It is no secret that charities are hurting in 2020 with no ability to host their typical fundraising events.  Near and dear to my heart is the Humane Society of Truckee Tahoe at https://hstt.org who lovingly care for homeless pets and make finding them forever homes their mission.  The annual Black Tie and Tails gala, their main annual income generating event, had to be cancelled due to Covid-19.  A real blow to an organization that depends upon donation dollars.

Not only do we love supporting this worthwhile organization, but the gala was sorely missed by our ‘bubble’ of friends, so we decided to take matters into our own hands.  Crafting an evening of wine, food and friends, where everyone dressed to the nines, cooked a fabulous dish to share and provided appropriate wines to pair, we celebrated the Humane Society’s efforts with a bit of a catch.  Each attendee was asked to donate a minimum amount per person (in addition to their food and wine contributions for the evening) and some gave much more, sweetening the pot by finding ‘matching’ contributions from their employers. 

While our dinner group was small and in a private home, those that could not attend generously donated to sweeten the pot.  In the end, we managed to have a mid-November celebration of food, friends (both furry and human) and were safe inside our ‘social bubble.’   And yes, as a group of wine and food lovers, it was a fabulous night of wonderful food and delicious wines!

I won’t disclose the names of these ‘angels’ or the amounts contributed, but our small gathering provided a nice contribution of $ 6,100 which was then combined with generous corporate matches totaling $ 2,850 for a grand total of $ 8,950.

 I will put out the challenge to have some fun being an organization’s ‘angel’ in these dark times.  While currently we are all under the SIP order once again, Zoom is still out there and we are all looking for some fun and distraction.  Be creative and generous in any way you can.   Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for a return to normal in 2021.

Cheers!