And, we still have a couple more alumni updates to share that we couldn't squeeze in last week.

So do stay tuned!  It's going to be a great week!

THANK YOU, FRIENDS!



PS I know we used curling ribbon in this party scene and we know it's not a safe kitten toy. It was used while the kittens were very closely supervised.  Keep your curling ribbon out of paws-reach. You don't want kitty ingesting it. 

Sweet Evie Update

It's been a week since Sweet Evie's surgery, and she's doing great. The incision is healing nicely, and nothing in her behavior indicates that she's in any sort of discomfort. Her eye is still a little misshapen. It could still be a little swollen from her surgery, so that could change as she continues to heal. I haven't seen her blink, but she does close her eye when she's asleep.

The fur they shaved for surgery is starting to grow back a little, but because it's so short on that side, she looks very asymmetrical.    

She's as bouncy as her sisters are, and if she didn't have her incision, you would never be able to guess she went through what she did.  Kittens are so resilient!

She'll be going in next Saturday to have a check-up and get her stitches remove.  








_________


We're getting ready to head over to Dog-A-Thon this morning.  I'm finishing up the tee-shirts I'm making, digging out the last year's signs from the basement,  and getting Wylla's bag packed.   We're excited for the event,  and look forward to representing the cats on this dog-filled day!  

If you live near by and can join us, please do!  We're gathering at the Humane Society van (the one with Charlene's giant image on the side) at 10:00.   More info on the event HERE.

I know those who can't walk with us will  be joining us in spirit as we walk our victory lap.  We will feel your presence, I am sure!


There's still more come today! I've got a couple more alumni updates left to post.  Starting Monday, I'll share our awesome total, announce the prize winners, and share photos from the walk.  

Thanks again for everything!    We love you!!!

WE ROCK! LET'S WALK!

OH, joy!  Oh, joy!  The last match of the 2014 FUNdraiser was met!  We had just  FOUR MINUTESt to spare, BUT WE DID IT!!

This is where we currently stand with our online donations and match money!!

But there's still more to throw into the kitty: we've got Paypal donations, auctions, and the other IBKC team member totals to add in too!  I've got a guestimate, and it's HUGE!  REALLY HUGE!  I'll be sharing the grand total on Monday, after I get some numbers crunched.

WOW.  I am so amazed.  Thank you, dear ones.

It's a hair after Five on Dog-a-thon eve, and I now will officially stop pestering you for money!   Of course you can still donate, we'll take any penny you've got, but I promise not to ask once more!

Now it's time to celebrate and walk that victory lap!

SO, is anyone going to walk with us tomorrow?  We hope you can!!   If so, meet us by the HS van at 10:00 AM.  You can't miss it, it's the one with the giant picture of Charlene on the side!  We'll be the cat nerds waving signs.  Look for Wylla, too.  Not on the van, but in reality. She's walking with us too!    For more details on the event, visit HERE.

OH friends,  I'm thrilled.

Thank you for all of this, you huge-hearted kittty-loving, wonderful, wonderful humans.  You did good. You made a difference.  

THIS COMMUNITY IS AWESOME!

The Bonus Round And Prizes!

Oh, we're still floating on air around here after hitting our HUGE goal yesterday.  Thank you, thank you again for wanting us to meet the goal as much as we wanted to, and helping make it happen!  

I'm thrilled we met our goal early, and so excited that there's one full day of fundraising left!

And yes, our dear friend Cynthia is back with one last match, and it's a very nice $5000 match. Cynthia will be doubling every dollar we donate until we reach the $5000 cap!   The match ends at 5:00 PM (pacific time).

Think of this as the "bonus round".   It's our chance to bring in a few more squillions for the shelter, and beat our FUNdraising record.  Last year, our online donations brought in $107,000. When we added on money raised through auctions, Paypal donations, and funds brought in from other IBKC team members, we ended things at $117,000.   If we meet Cynthia's match, we should be able to beat last year's total!

