LANSING, Mich. — The numbers are in! The Capital Area Humane Society has tallied nearly all of the donations from last week's Fur Ball Gala, and it was the most successful yet.
"I think that we're getting very close to understanding how successful the event was. It looks like we raised just over $300,000 for the animals," President and CEO Julia Willson said.
In one night, they raised 15 percent of their yearly budget, shattering their previous record of $265,000 raised in 2019.
This was the first in-person Fur Ball since the start of the pandemic.
"We didn't really know what to expect coming back from two years not hosting the event," Willson said. "Not knowing what effects or impact all that's happened in the last two years would have on the event, and we're overjoyed—just thrilled to see that it came back strong and that so many people showed up to support the animals."
In fact, the event had about 425 attendees.
Willson said all of the money raised will go toward annual operations, "everything it takes to run the shelter and keep these animals safe until they go home."
"Any donation that comes in goes right to the animals right here in the Greater Lansing area," Willson said. "It's a lot of resources that go into taking care of these animals every day from paying our staff to paying for their medical care."
The society's annual budget is around $2 million.
"It's been a tough couple of years not having it as robust as we need it to be," Willson said. "We rely 100 percent on our community. We're privately funded so that's the only way we could do this, is through all the generosity of all the kind people in our community."
Willson said their brand new kitten adoption area should be completed by July.
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