Madi's 'reconvenment' was postponed to the next day, due to the fact that the unanimous gathering wished to have Ashlynne present.
The next afternoon...
Ashlynne was quickly welcomed to the group that had already gathered, and she settled herself beside Honey, the family pet.
Samantha and Katie begrudgingly allowed Elly to squeeze in on the bed, cramming the three together.
Madi waited patiently by her desk, her laptop within reach.
The other three sisters were bunched up on other various seats, anxiously awaiting the meeting call.
"Thank you everyone for coming," Elly stood by the desk. "We're here to share our ideas on how to save the shelter. Ashlynne, thank you especially for coming."
"It was my pleasure," she said warmly in reply. "I'm excited to hear your ideas."
"Alright, can I go first?" Madi pleaded. Elly nodded and turned towards the desk. Madi reached for her laptop.
"I give you.. the new Dare 2 Care Save Our Shelter blog! I just finished doing the collage this morning because I was brainstorming all last night. Nothing fancy yet, but hopefully I'll get it up and running smoothly soon!" Madi announced, spinning her laptop to show everyone.
"Wow, are you serious?" Ashlynne exclaimed. Madi nodded proudly.
"You did a wonderful job," Josie praised from the corner.
Julie went next. She stood, holding a macramé cord in her left hand.
"As most of you know, I've had a current obsession with making macramé chokers and bracelets... and I decided to expand my horizons. Come here, Honey."
Julie leaned down and fasted the collar around Honey's neck.
"Ta-da!" Honey barked.
"I also think I can make animal clothes and personalized collars. I've been sketching a lot."
At the top of the page in her giant designer journal, she had written hastily 'Furry Fashions' due to the lack of a better name.
"I know it looks weird right now, but trust me, I'll be able to pull it off."
Josie disappeared for a moment after Julie was finished and returned with one of her famous cupcakes that everyone devoured. At this point, Katie interrupted, "How did you hide that from me? I thought I already ate all of them!"
"Aha," Josie pointed out. "So you did eat them! Don't deny it again." Everyone cracked up, knowing how much Katie loved sugar and anything food.
Josie presented it to Ashlynne.
"I thought, why not have a bake sale? And then, after realizing that that is what everyone does, I figured that I could do treats for dogs too."
"These are amazing!" Ashlynne exclaimed.
Amy, our artist, pulled out a large can that she had gotten from Light4theLord.
"Awwww..." was everyone's reply to the sketch drawn on paper taped to the can. It had a portrait of two cats from the shelter with the words 'SAVE OUR SHELTER donate here' underneath.
After showing everyone, Amy turned the can to show the little gauge where she had written 'our goal' at the bottom and '500,000' at the top. She also offered to sketch portraits of pets to sell, if it would help.
"My idea won't be as good, because I don't have anything to show for it yet. But, I have a story idea that I think might work if we printed it out and maybe gave a copy to each person who donated money." Samantha was bashful at this point.
"Sam, your stories are fantabulous. That's a great idea!" Elly turned to Madi. "Couldn't we post excerpts on the blog, too, and make people want to read it?"
"Yeah, sure," Madi agreed. "If Samantha's okay with that."
"It's fine with me," Sam smiled shyly.
Katie mischievously produced a bucket and squeegee.
"My idea is not a car wash, but rather a dog wash! Wouldn't that be fun?!" Katie grinned. Everyone groaned. Hand Katie a hose and be prepared to be drenched.
"My idea was to have a talent show, with any kind of animals. We could ask people to donate for admission, and pay an entrance fee to participate." Elly explained.
"I have an idea, if you don't mind me sharing," Ashlynne stood. Everyone cajoled her into telling.
"We can combine all of your ideas into one - an event that lasts at least a week, almost like a fair."
************************************************
"We can have Madi's blog announce it and host everything, tell more about it, give discounts and sneak peeks, update people, and be in charge of the doorprizes. Josie's stand of treats can be part of it, and then Julie can have her Furry Fashion booth. Amy and Sam can sell their works of art and writing, and Katie can do the dog washing. Elly, yours would top of the event with the talent show each evening. What do you think?"
"Yes, yes!" came the resounding reply. Immediately the room turned to hubbub as everyone began spouting off ideas, questions, and suggestions.
"Where? When?"
"Who can we ask to help?"
"Should we build booths?"
"What about a 'Meet Your Fur-ever Friend' place?"
It was going to a lot of fun... and a lot of work.
***************************************************
This was great! I liked how each of the girls ideas reflected their personalities. As always, can't wait for more!
ReplyDeleteDiamond
P.S. I nominated you!
http://worldofagdolls.blogspot.com/2017/06/my-very-first-awards.html
Can't wait for the next part! I love animals and I hope this story has a happy ending.
ReplyDelete~ Taryn
http://lifeofafarmdoll.blogspot.ca/
This was so good!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the donation jar.
ReplyDelete