Expos -- Why We Go

So, a few people have chatted with us lately about some of the expos we go to.  Some expos are smaller or larger than others, and some we do better or worse at.  Which ones are which?  Well, for size, we know that ahead of time, for the most part, but for which ones are good?  Who knows!  Your guess is as good as ours.

For example, we were just at the Getting Strong and Giving Back Pet Event at Campagna Academy, which is a local child welfare organization that provides residential treatment to kids with intellectual and developmental disorders.  A group that partners with Campagna is called Compassionate Canines.  While we've known for years that the Campagna Pet Event benefits Compassionate Canines, this year was a more low-key event and we had more time to chat with some of the trainers and meet some of the canines.  During this time, I asked what they do.  As it turns out, they bring the dogs to Campagna for a couple of weeks at a time... the dogs are already trained to do various things.  To build confidence and skill building in the kids, they have the kids "train" the dogs, and they said it's awesome to see the kids transform when the dogs start listening to the kids.  How awesome is that, right?  I'm sure the kids enjoy it.

Now, is this one of our profitable events?  No.  Has it ever been?  No.  So why do we do it?  To benefit the community and other organizations.  You may or may not be aware of this, but many events we do require a donation basket to be brought to the event by attending rescues / vendors.  At the Campagna event, they have a silent auction for these events, where people "bid" on the raffle baskets, and the money goes to the Compassionate Canines program.  At this event, people also have the option to "buy it now" on the baskets, rather than bid on them.  This year at this event, someone actually bought our basket, and came by to tell us how much they loved it!  Of course, I don't have a pic of it, but that makes me feel good, and of course, the money is going towards a good cause.  I talked with a few other vendors that I see at other events, and they echoed my thoughts -- the money that comes in goes towards a good cause and for that, it's worth doing.

For us, as well, even for these smaller events, we try to bring at least one chinchilla and one guinea pig, if we have.  Most of these kids have never seen one and never had a pet!  So we get a lot of questions about what they are, how old they are, what their names are... this is helping the kids talk to other people and interact (which is more or less difficult for some) and they get to experience something new!  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure Campagna provides a wonderful residential program for them, but I still think this pet event is something that many of them look forward to it!  They get to see all sorts of animals (there was a hermit crab rescue there!) and talk to all sorts of people.

So this one, we know going in, that it will probably be sort of a slow day and whatnot, but it's for a good cause and it brings joy to the kids there. 

...to be continued