Cuddle Selfie Day at the Farm Recap

I just couldn't hold back from sharing my experience at the RPoF Farm event earlier this month. This was by far the funnest event I have had the honor of being a part of… the day was filled with so much joy (the farm does that, brings refreshing, exhausting, satisfying joy). I even bought two rescue t-shirts myself to give back for getting to take part in such a great day!

I was at the concession and merchandise table, which is one of the first stops along the way for our visitors. I couldn’t believe the number of ear-to-ear smiles I saw…and they hadn't even been to see the animals yet! The attendees were coming from all over the place. Many heard about the event from social media, and we had several alumni adopters show up. We even had a couple of Girl Scouts whose visit was part of earning a “rescue education” badge. Bonus – their moms inquired about how to arrange for the whole troop to come and do a volunteer project at the farm (and yes, we ABSOLUTELY will accommodate!)

Another highlight for me was chatting with a couple who came all the way from St. Pete to learn more about our adoption program in person.

It also warmed my heart to chat with two grandmothers on an outing with their grandchildren (get this...instead of Busch Gardens!!!) The grandkids fell for some of our adoptables and left hoping to secure their parents’ consent, which would mean homes for two bun buns (adoptable bunnies) and two ducks. The grandmothers also fell in love with the farm, and intend on signing up for some horse/cow/pig grooming and even inquired about and are considering fostering kitties with us!

NEVER at any RPOF event that I have volunteered at have I experienced such large-scale enthusiasm about the organization as a whole. 

People came in smiling and left the same way. 

So many compliments on behalf of RPoF. It made me so proud to be a volunteer here! People stopped back by to express their appreciation for the opportunity to learn so much about rescue groups in general. So many questions like, "how can we help?" or "how and when can we come back?" The attendees were so eager to learn more about us. 

We even had several people come and donate their tickets back to us and donate cash for drinks and snack.

We had one sweet dad come over and buy two pair of Buc-ee earrings, then donated one pair back....come on, if that doesn't fill the ol' joy tank, I don’t know what will...

At the end of what was a pretty long day for our volunteer crew, we had a young, late-arriving family with an infant, hoping to take part. Even though everyone was beat, one of the amazing farm volunteers was happy to make their day and escorted them back over to the barn to help get some pictures of their infant with a pony. The family came back by to get a pamphlet to make sure they could follow us on social media so they never miss an event in the future, and then dropped another donation in the bucket.

When we finally started packing up for the day, judging by the smiles on my own face and on everyone else’s, we were glad we threw our names in the bucket for this one...what a great venue, what a great day!

Love,

Bill, Carrie & Flippy Too!

About your author:

Meet Carrie, a.k.a. the proud mom of Shannon (farm division lead volunteer). They (Carrie and her husband Bill, whom you might know as “Sugar Daddy Bill” if you watched our Jordan’s Way live fundraiser) have volunteered for more than a few years with RPOF at schools, venues and yard sale events – even helping out with long-distance donation pick-ups. But the heart and soul of her volunteering efforts is the farm (proud momma!)