A national organization with a strong social media following helped Burke County Animal Services raise nearly $10,000 in three hours Thursday with about a week still left to give.
Kaitlin Settlemyre, director of Burke County Animal Services, said the department’s collaboration with Jordan’s Way LLC raised brought the department only about $5,000 shy of its $15,000 fundraising goal.
Dr. Jenni McGrady, left, volunteer veterinarian for Burke County Animal Services, gets to smash Animal Control Officer Lyn’s face into a pile of whipped cream, various condiments and flour after winning a fundraising challenge Thursday.
Kris Rotonda, founder of Jordan’s Way, spent three hours at BCAS encouraging viewers of a Facebook livestream with multiple challenges, pitting department employees and volunteers against each other to see who could raise more money to avoid a pie to the face, an egg (raw and boiled) to the head and even a new hair color.
“I think we’re all very exhausted but we had a great time doing it,” Settlemyre said. “I think we started out with pies to the face, we did some tortilla slaps – people were slapping each other in the face with tortillas. We had people getting sprayed with water hoses, people were getting locked in kennels, people were getting flour dumped on them, cake smashes. It was a really great time.”
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One of the dogs available for adoption at Burke County Animal Services licks whipped cream off the face of someone who was locked in a kennel with them for a fundraiser challenge Thursday.
Two BCAS employees even ended up getting their hair dyed purple after donations ticked past the $8,000 mark.
The fundraiser is part of a national tour Jordan’s Way has embarked on with hopes to raise money for animal shelters across the United States.
Kris Rotonda, right, hosts a livestream while employees and volunteers with Burke County Animal services stand in a line after throwing whipped cream pies in each others faces for a fundraiser challenge Thursday.
“We raised a little over $9,000 in three hours, so that was absolutely amazing,” Settlemyre said. “That really exceeded my expectations coming into this. We had about a week to prepare for them coming in, so we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, so we are really thrilled with our community that came out and showed support for us.”
The fundraiser still is open, and Settlemyre said all of the funds will be going to support the efforts the department is making to save animals across the county.
Those looking for other ways to get involved are welcome to come by the shelter at 425 Kirksey Drive, Morganton, and find out about ways to foster or adopt animals, or come by to play with the animals or even take a dog on a walk for a few hours. The shelter is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Visit https://bit.ly/bcasfundraiser to donate.
Dr. Jenni McGrady tries to hug other BCAS employees and volunteers after getting hosed down as part of a fundraiser challenge.
Kris Rotonda, left, encourages viewers to donate to Burke County Animal Services to free some of the department’s employees and volunteers from one of the kennels Thursday.
Dr. Jenni McGrady, left, gives ACO Lyn a kiss on the temple after smashing her face into condiments and flour Thursday.
Chrissy Murphy is a staff writer and can be reached at cmurphy@morganton.com or at 828-432-8941. Follow @cmurphyMNH on Twitter.