Volunteers of the Month: The Barks & Brew Volunteers

Thank you to the many volunteers and supporters who made Barks & Brew 2024 a fun and successful event! With your help, we hosted nearly 300 people at Guthridge Park for an afternoon of family-friendly fun on Saturday, August 17th!  This is a major event for many reasons. There is a tremendous amount of work and planning that goes into creating a dog and family-friendly gathering of this size so please join us in thanking the volunteers who made it happen! 

Volunteers were instrumental in these roles:

Event Preparation: The planning for this event happens many months in advance, so a special thank you to the individuals who dedicated their time to helping to secure sponsorships, vendors, and silent auction items! We gathered over 130 donations for our Silent Auction tent, from donors both local and national.  Sponsorships were secured for every single portion of our event to help cover the expenses. We also had 13 local vendors invited and available to join us for the event.  Many, many hours were spent preparing details from crafting eye-catching auction baskets to behind-the-scenes computer work to ensure that our event ran smoothly! 

Event Set Up: Thank you to the many volunteers who arrived early and stayed late to help with the infrastructure that makes Barks & Brew! We had over 700 linear feet of temporary fencing installed, 60 tables set for auction items and visitors, and over 20 tents raised – including 2 large circus-style tents! Our vehicles were packed to the gills with event items and the volunteer teams made quick work of unloading and arranging our auction items, apparel, signage, and more! The volunteers who helped to provide this labor worked harmoniously as a team to create a safe and accessible space for our attendees to enjoy! 

Event Staffing: A tremendous thank you to the volunteers who helped to work during our event to ensure the visitors to Guthridge Park had a great time and in turn that our event was a success! With your help, we hosted a 5-hour event that provided fun for all ages, ran smoothly, raised funds for our rescue, and introduced adoptable dogs and cats to animal lovers in our community.  

We appreciate the commitment that our volunteers have to Last Hope Animal Rescue today and every day. It is a testament to the impact that one person can have in creating change, as even a few hours of your time donated to a cause you believe in can create real and impactful change!