September 24, 2022
For the third year in a row, Brian served as the Master of Ceremonies and Auctioneer for Second Chance Pet Adoptions Evening of Pawsibilities at the Embassy Suites in Cary, North Carolina on Saturday, September 24, 2022.
Those you that know Brian and Kirke know that they love dogs. They have a black lab named Deacon, a yellow lab named Dixie and a coonhound/lab mix named Bader. Bader came from Second Chance Pet Adoptions after Kirke and Brian met him at the 2021 Evening of Pawsibilities. You can see photos of the dogs on Brian’s Instagram account or Kirke’s Instagram account.
Brian enjoys working this event because it is so well organized. The team at Second Chance Pet Adoptions is on their game. Rachel Cronmiller, the Senior Manager, is a rock star when it comes to putting this event together. She always has a detailed timeline and does a great job communicating with Brian to make sure the evening runs smoothly.
The doors opened at 6pm and a line quickly formed to check in. Bidders could bid electronically using an app on over 200 silent auction items. Everything you can imagine was available including cat and dog beds, artwork, jewelry, Carolina Hurricanes tickets, Durham Bulls tickets and much more.
Two cash bars provided an opportunity for attendees to have their favorite beverage while they perused the silent auction room, which was its own separate ballroom.
Dinner was a pair of two-sided buffet lines so everyone was able to be served quickly. Beef, chicken and a slew of sides were available along with pie and a red velvet cake for dessert.
This year, in addition to serving as emcee, Brian and Kirke also sponsored a table through the Pate Realty Group brokered by Real Broker, LLC. They also invited other Real Broker, LLC teams including the Kima Real Estate Group, the Pappalardo Real Estate Group and the Cynthia Quarantello Realty Group.
After a welcome from Second Chance Pet Adoptions President, Dave Ballesteros, it was time to get the evening started.
The live auction took place, with Brian as the auctioneer, and raised over $8,000 in less than 20 minutes!
After the live auction, Lisa Imhof, the Senior Director of Operations for Second Chance Pet Adoptions, took the stage and discussed all of the accomplishments of the organization for the past year. Over 365 pets found new homes in the last year thanks to Second Chance.
Imhof’s presentation was followed by a moving video with photos of many of the pets that had come through the system in the last year. Stories included those animals who had massive trauma including the loss of eyes, broken limbs and much more that won’t be discussed here.
The video also shared the stories of the amazing resilience of some of the pets and their new families. Viewers of the videos went from tears of pain to tears of joy in moments as the video played.
Visit Second Chance Pet Adoptions on their Facebook Page here.
After the video, Brian went back on stage with “Blinky,” one of the dogs up for adoption to join Lisa. It was time for the big ask that is done every year.
The big ask starts with inviting anyone who wishes to donate $10,000 to make their donation electronically through the app or through the Second Chance Pet Adoptions web site. The running tally of donations shows up on the screen in front of the attendees and donations are met with raucous cheers and applause.
The goal was to raise $35,000 as that goal had barely been missed the year before. A few challenges from different people willing to “match bids,” for certain amounts, catapulted the total over $20,000 very quickly.
A very kind veterinary clinic offered to match the next $10,000 in donations with $10,000 in treatments to animals and again the audience responded.
When the big ask was over, the total reached over $50,000!
All totaled, the event raised over $135,000 in one night for Second Chance Pet Adoptions and Kirke and Brian could not be more proud to be a supporter of this organization.
If you are interested in sponsoring or attending next year, visit the web site here.
Kirke and Brian hope to see you there next year as the group sets their sights on the $200,000 mark!
