Soldier Socks "Friendraiser"

Well, my hubby and I held our third annual "Friendraiser" on Saturday night in honor of Soldier Socks.   A few years back, we held a huge party in our backyard and gratefully received about 80 bottles of wine as 'host gifts'.  The following year, we decided to turn that generosity into a fundraising event. Instead of having our guest feel they had to bring a host gift, we asked them to bring a donation for the charity of our choice.  It is NOT required to attend, but it's suggested instead of a gift for us. 

Our first year we raised $8,300.00 for Pet Rescue - a local rescue organization,where we adopted our first dog Lily.  Last year we raised over $11,000.00 for our local food pantry (which we later learned was down to their last $200.00 when we brought over the donations) and this year....I'm pleased to report, our guests raised approximately $10,800.00 for Soldier Socks!!!

Soldier Socks is an organization that collects tube socks, sunscreen and baby wipes and sends them over to our troops serving in Afghanistan.  These basic necessities really help them while they are out in the desert!

Here are a few shots from last night!

The three doggy mascots:  Lily, Nolie and Layla

The donation box I quickly crafted up along with some Soldier Socks car magnets.

The gift table.

Guests received this mason jar filled with red/white/blue jellybeans and a Soldier Socks flashlight.
(our street is pretty dark at night, so we give out flashlights each year!!)

Here's one shot of our backyard

Here's the other side with the YUMMY appetizer display

My hubby surprised Chris, the founder of Soldier Socks, with a custom cake

Here's a close up with the baby wipes, sunscreen and socks!!!  And - the cake was D-lish!!

Here is Chris Meek, the founder on left, along with the LT Governor of Connecticut, Mike Fedele, and our City's mayor, Michael Pavia

And just another picture of Chris, with our friend, Jill in front of the banner we hung in our backyard.

We had a spectacular fall night - I think it was 60 degrees and clear.  Our last guests left about 1:30am and our caterer and her staff did a tremendous job!! It was a terrific party and we are so fortunate that we are able to throw a party like this and that we have generous friends and family that come together to make a difference in our local organizations!!!

Thanks for stopping by today and reading through this!!!

Maria