Whom You Know: NIGHTLIGHT: Friends of Animal Rescue Host a Smashing Boat Cruise! Whom You Know Chats with Upcoming Mover and Shaker Blaine Caravaggi, Board Member and Treasurer of FOAR, about her Passion for Animals, her Outstanding Charity Mission and the Second Annual Sunset Cruise. Whom You Know Commemorates our 200th Charitable Peachy Post with Friends of Animal Rescue!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

NIGHTLIGHT: Friends of Animal Rescue Host a Smashing Boat Cruise! Whom You Know Chats with Upcoming Mover and Shaker Blaine Caravaggi, Board Member and Treasurer of FOAR, about her Passion for Animals, her Outstanding Charity Mission and the Second Annual Sunset Cruise. Whom You Know Commemorates our 200th Charitable Peachy Post with Friends of Animal Rescue!

We told you party animals, this was the event of the summer to go to:
http://www.whomyouknow.com/2010/06/upcoming-nightlight-calling-all-party.html
and Upcoming Movers and Shakers Treasurer and Board Member Blaine Caravaggi and President Betsy Goldman spearheaded an evening aboard luxury yacht Atlantis that was a smashing success.

Friends of Animal Rescue provides financial aid to rescue groups and individuals who save homeless and abandoned animals, and they are a 501 (c) (3) organization and provide payment directly to veterinarians, medical boarding facilities, dog walkers, pet supply stores and more. They keep the dream alive that individuals can make a difference and in this successful fundraiser, they put their vision into action! The event boasted an outstanding silent auction, catering by Swifty's our most favorite restaurant in Manhattan (Peachy Picks Swifty's) and an hour long sunset cruise, and fortunately the weather held out to make the night perfect. We hope to see you all aboard this event next year- it is not to miss! We have written about various charitable endeavors 200 times now and this is a genuinely worthy cause with class people involved. Peachy Deegan chatted with Blaine Caravaggi for Whom You Know.

Peachy Deegan: What drives your passion for helping animals?
Blaine Caravaggi: Animals are voiceless and need us to speak for them and their rights. I will never be able to comprehend the ability of people to inflict such unbelievable cruelty on innocent beings, either deliberate or because of ignorance.

How did you first become involved in FOAR?
I met Betsy Goldman, founder and President of FOAR, at a Best Friends Animal Society meeting here in New York. Best Friends is the largest no kill animal sanctuary in the world and I have been a supporter of theirs for many years. Betsy and I hit it off immediately and I have to say she is one of the most life changing people I have met. Because of her, I was able to focus my energy and passion for animals locally. I really feel like I am making a true difference now, beyond writing a check to a charity.

Is the Sunset Cruise an annual event?
FOAR just had our second annual Sunset Cruise in June. Stay tuned for our June 2011 date!

How much organization goes into an event of this scale and what do you enjoy the most about it?
There is a tremendous amount of work that goes into this event. Ticket sales, gathering silent auction donations, arranging the catering aspect, having adoptable animals on site…we literally begin planning four months ahead of the event date. I love to organize and see results, so I enjoy the whole process, soup to nuts.

What makes FOAR such a successful charity in a challenging economy?
I think FOAR is successful in today’s economy because people can either be involved on a monetary level or by volunteering to foster a homeless animal. You can either be very hands on or just send a check. Either way, a little goes a very long way in such a grassroots organization.

What other events happen throughout the year in Manhattan for FOAR?
We had several events last year, other than our first Sunset Cruise. The real stand out was in October at the Peter Tunney/Roberto Dutesco gallery in SoHo. Roberto is widely known for his amazing project photographing the wild horses of Sable Island, an island hundreds of miles from Nova Scotia. The horses have been there for several generations, the direct result of many shipwrecks. There are still several bands of horses today and Roberto’s ability to capture them on camera is the most moving and spiritual photography I have ever seen. They donated several thousand dollars of sales that night to FOAR, as well as donating a photograph to our silent auction on our second cruise. We also worked with several restaurants over many months that generously donated a percentage of sales on any given evening.

How can Manhattanites become involved in FOAR?
People can become involved in FOAR either monetarily by giving at FOAR.ORG or by sending a check to P.O. Box 91, NY, NY 10021. We also love volunteers to help with upcoming events or to foster animals.

What makes FOAR unique among animal charities?
FOAR is unique because every board member is a volunteer and we are all very hands on. Betsy, our President, at this moment is fostering four cats. In the past she has fostered several dogs, often officially adopting them. We believe in saving one animal at a time, and because we are still small, and growing, that is the most manageable way for us to be successful. Individuals and individual efforts make all the difference!

What animals does FOAR include and does it exclude any type?
FOAR has, to my knowledge, never excluded any animal! Dogs and cats are obviously why we are approached the most, but we have helped horses as well. The only caveat is that the animal be in New York State.

What should everyone know about FOAR that many may not know?
What everyone should know about FOAR, that they may not be aware of, is that we work tirelessly to pull animals from euthanasia lists at city shelters. We do this after a foster situation has been arranged, until the animal is able to be placed in a forever home. We also recently received a grant from Best Friends Animal Society and are now part of their Network for Giving, with a special place on their website for donating.

What future goals do you have for FOAR?
Future goals? To save as many animals as we are able. To get the word out how important it is to spay/neuter. To build a larger foster network to save animals from death row. And most importantly, perhaps, have people understand how important individual efforts are in making a difference in just one animal’s life.

http://foar.org/

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