AFTA, Art 4 the Animals, was created in 2010 to bring awareness to rescue animals in the South Florida area. Our goal was to raise funds for non-profit rescues and shelters. Students from local schools were asked to use their artistic talents and donate their works of art for sale. We also had tremendous support from the local art community, as artists and craftsmen contributed amazing paintings, photography, sculptures and jewelry.
As the event grew in popularity, we invited non-profit rescue groups to join us in the hopes that showcasing their adoptable pets would result in many animals finding new homes. We couldn’t have been more right - there were 29 pet adoptions at our first event!
There was tremendous community support as our raffle prizes were all donated by local merchants and our corporate sponsorships gave new meaning to generosity! AFTA donated 100% of the proceeds of the day, over $5,000, to the Tri-County Humane Society in Boca Raton.
The AFTA event of 2010 was such a great success story that it was unanimously decided this had to become an annual event. And so our story continued…
The 2nd annual Art 4 the Animals event was held on Sunday, September 25, 2011. And much like the prior year, it was filled with success stories! With over 1,000 attendees we raised $7,600 for the pet rescue cause – 75% of which was donated to the Tri-County Humane Society, a no-kill shelter, and 25% was split between the two winning pet rescue groups (as a result of online voting on this website) – we enjoyed being able to help three groups this year! We tallied 21 pending adoptions from the day but the day had even more benefits… we heard back from many rescue groups that they made connections for both new volunteers and foster homes, both of which are needed to keep their organizations running! There were raves about the entertainment, the artists and the vendors as well! Sadly, it did rain and it was one of the hottest heat indexes of the year, both putting a slight damper on our party, but not enough to deter us from accomplishing our goal! Hey, South Floridians are tough!
Thank you all who attended making 2011 an amazing success!
