Guest Blogger—Tabitha Hanes, Community Relations Manager Richmond SPCA
The Richmond SPCA’s Annual Fur Ball has drawn in animal lovers for over a decade. Guests, human and canine alike, come dressed in black-tie apparel to help raise funds for sick and injured orphaned pets. The Fur Ball is the private humane society’s largest annual fundraiser. The event is sold out.
The 11th Annual Fur Ball will take place on Friday, Oct. 2, at The Jefferson Hotel in hopes of surpassing a goal of $400,000 for the organization’s Cinderella Fund. Tickets are $175 per person and per pet. The event is sponsored by Dominion.
The Cinderella Fund is the private organization’s special pool of resources dedicated to providing care to sick, injured and underage homeless animals at the Robins-Starr Humane Center. The Richmond SPCA helps over 2,000 orphaned pets each year with this fund. Last year’s 10th Anniversary Fur Ball, which drew about 425 two-legged and 43 four-legged attendees, raised more than $415,000.
Richmond SPCA CEO Robin Robertson Starr said, “Providing medical care for sick and injured orphaned pets is central to the Richmond SPCA’s guiding philosophy that every life is precious. In giving generously to the Cinderella Fund, Fur Ball guests ensure that thousands of animals will have a chance at a happy, healthy life in the coming year.”
For the 11th Annual Fur Ball, Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Reynolds III will serve as honorary chairs. The Richmond SPCA will recognize Ukrop’s Super Markets with the Ellen Glasgow Award for Humane Service. Ukrop’s has provided the organization’s pets with a consistent and healthy diet of Paws Premium dog and cat food for seven years, as well as providing all of the shelter’s cat litter and pet treats. The annual award recognizes the remarkable work of an individual or corporation who has worked tirelessly for the benefit of companion animals in the community.
The Fur Ball’s evening agenda will begin with a cocktail reception, sponsored by The HelpDesk Company. The silent auction, sponsored by MetAmerica Mortgage Bankers, will take place during the cocktail reception in The Jefferson Hotel’s rotunda. Some of the packages up for bidding include: a six-night stay in Costa Rica; dinner for 10 in your home prepared by Chef James Schroder; a weekend getaway in Washington D.C. for four featuring a Washington Redskins game and dinner at Equinox; a two night stay at the Wedmore in Williamsburg, including wine tasting and dinner for two; a round of golf at the exclusive Kinloch club, hosted by SPCA Board President Allen King; and more.
The cocktail reception and silent auction will be followed by the very popular parade of pets down the grand staircase, sponsored by BB&T. Featured pets will include the Richmond SPCA 2008-2009 Mascot Nemo, Cinderella Pets Simon and Fern, whose lives were saved this year with Cinderella Fund resources, and the pets of many guests in attendance. Dinner sponsored by Wachovia will be held in the ballroom. A lively auction, sponsored by the ASPCA, follows dinner and will include such packages as an eight-night trip to California wine country featuring exclusive winery tours and dinners, a week in an extraordinary private villa in St. Martin, Saturday Night Live tickets, the opportunity to have your pet serve as the 2009-2010 Richmond SPCA Mascot, and so much more.
A raffle, sponsored by Holiday Barn Pet Resorts, will enter participants for the chance to win trips, dinners, spa packages, and more. Raffle tickets are available for purchase online at www.richmondspca.org, and presence at the Fur Ball is not required to win.
The Jefferson Hotel is offering special room rates and packages for fur ball guests, and four-legged guests stay free with their human companions. For more information call 800-424-8014.
For more information about the event, please call 804-521-1321 or visit www.richmondspca.org/furball.
The Richmond SPCA is a no-kill humane society dedicated to the principle that every life is precious. The non-profit organization saves the lives of more than 3,000 homeless animals each year. As a national leader in humane care and education, the Richmond SPCA is aggressively tackling the problem of pet overpopulation through education, adoption, rehabilitation and sterilization.
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Guest Blogger — Susan Kelly, Richmond Animal League
