Best Friends Rescue

The charity for the month of February is Best Friends Rescue.

Best Friends Rescue is a no-kill animal shelter that is entirely run by volunteers.  Currently they save cats and dogs from being put down and help to find them forever homes.  Last year (2011) they helped to rehome 300 dogs.

They rely entirely on donations from the public so this month I am holding a raffle, with all money going to help them.  Check it out, tickets are only $1 each and there are a couple of rad prizes.

Show some support for them on their facebook page, send them a donation or sign up to look after an animal while they help find him/her a forever home.

All photos of animals taken from the list of dogs up for adoption on the BFR page.

World Vegan Day Brisbane

Yesterday (Sunday 6th November) was World Vegan Day celebration time for the folk of Brisbane.  It's the first time that there has been a World Vegan Day celebration this large (that I know of) and it was all thanks to the efforts of Steven from the Vegetarian and Vegan Society of QLD (VVSQ).

I was volunteering there at the Animals Australia stall so I didn't get to browse around too much as we were kept quite busy by people wanting awesome shirts and soft toys.  I did, however, score myself a sample of Notzarella, made by a local Brisbanite.  I shall review it soon.  On nachos!  I also got some free samples of Sweet William chocolate, which has to be my favourite chocolate ever.  I was going to save them for my friend, but I could not resist!

I got to say hi to the awesome folks at the Animal Liberation QLD stall and saw some other awesome organisations including Sea Shepherd, Animal Rescue QLD, Charlie's Angels Horse Rescue and World Society for the Protection of Animals.  While the day was over pretty fast and was a bit smaller than I expected, I have hopes for the future, that it will continue to grow with more food stalls and people coming along!

Apparently a child won my dinosaur plushie, pawprint brooch and stegosaurus brooch that I put into the cent auction, which I am quite happy about.  I plan to give something to the cent auction each time if I can!

Another awesome thing to come out of this: I met a lot of people who I interact with only online and some of them talked with me and I've been inspired to create the Brisbane Animal Activists group on facebook so that we can have stalls for Animals Australia at various markets around the city.  I'll keep you updated on how that goes and feel free to join!

Charity Event - Kisschasy, Movie and Animals Australia

Sunday afternoon and night, I spent my time volunteering for the wonderful organisation Animals Australia.

The event is sponsored by Ben and Jerry's unfortunately so it's not a vegan friendly event by any means (although a representative told us about how they have won awards for their practices).  However, Kisschasy, the headlining band, got to choose the charity that money would be raised for and they chose Animals Australia, which I think is pretty damn awesome of them.

Janelle brought along some rad vegan cupcakes that she invented the recipe for (hopefully she shares it!).

The other bands that played on the night were Hungry Kids of Hungary and Glass Towers.  There was also an awesome movie, Life in a Day that was played, the trailer for which is below.  Unfortunately I left after being there from 4-7 so I didn't get to see it :(.

All in all, the day was pretty chilled.  We sold a few badges, but most people were there for the music, not to talk to us about animals.  Hopefully the event helped to raise some money for Animals Australia so that they can continue to do an awesome job!

Animals Australia

I donate 10% of my sales through Kommoner to charity and have mini bake sales at the Suitcase Rummage (although I usually end up giving the last of the vegan cupcakes away for free).  When I have the time and money, I run auctions and fundraising events too.  I believe that making a difference starts with yourself.  In a year, I have raised over $2,500 for various charities :).

Last month, I asked people which charity they preferred and the winner was Animals Australia.  So far I have raised $20.75.

This is how pigs are 'factory farmed' in Australia.

Animals Australia is most well known for their campaigns against live export, sow stalls and factory farming.  They are a relatively new organisation however they are having a big impact in helping to raise awareness about non-human animal rights issues and environmental issues.

Where do your eggs come from?

I first found out about them when I was searching for places to discuss vegetarianism, back in 2009.  I met a lot of awesome people on the Unleashed forums, who I now interact with through facebook.

I have helped out at Animals Australia stalls at Green Earth Day and Soundwave and have had a lot of fun (asides from the one guy at Soundwave who wanted to discuss the 'purpose' of non-human animals with me).

I am glad to be helping out such an awesome organisation this month!  Do you do anything like this?  Let me know!  I love hearing inspiring stories and knowing that I'm not alone.  I'm also trying to decide on which charity to donate to permanently so if you have any tips on how to make a decision, let me know haha.

Thank You!

Thank you all so much for being a part of this!  Together, we managed to raise $806.00 through the auction.  All of the money raised will be going to Oxfam to help with the current crisis in Africa.

A special thank you to Tegan, who made the largest donation.  To see the total as the money comes in, or to make an extra donation, click here.
 

