Gifford Shelter Fall Festival

Tomorrow, Sunday, September 23rd is the Ellen Gifford Cat Shelter of Brighton's Fall Festival.  The shelter is "no-kill," meaning they don't euthanize cats to accommodate additional cat surrenders or due to a cat's age.  At the Gifford, cats are cared for until they find a home.  One of the Gifford's long-term residents, Bo, was with us for 15 years!  I've been a volunteer at the Gifford since 2004, and watched its many changes over the years.  Many cats have come and gone, some, bittersweet, as I tend to fall in love with them but am so glad when they finally find a home.  The Gifford recently rebuilt it's main facility and added two outdoor enclosures for the cats to roam in, one just for feral (non-socialized) cats.  They also house a number of hard-to-adopt cats (FIV-positive, diabetic, behavioral issues, elderly, etc.) and take excellent care of them. 

   Tomorrow's event is a fund-raiser, and an opportunity for visitors to meet the cats, as well as eat some goodies, participate in family-friendly activities and peruse crafts for sale.  Hieropice will be vending there, and I'm excited to have the opportunity to support such a wonderful cause!  The event is 1 PM to 5 PM at 30 Undine Road in Brighton, right near Boston College.  Check out the event info on Facebook, and Gifford's promo on Youtube.  Hope to see you all there!

Post Arts on the Arcade, a Treasury, & Cancer Research

Arts on the Arcade was a lot of fun today.  I came home to find Hieropice's fundraising/awareness necklace, that I designed to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day, was featured in this social-justice-themed treasury by Theresa from TAKJewelryDesigns.  It's wonderful to have support in getting the word out there about Hieropice's fundraising efforts; so many of us have had a loved one diagnosed with cancer, it's a disease that warrants all of the research possible.  We hope the proceeds from the sale of our Terrarium Necklace for Charity aids in the important work that the Komen Foundation does!

Finally!

  Recently, a good friend, Jaime Parker, told me she'd be doing the Susan G. Komen 3-Day, a 60-mile fundrasing walk to raise awareness/raise funds for breast cancer research.  (You can read more about the walk: here).  She was looking for support in gathering funds for this daunting challenge, and asked if I could help out.

  Like a lot of people, I have personal experience with breast cancer; my grandmother battled it for most of her life.  It's a life-changing diagnosis, and the current treatments (mastectomy, radiation, chemotherapy, etc.) can be devastating, and often only temporarily effective.  We are definitely in need of better treatments that will improve patients' quality of life and keep them healthy long-term, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation is doing important research toward that end.

   So, I created a new Mini Terrarium Necklace, in the signature pink of the cancer awareness movement, to help Jaime raise funds for the Komen 3-Day.  30% of all proceeds from the sale of this necklace will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  I hope you'll support their efforts, and Jaime's, and buy it!  The break-throughs they may make could change our lives one day.

With lurve,

Dara

Super Secret Surprise

We've got a really special product coming to our Etsy site.  I can't say much about it yet, as things are still in the works, but I hope you'll all love and support it!  More info to come soon!