Luncheon was a BIG Success!

Saturday was NCHS's annual membership luncheon. We raised $1,755 specifically for our spay/neuter assistance certificate program. This translates, for example, into helping to neuter 44-45 female cats and dogs. More, if the animals are male. Several guests joined as new members. Our speaker donated $250 to our trap/neuter/release program.

There was SO much good energy in the room! That was the best part. The organization, like many non-profits, has had a rough go of it the last year. We've lost money. We've had to make changes that ruffled some old-time feathers pretty badly. Now I see the organization emerging stronger than ever. I said, "We're leaner, but not meaner. We're leaner and more compassionate." In our remarks to the membership, we sugar-coated nothing. We told it like it is. I've never heard that at one of our luncheons before. It was refreshing, transparent and hopeful.

So, was it worth it to make 19 of those bloody gift baskets? (We auctioned off a total of 21.) Was it worth it to make 70 table favors with doorprizes? Well, yes. It was. Sort of like childbirth, you immediately forget the pain and just fly high on the joy of it all.

For me, I won the gift basket I most wanted. A local pair of quilters made a fabulous butterfly quilt for us, using some of my favorite fabrics. It's all pastel and girly, the kind of thing I love but would probably never make myself since my quilts tend toward the edgy and dramatic. I had to have it. I now own it. Yippee! And there are a whole bunch of other coveted things in that basket, too. A pound of Starbuck's coffee. Breakfast for 2 at one of my favorite local cafes. Such a deal!

Tomorrow I'm going out of town to attend a nonprofit fundraising strategy workshop, so I'm not at all sure when I'll get back to cooking. Sometime soon. I miss it. We did get a great lunch yesterday at another new local hot-spot, Farmstand 46.