Also a special thank you to the following businesses, without whom none of this would have been possible:

B.Inspired
Catamation
Carol Toogood
Catbirds
Dementedfaery
Designed by Ali
Each to Own
Freaki - Niche... crafts for the slightly Twisted!
Hanami Craft
Ink & Whim
Itty Bitty
Kym's Videography
LenaLime
Little Lala's Jewellery
Loopy Designs
MadeforYouAlone Exclusive HandMade Jewellery 
Me & Holly.B
Milestone Gifts
Ruffbat Creative
Savage Kitten
Silver Tooth Vintage
Simmone Grinder, The Little Orchard and Your Organ Grinder
SKULLMONKEY ART + DESIGN
Smallprint Brisbane East
Stacey Lia . Designer
Surreal Photography
Nicole
Vegan Products You Can Buy in Australia
Voodoo Rabbit 

Thank you!

Update from ARK

I recently received an email update from ARK which I thought I'd share with you all.  Remember the auction that we had back in March?  Well in total we raised $587.00 for them and this is where the money has gone.

Chappy

"As of 29th May, 197 dogs, 17 cats, a guinea pig, rabbit and a masked love bird have come in here.  Once at Osaka ARK, they are processed fairly quickly by our resident vet; de-wormed, vaccinated, blood tested for heart worm, microchipped and neutered.  We send details of the animals with photos back to the local authorities to try to find the owners.  Already several have found their owners and those will be boarded at ARK until they are in a place where they can take their pets back."

Isn't it great to hear that they are already starting to reunite people and pets?  I'm so glad I chose them to help in March!

Vivi-chan

Unfortunately, there is some sad news; the government wouldn't allow people in to rescue the animals in the 20km zone so there are still many animals trapped and in need of rescuing.

"After the petition campaigns from ARK and other welfare groups and a protest in Shibuya they [the government] announced that they will be allowing owners to take out their pets and that any animals found left in yards and homes to be brought out by officials.  They did pick up some of the animals but the numbers were so low it hardly makes a dent on the amount of animals needing rescue.  The government arranged a team of vets to go into the zone to rescue animals, however these are not trained or experienced rescuers and the outcome was a meager 20 animals rescued and they are not planning to attempt another rescue for months."

Moo

Want to help more?  Head to their website to sponsor a pet or purchase a pack of cards.

*All photos taken from the ARK Lifeline Network page.

Auction for Oxfam

I am currently hosting an Auction for Oxfam on my Facebook page.

All money raised will be going straight to Oxfam to help with the crisis in East Africa.  You can see how much I've raised at my Everday Hero Page or even donate an extra $5 to help save at least one life.

Photograph: WFP / R. Lee

We in the first world, with access to things like the internet, healthcare, cars, water, electricity, etc, who have been lucky enough to be born in these countries, have a responsibility to help out other human beings.

Please share this event as much as possible.  I've made this poster that is available to download so that you can stick it up at work, on notice boards, wherever you can, to help spread the word.

I am still looking for more vegan-friendly donations so please feel free to contact me at kommonerkraft (at) yahoo (dot) com (dot) au.

Online Auction to Help Brisbane Valley Cat Rescue

And they're off!  Bidding has already started on a lot of the items up for auction on Skeleton Closet's page (you have to friend them on Facebook to bid).  While there was a technical difficulty at the beginning, it is good to see that it is all up and I'd encourage you to let Skeleton Closet know how rad she is for doing this.  It takes a lot of time and effort to put something like this together and I for one, am impressed.  Well done!

Awesome lacquered origami beetle pin from Catamation

I myself have been bidding furiously on some items since midnight in the hopes that getting in early will encourage others (and maybe if the bids are high enough, let me win hehe).  My personal favourites are the beetle pins by Catamation and the cards by Catbirds (which I have on my wall from winning in the P.A.A. Auction).

Card, postcard and magnet set from Catbirds

The auction is to raise much needed funds for Brisbane Valley Cat Rescue (previous write up here).  There are over ONE HUNDRED awesome items to choose from, ranging from quirky handmade items to lingerie!  It's great to see such a response from all kinds of businesses; small to large.  Everyone seems to be opening their hearts to help out.  I encourage you to 'like' the small handmadies pages and share this auction with friends as it is really a large sacrifice on their part when making a donation.

Earrings from Loopy Designs

All bidding starts at $2.00 and goes up by $1.00 increments.  The auction will run from 12:00am 6th June to 11:59pm 13th June.  This means that you have plenty of time to bid and fight (playfully) for the ones you like.  Remember to keep it nice and don't be rude!  This is all for the kittens and cats.

Jewellery from Ruby Louise

 I hope that you can find it in your hearts to help these wonderful volunteers by bidding on an item.  It's basically like getting rewarded for donating!  Please spread this far and wide in order to help as much as possible <3.

Gift pack from Skullmonkey Art + Design

Suitcase Rummage

So Sunday 5th of April was my seventh Suitcase Rummage!  Woo!

This month I was raising money for Peninsula Animal Aid.  I had a lot of people ask me if I am part of the organisation; I'm not, I just like to help out where I can through bake sales.  I managed to raise $46.60 using my amazing powers of vegan baking!

Chocolate cupcakes and carrot cake

The Suitcase Rummage is great.  It's a good opportunity for you to either sell your old stuff or to try out things that you are making yourself.  It's only $10 and to register you just have to check the blog here.

