To say that 2020 started off rough and only got worse would be laughable. Like so many other business owners I sat helplessly waiting for the go-ahead to start earing a living again. And while things were uncomfortable for me, they were so much worse for so many around me. After riding out the initial lockdown like a dystopian post-apocalyptical movie survivor, I felt the ever-growing ache to do something more.
Like a sign from the universe, a technology glitch put distributing food at Colorado Pet Pantry back on my empty calendar.
As I helped unload food Eileen asked, “are you sure you have time to help today?” I laughed “Yeah, what else am I going to do-can’t photograph”. “You know”, she followed “we could really use some help, like part-time.”
I had been a volunteer for years, helping out at my local monthly pet food bank, picking up large donations when I could carve time out of my shoot schedule. But suddenly I found myself really part of the team. At the pet pantry warehouse most days sorting dog food, assembling banks, loading & unloading trucks.
But what’s any of that got to do with a calendar contest? Suddenly being on the inside and seeing how much Colorado Pet Pantry gives to the community, and how crushing it was to watch one fund-raising event after another be cancelled due to social distancing I knew I needed to do more. I stumbled across the calendar contest idea by sheer luck while listening to a pet photography podcast…yup, there’s a podcast for everything.
It was already late Summer, and I knew if we were going to drop a calendar by the new year there wasn’t a minute to waste. So I brought the idea to our fearless leader. It was really one of the Ready, Fire, Aim kinda situations. We launched the contest a week later with a vague hope of raising a few hundred dollars. We set the goal at $5000, but secretly I prayed we’d just be able to cover the minimum cost of printing the minimum order of calendars.
After all, times were hard. Would people really be excited to give their uncertain income over to a charity calendar?
OMG!!! To say I was blown away by the excitement and generosity of the Colorado Pet Pantry supporters…I mean I truly have no words. Before long we were scrambling to come up with new weekly prizes to thank our fervent contestants!
By the time all was said & done the calendar raised $17,529 to help Colorado Pet Pantry continue their vital work helping keep pets out of shelters and with the families who already love them!
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