RICHMOND, Va. — Nine cats found forever homes during a Valentine's Day adoption event in Richmond's Manchester neighborhood.
LJ organized "Find Your Purrfect Match" at Basic City Beer to support Purring Hearts VA, a cat rescue that relies entirely on volunteers.
"I primarily did this for Purring Hearts," LJ said. "All of the people that run the nonprofit are volunteers. They do a lot of the fostering in their homes. Oftentimes, they pay out of pocket for supplies, cat food, cat litter, toys."
J organized the event independently, collaborating with various nonprofits and community members. Basic City Beer provided the space free of charge, and 15 vendors participated without fees in exchange for donating raffle items.
FULL INTERVIEW: All about Valentine's adoption event benefitting Purring Hearts VA
"With the hard times financially that everybody's going through, I just felt like they needed some extra help or assistance to help them continue doing what they love, which is fostering and help saving the cats," LJ said.
The event featured a Valentine's Day photo booth, raffle baskets and a donation box collecting cat supplies for foster volunteers. Basic City Beer donated 10% of drink and pizza sales to Purring Hearts RVA.
Each adopted cat came with a $150 adoption fee that includes vaccines and spaying or neutering.
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"My ultimate goal with this market was to raise as much money for Purring Hearts and get as many cats adopted as possible," LJ said.
The event raised close to $200 from raffle tickets alone, plus bar sales proceeds and a donation box full of supplies.
LJ plans another community market May 16 for Sylvia's Sisters during Period Poverty Awareness Week.
"I've always been a giver, and this is the only way I know how to give. I'm not rich by any means, and so I can't financially give money to any of these nonprofits. However, I can put my manpower and my ideas into them," LJ said.
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