Jay's party for strays
Last year Ann-Marie Sullivan, her partner Ross McGregor and their dog Jay joined up for the Lort Smith Animal Shelter's annual Party for Strays fundraising program.
In just a couple of months they'd hit their target of $1000 and made it into the Top Ten Party for Strays fundraisers. Not bad for first-timers!
Ann-Marie came across Party for Strays on a blog and thought it would be a good way to give something back to an organisation that had been there to help their sick pets over the years. Before she knew it she'd signed up Jay for a party and pledged $1000.
Signing up on the web was easy,
says Ann-Marie. But then I started to wonder what I got myself into...I'd never done any fundraising before.
With the help of a local group of dogwalkers, Ann-Marie and Ross organised a fundraising BBQ (dogs and cats most welcome), coordinated a raffle and lucky dip and harnessed the support of local businesses to donate food and prizes.
There was also a help-line on the Party for Strays website for people to call or email to get advice about fundraising,
says Ann-Marie. This was an absolute lifeline for me and sometimes I'd ask questions almost daily.
All in all, a good time was had by dogs and humans alike - unfortunately, cats were a no-show at the BBQ.
I'm so pleased we reached our target,
says Ann-Marie. I'd definitely do something like that again, although I'd do things a bit differently next time now that I know a bit about fundraising. It never really occurred to me that it was volunteering, but I guess it is.