Clean Run Magazine - October 2009 - 27

Fun with Fundraising By Martha Faulk We often say that having fun with our dogs is the reason for participating in agility. For many organizations and individuals in the agility community, having fun is also a good excuse for raising money for worthy causes. Professional fundraisers know that when people enjoy themselves, they donate more. It seems only natural for agility enthusiasts to come up with creative ways to enjoy themselves and serve others at the same time. I hope you will be amazed and amused at the three very successful fundraising endeavors described below. Jumping for Boobs When RoxAnne Franklin decided she was well enough in April 2008 to photograph an AKC agility trial for the Dauphin Dog Training Club (DDTC) of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, she never dreamed that she’d be snapping photos of her friends doing a highly irregular and quite funny relay course. The irregularity was that each of the 10 participating relay teams consisted of two people only—no dogs. The impromptu event literally stopped the trial as spectators, judges, and other participants came to watch the fun as handlers got stuck in tunnels, dodged through weave poles, and tried not to trip over jumps and one another. Franklin is a professional photographer living in rural Pennsylvania who has been photographing people and their dogs for the past eight years. In September 2008 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and subsequently had two surgeries as well as radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Although she was unable to photograph agility trials for many months, her friends in the dog community were busy fundraising in her name. Franklin had learned about the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life (RFL) events through her church and began asking her concerned friends to donate whatever they could. Diann Gastley enlisted Jen Dreese and others to get donations from the agility community and surprise Franklin with the results. Agility clubs from Pennsylvania and Virginia began to place RFL donation buckets at their trials. Some trials also asked that their 50/50 raffle proceeds go to RFL. Often the raffle winners donated back their 50% to RFL. By the time Franklin was strong enough to photograph events again, the fundraising among agility clubs had escalated into a challenge for the DDTC to raise more than the $1,800 from the clubs’ combined efforts. As Franklin stood ringside completely unaware of the fundraising planned for that day, she heard the announcer say, “It’s a beautiful day. RoxAnne’s back, and we are going to try to beat the $1,800 raised by all the other clubs.” Immediately an anonymous donor contributed $200 and challenged the club to match that amount right there. Inspired by the challenge, Scott Stock, an AKC judge who was competing that day, came up with the “Jumping for Boobs” name and event. A group of people sprang into action and set up the special jumpers course as the standard ring kept running. Teams formed and walked the course, consisting of jumps, back-to-back tunnels, and weaves. In this timed event, the first team member ran 10 obstacles and then passed the baton to the other team member who ran the second half of the course. AKC Judge Daryl Warren suspended the standard class in the other ring to judge the event. Franklin started to shoot;not the dogs as she had planned, but the 20 participating humans. Many ringside spectators donated while they laughed: “Here, take my money because it was worth it just to watch it.” Jumping for Boobs Sharon Leh Courtesy RoxAnne Franklin October 09 | Clean Run Jumping for Boobs Rob Kripaitis Courtesy RoxAnne Franklin Jumping for Boobs RoxAnne Franklin with her Bandana Buddies. Courtesy of Seth Derr Ardis Lukens feeding “Stinky Dog Brownies” Courtesy of Dottie Clements 27

Clean Run Magazine - October 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - October 2009