Those familiar with the history of quilting know that most quilts tell a story. When the bidding on our quilt closed on the evening of November 13th, it seems the "story" was just beginning.
When notified that her $400 offer was, indeed, the high bid for our quilt, long-time benefactor of the Animal Friends organization, Linda Kaplan of Livermore, CA set the story in motion.
She graciously offered to make an outright $400 donation to our organization AND offered to let the second high bidder have the quilt for her $350 bid. When I read Linda's e-mail, I sat back in my chair -- stunned by this incredibly generous offer. Then I scrambled to find the e-mail from the second high bidder, Penny Dubel of Monroeville, PA. Penny was thrilled with the news that the quilt could be hers.
She'd fallen in love with it when she first
saw it, but the bid had gone a bit past her range. Now, she was delighted to know that she would have that special Christmas present she had wanted for herself.
Penny and I chatted for quite awhile. I filled her in on who we are and what we do -- and talked at considerable length about the difficulity of raising funds in our rural community. Penny told me about her love for the animals and her efforts to help shelters near her home. Then, she told me about her e-mail acquaintance, Louise Smitrovitch (who is also a good friend to our organization), and how Louise enlisted her help in providing assistance to the Marion County (WV) Humane Society.
Louise, it seems, had learned that the Marion County facility, like shelters everywhere, was in need of all kinds of items to maintain its operation. On passing this information to Penny, Penny then set the wheels in motion at her place of employment -- asking for donations of supplies or money, and ultimately collected more items than the Marion County facility could store.
Penny then asked me whether our organization could make use of the remaining items she'd collected, and, for the second time in less than an hour, I sat back in my chair -- once again stunned by the generosity of a person who believes in our cause.
We feel so blessed to have these two "guardian angels" watching over our organization and the animals in our care. Our sincerest thanks to both of them.