But wait, it gets better!  You know how we have days throughout the fundraiser that are dedicated to specific causes and funds? Well if you make a donation today,  you'll be able to donate to what you care about most, and it will be DOUBLED.    While you're making your donation, you'll see a field to leave a comment.  In that field, designate where you would like to see the donation go.

Here are the options: 
Senior Cats
Foster Program/ New Foster Room/  Kitten Head-Start Program
Kitty Meals-on-Wheels / Emergency Pet Food Bank
Special Needs Cats and Kittens
Spay and Neuter Program

If you don't have a preference, that's fine! The shelter will still put it to good use!

PRIZES!  There are prizes today!  The fine folks at iPop, the company that produces the IBKC magnets,  donated several sets for us to give away! Four lucky winners will win two sets of IBKC magnets!

Another winner will receive a signed copy of the IBKC Book!  It will be personalized just for you!

And then there's the super-duper prize package:
Three sets of IBKC magnets, the 2012 and 2013 IBKC poster, a pack of sparkle balls, AND you get to name a kitten from a future IBKC litter!

So how do you enter? There are two ways.

You can enter by making a donation of any amount to our FUNdraiser.  Each donation today is an entry in our contest.   If you prefer to remain anonymous when you donate, please do so. When I am notified of your donation, I do see the name of the giver, so if you donate as "anonymous", and are a winner of one of the prizes, I will be able to notify you.  

You can also enter by simply leaving a comment on this blog post. No need to give your email address in the comment, we just need a name to identify you.    I will announce the winners in a blog post next week, and will ask the winners to email me with their contact information.

 We've got a full day ahead!  I've still got a bunch of alumni updates to share,  so there will be many posts to come!  


OK friends, you know how this works.  To make a tax-deductible donation to your favorite cause or fund and have it doubled by Cynthia's match, please pay a visit our our Firstgiving page!

THANK YOU!!!  Thank you, Cynthia!  Thank you, everyone!!


OH, and don't forget our auctions end this morning!   Craig's painting wraps up at 10:00, and Cora's cozies are done at 10:23 (pacific time).

WE DID IT!!!!

OH, I will NEVER EVER grow tired of the feeling I have when we meet our FUNdraising goal!!!

We did it!  We did it!!  WE DID IT!  With a whole day to spare, WE DID IT!

OH, IBKC community, I love you!     Thank you for pushing so hard and giving so much!!  Thank you for caring and taking action!  Thank you for having such huge hearts!  

OH, just look at what we've accomplished!  BE PROUD!!

I've got some phone calls to make!!!  I'll be back with more today! More alumni updates! More Kibblesmiths!  More celebrating!!!!!  And probably more exclamation points!!


I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Transcript and a Thanks!

We got several requests for a transcript of Cynthia's fabulous video from yesterday's post.  A couple of you took the time to transcribe it, thank you for that, and Cynthia just sent me her copy to share.    

The words are just as moving in print as they are in her voice.  Thank for this, Cynthia!

Hi, my name is Cynthia Suprenant. My family and friends ask me sometimes why I’ve chosen to support an organization that’s so far away from my home here in northern New York State. I’m talking about the Humane Society of Tacoma and Pierce County in Tacoma, Washington. I was first introduced to the Humane Society through Laurie Cinotto’s adorable blog, The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee. Laurie and her husband Craig foster kittens for the Humane Society, along with former fosters Charlene Butterbean and Wylla Stout.

Several years ago, Laurie started an on-line fundraising campaign for the shelter and I was just awestruck at how much of an impact one dedicated woman and her followers could have on the plight of cats and kittens. After just a couple of years, all of a sudden The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee’s fundraising efforts were allowing construction of an entire room dedicated to cats and kittens, the Charlene Butterbean Quarantine, as it’s now known. And all of a sudden, cats were on the map at the shelter’s signature event, Dog-a-Thon, which comes at the end of July each year. I like the shelter for its good works, of course, but I love the shelter for how it does those good works. They do it with a message of community, and a message of happiness. After all, that’s why we have cats and dogs in the first place, to make us happy, to enrich our lives. 
The Humane Society’s focus on preventing overpopulation, on helping people keep their pets when they fall on hard times, and their focus on creating durable relationships between people and their animals really resonates with me.

