Road Trip for Raven's Pups

As you know we ended up raising more money than was needed to cover the transport costs. Half of those extra funds were donated to One Dozen Who Care (https://onedozenwhocare.org/), an organization that Raven loved. I wanted to share the email response I received from Ronda Birtha, the Executive Director of ODWC. Here is what she said:

"Humblest apologies for just now seeing this email and your generous donation. I met Raven for the first time at the Women's Conference, but have heard so many wonderful things about her as a person, as an artist! I met Mary Ricketson at the Murphy River Walk on the day of Raven's passing and she shared with me the news. I was heartbroken. I knew she was ill, and I knew it was serious. But something within me just knew that she was a special one and that she had so much more ... I don't know the word ... but I just wasn't expecting to hear that. Just earlier that morning I sent out requests for the MWDC 2024 presenters, of which she was one. Words fail me."

As promised, here is the final accounting of the money raised for Raven's dogs and the expenses incurred.

After credit card fees were deducted, a total of $3,864.81 was raised on the Fundly platform. In addition, $150 in donations were received by checks sent directly to me. So the grand total was $4.014.81. You are some very generous people!

Once all the expenses for the transport were tallied, they came to $2,900.48. (And it must be said that the time and effort of the three transporters - Larry, Nancy and Cindy - were priceless!)

The transport expenses were less than we had estimated, so we ended up with a surplus of $1,114.33. I had originally said that any extra funds would be donated to Best Friends, but after getting input from several people close to Raven, we've decided to change that original plan. Instead, half of the surplus ($558) will be donated to BAM (Because Animals Matter), the rescue group in Hurricane, UT, from which Sage was adopted and has now returned. (Sage will be living with BAM's founder.) The other half of the money will go to ODWC (One Dozen Who Care), a nonprofit in NC that Raven loved and supported. They describe their mission as a group that "empowers, educates, and encourages economic development for women, youth, and elders in far Western North Carolina, in order to bridge cultures and create community bonds."

We hope that those of you who supported this fundraiser agree with us that Raven would be happy to see the extra money go to these two groups. The funds will be donated in her memory. Thank you again for your generosity.

A big thank you to everyone who donated to this fundraiser. We have raised enough money to cover all of the transport expenses, so I have closed the campaign. I will post a full accounting of all expenses within the next couple of days.

Raven's pups arrived safely in Kanab on Monday, December 18. Larry and Nancy made a marathon drive from NC to NM in just two days. Cindy then picked them up in NM and drove them the rest of the way to Kanab. Here is a photo of Buddy, Bini and Sage enjoying the fresh air, sunshine, and open space in Dogtown at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab.