Event Cover: Water 2 Wine

On October 15th, 2010 the Denver Dumb Friends League (DDFL) hosted an event at Water 2 Wine to raise money for the shelter. To attend the event, a $20 fee at the door was required. Oddly enough, only 10% of the wine proceeds went to benefit the shelter.

Brittany Fitzgerald, a participant in the event said that, "I am glad that they are doing an event for the animals, but I feel like they could donate more than 10% of the total proceeds."

However, when speaking with the Denver Dumb Friends league, 10% of the proceeds are typical because the event involved Water 2 Wine as well. Obviously, since Water 2 Wine hosted the event and they provided the wine, they had to receive most of the proceeds. This was also a smaller event; therefore, if the event continues to grow then the donation percentage will also grow as well.

This was a first time event for DDFL and Water 2 Wine. In fact, Lori, one of the owners of Water 2 Wine, has been a huge animal advocate and great supporter of the shelter for 15 years. She said that her family has always had dogs, instead of children, so she thought this would be a good opportunity to raise money.

One of the coordinator’s for DDFL was also there. She also said that Lori had a natural relationship with DDFL and they wanted to try the event. The event was initially created not out of profit, but in support for animal adoption. Although they did not have any animals there, the event tried to center around voicing animal adoption through the shelter.

Typically, DDFL takes in about 26,000 pets and adopts out 15,000 to new homes. The coordinator, Katie Shipley, said that the remaining, often get transferred because of behavioral issues; however, there are those that must be euthanized.

One of Denver Dumb Friends League's larger event is called the "Furry Scurry." Since DDFL is a non-profit organization, they earn a great deal of their revenue from this event. In fact, throughout the year, DDFL houses 25,000 pets. For instance, this year alone the Furry Scurry raised $1,006,475.12 to help homeless pets. Events such as the Furry Scurry and Water 2 Wine make it possible to shelter all of these animals.

The event seemed to be fairly successful. In fact, just off the raffle $200 was raised. The atmosphere seemed to be friendly and the coordinators of the events walked around and checked on all the guests. The guests mainly consisted of middle to upper-class, and by the end of the night, the noise level seemed to increase significantly with the more wine consumed.

Though there were no actual animals at the event and only 10% of the proceeds went to the animals, it seemed like a heart-felt event in support of animal advocacy.