Found, a rehabilitation and adoption center for homeless dogs and cats, hosted its first Humane Awards on Saturday night. The organization was founded in 2010, and "we had such a great first year," said executive director Alicia Boemi. "We wanted to thank our supporters with a nice fund-raising event. But we wanted to make sure it wasn't just any fund-raising event. There had to be some other component that really engaged the community."
Working with Found's president and founder, Michael Heltzer, Boemi designed an award dinner that would honor prominent community members who support the organization. Honorees included White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle and his wife, Jamie, Alderman Gene Schulter of the 47th ward, and Animal Ark veterinarian Derrick Landini and his wife, Jennifer.
To keep costs low, Boemi and her team relied on donations. For example, Julius Meinl provided complimentary catering services. "Found only had to pay for the actual ingredients used to make the meal," Boemi said. "We only spent about $400 on catering [for the 125-guest dinner], so that in itself was huge."
For the goods from AAA Rental, "we only ended up spending about $400 on everything, because we have a great connection with someone from the company who's a huge advocate of ours," Boemi said. The venue also came with a built-in connection: The dinner took place at Go CycleSport, a spacious motorcycle showroom Heltzer owns.
Though the final take is still being tabulated, Boemi estimates that the event raised about $30,000. "And since this was a first-time event, we expect the take to double next year," she said.