And although I am sure that the staff and the volunteers can’t help but look at the circumstances and the sad course of events that bring animals to them -- particular animals and companion animals in general -- I know that these people spend the vast majority looking AHEAD to what they need to do for an animal to prepare it for adoption, whether that’s grooming, veterinary care, behavioral intervention, training, fattening them up a bit, slimming them down a bit. To me, that focus on the future makes a huge difference because it’s the only thing we can change. We can’t change the past for that animal. I can’t even bear the thought of adoptable animals being euthanized due to lack of space or lack of money for reasonable veterinary care, and I am sure you can’t either. The Humane Society has made amazing strides towards the goal of zero euthanasia for every adoptable animal. I mean, nothing less than amazing! It makes me cry tears of joy to think of this happening at the largest animal shelter in all of Washington State! You know, I told you I was a lifelong resident of New York State but I could have just as easily been born in Tacoma or relocated there with my husband or perhaps gone to school in nearby Seattle. It’s a small world and the Internet has made it even smaller. There are many worth-while causes near me and near you that ask us for our money. We get to choose where we think our time and our money will be best spent. Whether it’s an effort in your own town, or whether you’ve adopted an organization whose work you like in a different area, you really can’t make a wrong decision to give of yourself, whether it’s time or money or both of those things. Find something that matches you, your values, and your priorities. That kind of happy match is what’s caused me to support the staff and volunteers at the Humane Society in Tacoma and Pierce County and I thank the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee for making that match for me and to you for listening.

She also sent along a little thank you to you all.  Here goes:


Dear IBKC: Thank you so much for receiving my video message so warmly yesterday. It made me blush (after I was through cringing) to see myself on screen, but the things you said about me made me go completely beet-red. The experience also made my heart swell with pride to belong to such a giving group!

Whether you gave to your local shelter, to the IBKC FUNdraising campaign, or aren't in a position to give but sent your warm thoughts along, thank you! I know that Laurie and the Humane Society will put it to great use for the benefit of cats and kittens in need.
Love you guys!

CMS


Love you right back, Cynthia.  Thank you for your huge heart! 

Auctions are Up!

The auctions have gone live!

To bid on the adorable kitty cozies crocheted by our friend Cora, please click HERE. To bid on Craig's fabulous watercolor of Bean, please visit HERE.





Both auctions run for 24 hours, so don't delay if you would like to get in on the bidding!

Thank you so much to Craig and Cora for creating this fabulous items to auction.  Your talents and time are greatly appreciated!  

I'll be back soon with some alumni updates!  Do stay tuned!

Opal, Ellis, Auctions, Art

Each year during our FUNdraiser, we get a visit from Opal the human (not Opal the kitten) and little brother Ellis.   They come by to say hello to the kittens, and they bring along a donation to our fundraiser.  Sometimes it comes from their very own piggy banks, sometimes they collect donations from others.

This year, Opal sold custom cat collage portraits to her friends and family, and raised over $30 for the Humane Society cats and kittens.







She also made and sold valentines, cards and bookmarks at two craft sales with her pal Lola, and they raised over $100 together.

This year, Opal and Ellis came with a  donation of a  remarkable $146.03!

But they're not stopping there!  Opal and Ellis made a big batch of adorable paper kitties, and today, the next fifty people who make a donation of $10 or more will receive one kitty from Opal or Ellis!







How it works: pay a visit to our FUNdraising page and make your donation of $10 or more.  Once you're done, send us an EMAIL with your snail mail address,  in the subject line write "Opal and Ellis", and we'll send you an original piece of kitty art! They colored some of the kitties to resemble Bean, Wylla, and the Kibblesmiths.  Others come from their imagination.  Each kitty is unique, adorable, and some are even signed on the back!

