Where’s Gizmo? And other doglet thoughts…
Gizmo, Patch’s Manchester and Regional Top Dog, was asked to write a blog. Now it’s not every day your dog is asked to dogblog for an online news source. So of course Gizmo is delighted. He hopes to delight Patch readers as well! So on with the show…where’s Gizmo this week, and what’s news in the world of pets and pet rescue…
And hi. I’m Gizmo the (4 pound) Wonderdoglet. Some of you might recall
an by Manchester Patch Editor Dave Moran. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a peek. It will help you get to know me!
Ok, now onto the blog part: Where's Gizmo?
Guess what I did yesterday? I went to the National Night Out in Rockville! In fact, about 1,500 people (and dogs) attended National Night Out, a community
and law enforcement effort to promote drug-free activities. We all enjoyed free food (I prefer hamburgers but my mom doesn’t approve), various booths and live music.
I didn’t know Patch was going to be there, so when I saw the big Patch canopy and met Patch Editors Chris Dehnel (Vernon), Erin Quinlan (Ellington-Somers)
and Jayme Kunze (Tolland) for the first time, I was so surprised! And, since the Patch ran the Top Dog contest that was so much fun for me and all my friends who followed it, I was happy to join them at their table and help them promote their online Patch newsletter. Did you know you can get Patch’s newsletter right in your email every day? That way all the day’s top news is just a click away! Can you believe it? I signed up! I hope you do too.
Now for the second part of my dogblog. Each one of my segments will include
information on pet rescues or just a cool story about an amazing local
pet. This week I have some really great news to share! See, Patch sent me a gift card for winning the regional round of the Top Dog contest, and I decided to
donate it to a pet rescue. Through this experience I learned that there are many rescue efforts in great need of resources. At the same time, some of my
friends (or “frens” as I call them) on my Facebook Fan Page started asking me if
they could get Gizmo T-shirts! I started thinking, “What if I sold Gizmo T-shirts and did some other fundraising in an effort to raise funds for other pet rescues?
So I started doing the foot work (ok paw work) to make this happen. But everywhere I went, I was told I needed to be a nonprofit organization in order to fundraise in pet stores and other area businesses. I was a little discouraged,
until the light bulb went off *ping* and I decided, “Well why can’t I just
start my own nonprofit? If that’s what I need to do, I’ll just do it!”
I am excited to announce it is now official. Gizmo’s Frens, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is now up and running! And I get to be the HDIC (Head Dog In Charge)! Our mission is to raise awareness and funds for pet rescues and other charitable organizations. We will be making appearances at local pet
stores, farmers markets, etc. Each time we will be raising funds for a specific area rescue, so people will know exactly where their money is going. 100%
of our profits go directly to charity. I don’t even get a hamburger out of the deal. Do you like hamburgers? I do.
Hey listen! Did you go to the National Night Out in Vernon yesterday? Or do you have an amazing pet you’d like me to feature in my dogblog (it doesn’t have to be a dog – I am an equal opportunity pet blogger!) Or do you know of a pet rescue that is doing awesome things for pets who need them? Let me know in the comments section. I’d love to hear all about it!
Sined, The Gizmo.