 
It runs from 12-5pm on the first Sunday of each month at the top of Queen Street outside the library (opposite the casino).  I encourage anyone wanting to make things to give this market a go.  If you don't make things, come along and get yourself some locally made wonders to spoil your friends (or yourself ;p).

Brisbane Valley Cat Rescue

The charity I chose to donate to for the month of May is Brisbane Valley Cat Rescue.

They are a no kill, not for profit centre run by volunteers who take in stray, surrendered and abandoned cats and look after them until they can find them permanent homes.

Unfortunately, this is expensive.  Cats require lots of food, kitty litter, toys, medicine and vet bills, not to mention attention and care.

This month, thanks to the help of some generous buyers who donated extra, a vegan bake sale at the Suitcase Rummage and the 10% I donated from sales, we were able to put together $106.75 worth of donations.

If you'd like to help out and donate more, or take a cat in to love forever, please check out their website.  Otherwise, leave a message of support on their Facebook page.

I will be donating to them every second month as I truly believe that they are making a difference.

*These photos were taken from their Facebook page*

Peninsula Animal Aid

I recently ran an auction to raise money for Peninsula Animal Aid.  Together, with the might of the internet, we managed to raise....

$118.00!

Thank you  to everyone who was involved, this would not have been possible without you sharing the auction.

Peninsula Animal Aid is a non-profit organisation that is run by unpaid volunteers with a passion for helping animals.  They rescue dogs and cats in Redcliffe, north of Brisbane.  The animals are strays, from council pounds, some are surrendered or abandoned and yet others are saved from horrible living conditions.  P.A.A. aims to find them 'forever homes' where they can have a loving family and be happy and safe.  These people are doing an amazing thing and I am proud of everyone for helping me to help them.

Do you have room in your home and heart for a pet that needs love?  Check out their website here, there are heaps of different ways that you can help.

*All photos are taken from the P.A.A. website and are of animals requiring homes.  Some of them are by Wet Nose Fotos, found here.

ARK Auction

The ARK Auction managed to raise $588.00!  All of this money will be going to help animals in Japan through the Animal Refuge Kansai.

Brooch donated by Hungry Designs.

I'm still going through all of the invoices but wow!  The generosity of people is truly moving!  Thank you all so much for being involved in this and spreading the word.  It could not have been done without you!

Bat donated by Carol.

 Please check out the pages of those who donated and tell them how brilliant they are :).

Swallow pendant donated by Jubly-Umph.

Animal Refuge Kansai

I saw a tweet by oh, danger! (@ohdangershop on twitter) about postcards for sale to raise money for animals in Japan.  So of course I bought some, and you can too, by clicking here.

Image of the postcards from the sale page.

After buying four sets of these adorable postcards, I proceeded to do some more research into the organisation the money was going to.

ARK, or Animal Refuge Kansai, is a Japanese based animal refuge.  They try to find homes for unwanted and homeless animals.  At the moment, with all the disasters happening in Japan, they are experiencing an influx of homeless animals.  So I, too, have decided to help!

I will be running an auction on my Facebook page and I am opening it up to anyone who wants to contribute.  Photographers, crafters, illustrators, ANYONE.  This is going to rely a lot on people such as yourselves spreading the word.  I'm doing as much as I can but I do need your help!

The auction album can be found here.

I've currently got four of my own soft toys up for auction worth $100.  It'd be great if I can get people bidding that high and it would be great to get other people contributing, so off you go, spread the word! ;)

February Donation - UPROAR

This month, I decided to donate 10% of my sales to UPROAR.

Picture from their website

UPROAR stands for United Protection and Rescue Organisation for Animal Rights.  They use the money raised to promote awareness about animal rights issues.  They also perform rescues and investigations.  I'm glad to say that I have helped them out a little bit this month.

Check out their Facebook page here.

This month a total of $39.80 was raised to help them out :).

50% to the RSPCA Flood Appeal

For the month of January I will be donating 50% of all sales made through Kommoner to the RSPCA Flood Appeal.

The RSPCA will be using these donations to rebuild shelters, purchase equipment and help out all the animals that have been lost and displaced due to the QLD floods.

Crazy Eye - $15.00; $7.50 to RSPCA

Although, if you are able to make a straight donation, then please do.  They really need the money to help out the animals that have been displaced.

TOMG's Flood Appeal Auction

The Oz Material Girls (TOMG's for short) are a mother and daughter duo who I first found out about here when I was surfing the net for fabrics.

They are currently running an auction here to raise money for the Premier's Flood Relief.

Kindly Donated by : So Lilly
www.facebook.com/solilly.baby

Many crafters, photographers, designers, hairdressers and others from around Australia have donated literally HUNDREDS of different of items to the auction.

Kindly Donate by : SofiBOO
www.facebook.com/mySofiBOO

 
TOMG's have already raised over $16,000 just from the kindness of the people who have donated items and the people who are bidding.

Kindly Donated by : Kreated By Kel
http://www.facebook.com/KreatedByKel

The auction ends on Monday January 24th 8:30PM Sydney time, so get in and place a bid while you can!