The Doglando Foundation had their first fundraiser on Saturday, in Avalon Park. Also for their first time, the Food Trucks were in East Orlando, Avalon Park.
Word had reached thousands, people everywhere had heard about the event, so we were really excited that the buzz was great! The only thing we were not sure about was the weather, but the weather forecast showed 30% of overcast rain, so we thought we were in the good... if it rained we would wait it out and it would be soon over us.
The event started off a great success. All our rescues and vendors showed up, DJ the BIG DAWG and PAUL show had some in the crowd dancing with their dogs, and the food truck lines started growing! Then, out of no where in a matter of minutes, one side of Avalon turned dark grey with a huge white cloud in the middle of it. The sky looked scary, dark and strong but our weather forecast didn't show us anything concerning. What were they looking at and where were they looking at??????????????
In seconds, the rain came pouring, everyone ran for coverage. Those that could get out left, those of us that had our booths up, were stuck holding onto the legs of the tents while everything else got soaked.
I was helping another vendor with their booth, who had the fabric walls up around three sides of their tent, and then all of a sudden, their goes my end, the tent leg and I were literally lifted off the ground. The fabric walls created a parachute, and were about to take off!
We take of the walls, and I look out to tent to all the rest of my team and we all start laughing. It was so terrible, and so totally out of our control, and everything was so destroyed, that there was really nothing else we could do other than laugh. Here we all are, in our brand new white, Doglando Foundation Polos, now in some sort of a wet - shirt contest it seemed!
Aside from letting the tents go, and along with it, everything else under it, we weren't really left with any other choices. It was a good thing that everyone held on to it for as long as possible, I think the outcome would have been dangerous. We truly were caught up in such strong winds, the tents would have flown across the park and possibly seriously hurt someone.
There was no dying down on Saturday night! The rain went on through the night.
So, we woke up this morning to the aftermath of it all, and the only things standing were the Doglando Foundation road signs. Everything else destroyed, spread all over the park but the road signs stayed in position and the Doglando Foundation Banner stayed flying under the ban shell.
Even though, the bad weather was totally out of our control, the Foundation felt it only fair to preserve our relationship with the Food Trucks and to offer them their donation of $75 back if they wanted it. Unfortunately for us, every food truck asked for their money back, and our first fundraiser left a hole very deep in our pockets. But, we our Signs and Banner stood high and strong, and we will take that as our sign..... to keep going!
One of Doglando Foundation's purpose is to help promote local rescues by providing them with better business practices, management and tools. Animal Rescues are so engrossed into their day to day operations of taking in unwanted animals the business end of it and providing training for these animals before their adoption is non-existant. We feel these two components are very necessary for every rescue's success, financial health and longevity. The Doglando Foundation will seek to provide all rescues with tools to help them build a stronger rescue through continuing education for their volunteers and staff, and training for their dogs awaiting adoption.
Please visit our website at www.doglandofoundation.org. The website is still under construction.
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