Halloween Party for HAAAW

Home and Abroad Animal Welfare is a charity close to our hearts with Maddie and Liz visiting Sri Lanka in April 2009 and sharing their experiences with us.  For our second charity we decided that a party along the lines of the Healing Animals Organisation Christmas Party would be a good fund-raiser and give us an excuse to let our hair down at the end of our course, so the date of Saturday 17th October 2009 was set.  Funds would be generated by entry tickets, holding a raffle with each member of the group donating the prizes and Oephebia offered to provide mini psychic readings for donations.

Organising the party required a sustained effort and more planning over a number of months prior to the event, some outlay and more personal investment of time and money.  Our group used the phone, skype, email and even Facebook to keep in-touch, share information and generally support each other.  Tracey Nunn organised the raffle, collating raffle prizes and creating prize cards for the draw.  She also provided the majority of the great Halloween decorations that transformed the barn.  Tracey Marshall (Diploma in Healing Animals graduate) loaned us her fabulous glitter ball and Brian kindly installed it along with the spotlight to complete the scene.

 

Barbara Capaldi volunteered to coordinate the food and we devised an online list so anyone attending the party could list what they were bringing.  The group all brought along party food, baked, grilled and prepared our own dishes which combined with Tracey’s last minute shopping trip and Barbara’s efforts in the kitchen prior to and on the night amounted to a banquet of food that sustained us throughout the evening and beyond lunch the next day.  Barbara was supported by Lynn, Sue, Tracey and Laura who ferried food back and forth from the kitchen to the barn.  Sue delighted partygoers with trays of food which saved us battling our way to the overflowing tables.

Partygoers were offered treat or trick tarot readings with Oephebia (TV psychic) for a donation and her corner of the barn was vibrant with psychic energies.  Mini readings was not the best description as Oephebia gave her all for 3 hours straight and those that sat with her were impressed with what they heard.

Oephebia, “As far as I can work out, people were very happy with their readings and enjoyed themselves whilst helping the animals in need.  I think I read for 17 or 18 people which is quite good in a space of 3 hours.   It was an enjoyable experience and it is for an excellent cause.  I just wish I could have had time to mingle with people…”

Musical entertainment was provided by the talented Jason and Anthony with an organic mix of didgeridoos, drums, percussion and saxophone.  Even those of us stuck in our seats collecting the money had to jump up and move our feet and shake our money-makers.

Home and Abroad Animal Welfare, was founded by Janice in 1999 and is a non-profit organisation whose work includes rehabilitation and re-homing street animals in Sri Lanka.  You can follow the stories on Facebook or on the website HAAAW

Liz kindly helped Maddie with the raffle draw, while Jason provided a drum-roll.

As a group we really gelled together while planning, organising and hosting the party.  Everyone had their part to play and it allowed people to play to their strengths.

Ongoing fund-raising for Healing Animals Organisation

Our final charity is the Healing Animals Organisation www.healinganimals.org itself.  The Healing Animals Organisation has been set up to help animals in need and already supports Donkey Sanctuary Portugal, Acorn Trust, National Animal Welfare Trust (Heavens Gate), Celia Hammond Trust, Paws Animal Sanctuary and Nicosia Dog Shelter to name but a few.  However, the healing and welfare work that Liz has been doing for years has grown beyond the means of one person.  As a group we wanted to support the HAO and provide funds for projects like Liz’s recent Camel-Aide journey to the Sinai Desert.

Lynn Ive came up with the idea of HAO Tea Towels featuring one of Liz’s healthy recipes.  Maddie, Tracey and Paul pulled resources and along with Lynn’s funding created an initial run of 50 (100% cotton) tea towels which were ready in time for the Halloween Party.  Watch this space for future plans, aide projects, events and tea towels