Results: Humane USA’s first ever Kids, Cats and Candidates Day was a tremendous success. 178 guests, including 15 candidates enjoyed a beautiful day of getting to know each other in the relaxed setting of the sanctuary. $1527.00 was raised for the cause and 81 families agreed to join Humane USA’s mailing list to stay informed about animal issues and how they can help. The kids (and adults) enjoyed their Valentine’s Day cards and lots of people posed with “Bill Clinton”. Tim Schoonouer won the 3 days and 2 nights donated by Holiday Inn.  We got good press coverage and that helped spread the word too. 

 The volunteers experimented with a new way of doing tours by taking their small groups to one candidate and handing them off to the next volunteer who would escort them to the next candidate. As always, the volunteers did a marvelous job of parking everyone, getting everyone set up and secure and then making sure that the day was fun and safe for all involved. Heather Veleanu, the Chair of the Humane USA FL Steering Committee drove up from South Florida to greet guests while they waited for the next tour and did a fantastic job of raising more than $500.00 for donated art. 

We competed with the Florida State Fair’s Kid’s Day so that brought our expected numbers down a bit, but thanks to the protesters we had several people say that they were just driving by and decided to come because they saw the signs and wanted to see what was going on. That helped increase the amount of exposure to our cause and the funds generated so the day turned out quite well. If you were a Candidate, a Volunteer, a Staff member, or a Guest we thank you for making this a special day for all involved. 

For the cats,

 Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue

an Educational Sanctuary home to more than 150 big cats

12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625

813.920.4130 fax 885.4457 cell 493.4564

http://www.BigCatRescue.orgMakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org