Thank you for being so generous, Opal, Ellis, and Lola!  Your big hearts and giving ways are inspiring!


And thanks for coming over to say "hi" to the Kibblesmiths.  I hope you enjoyed your visit!












BUT WAIT!  There's more!!!

I've got a couple of items that we'll be auctioning off today.  Craig's created another fabulous watercolor painting of Bean that I'll be posting on Ebay.



And our dear friend Cora crocheted these adorable Bean and Wylla cup cozies, which I'll post at the same time.  I may just have to bid on these myself.

 

These two auctions will start this morning, and run 24 hours.  I will post when they go live, so you can hop on over there and bid.


Did you happen to notice how close we are getting to our $100,000?   Thanks to Cynthia's moving video and huge match, we were able to roll past $95,000!   It was a great day, and we raised over $10,000 for the new foster room and kitten head-start program!!!

We are getting SO close now!  In fact, I think we'll hit that huge goal today!!

Our awesome anonymous donor has offered up a $2500 match!  For every dollar we donate, she'll donate the same, until we reach the $2500 cap.   And  if we meet that, we will meet our goal!!!!

The match runs until 3:00 PM, which is a little earlier than we normally end our matches, but I wanted to be sure that we end it early so our friends on the east coast can see it happen, and celebrate with us!


OH, this is going to be an exciting day!

Kitty art!
Awesome match!
Auctions!
And more alumni updates!!!


Thank you so much.  I appreciate you and all this support!  This community is so incredible, and every day you blow my mind.  LOVE YOU!

Such a Generous Kitty!

Remember this cutie?

 

This adorable baby girl is Zelda Lamm. She's all grown up now, and her folks call her Zoubizou.  Or just Zoubi.

Here's the lovely girl today. That pretty calico next to her is India Rose.

 Zoubi's mom sent us these lovely photos. Thank you Lynn, they're lovely!  She also sent us an update too, and here's what she had to say:

Tiny Zelda Lamm, now Zoubisou Marie, is now over TWO years old. Like the little Lamm she was, she is still a tad bossy and wooly. Lucky for her, her calico sister India Rose is a very calm girl who loves Zuzu’s antics. She has the longest legs of any cat we’ve ever seen. They are very elegant.

Zoubi’s favorite activity is to run with India- not for any reason except sheer exuberance, we guess. She still loves to fetch, and she will drag stick toys up the wooden stairs at 3 am or wrestle with a toy with bells on it, thus waking up everyone. She doesn’t like to be held unless it is way up over my head so she can see the tops of things. 

Zou has kept her adorable habit of sleeping on her “dad” and nursing on the blanket until she is asleep. In fact, she sleeps nowhere else at night. She likes to have her teeth flossed (mint floss only please- and don’t worry, we throw it away where she can’t get it). She also talks a lot.We adore her and she really runs our household- which is how it should be.

Thank you so much for sharing the photos and update, Lynn!  Zelda/Zoubi sure is a beautiful young lady!  She sounds like such a character too!  

Not only is Miss Z  beautiful and charming, she's generous, too! She's offering up an awesome matching donation challenge for us today!  She'll be matching every single donation dollar until we meet the $1500 cap.  We've got until 7:00 PM (pacific time) to get there.   And because the company Zoubi's dad works for matches charitable donations, what ever amount Zoubi's family matches, the company will match, so your donation will be tripled!!  Isn't that great???!!  I sure think it is!!


If you would like to get in on this awesome match, please visit our FUNdraising page, and make your tax-deductible donation.


I know we've been pushing hard to get to that goal, and we're getting there! Less than $20,000 to go, so we're 80% done, which is great, but we have just FOUR days left to get that last bit!
 
All you procrastinators in the crowd who have thinking about donating but just haven't made the time to do so, now is the time!   Please take advantage of this excellent match, and get your dollars tripled!

Thank you for listening!  I'll be back with lots more today, so we'll see you then!