Spring Fling 2023 Wrap

We can't believe that Spring Fling 2023 has come to a close. It was a fun journey and although the weather was definitely not ideal, we had a fun event too! We are so grateful to everyone that braved the cold rain with us! We are grateful for everyone that came out with or without their pooch (& ferret), that supported us and the rescues and the vendors and the food trucks and our sponsors and to everyone that participated in the soggy Easter Egg Hunt.

We are also grateful to everyone that donated to the Easter Egg Hunt online that may not have gotten to participate this year. We are so appreciative of everyone that purchased t-shirts and raffle tickets and Easter Eggs. 100% of the funds from these will be divided up and sent directly to the animal welfare non-profits/rescue organizations. We are so grateful that 19 non-profit groups came out and enjoyed the event with us. Each of these groups will be receiving a check this week thanks again to everyone that donated! The total cash that you raised for these very special groups comes to $9,017 and every penny will be appreciated. These groups have also been picking up physical donations and we will post pictures of this soon on our Facebook page!

Here are the groups that you helped support:

4 Directions Rescue

American Brittany Rescue

Canine Community Outreach of NC

Charlie Mike

Facilitate Rescue

Freedom German Shepherd Rescue

H.E.A.R.T.

Lab Rescue LRCP

Lending Paws a Hand

Love Mutts Rescue

Mia's Mafia

Pawsitively Pugs Rescue

Pet Pals NC

Puffie's Pawz Rescue

Spirit Canine Rescue

The Goathouse Refuge

Vets to Vets United

Wake County Animal Center

Thank you also for voting in our online rescue photo contest. Beautiful Together Rescue Group won 500 lbs of VICTOR pet food from our sponsor.

We are so thankful for all of our sponsors,

especially so many that came out to the event and gave out samples and answered questions.

THANK YOU to our Presenting Sponsors: Nature's Logic pet food, and VICTOR pet food, both available at Unleashed!

THANK YOU to our Tote Bag Sponsors: Pet Releaf, Stella & Chewy's, Small Batch, Open Farm, Fromm, Instinct, Steve's Real Food (also all available at Unleashed!)

THANK YOU to our Fun Sponsor: First Bank

THANK YOU to our T-Shirt Sponsors: All Dogs Allowed, Austin & Kat, Dirty Dogs Spa, Injoya, Mosa Pet Spa Resort, Pet Butler Cary, Stella & Chewy's, Himal Dog Treat, Canine Caviar, Aroma Paws, Ezy Dog & Veronica's Doggie Delights

THANK YOU to all of our Prize and Raffle Sponsors: Fluff & Tuff, Mountain Dog, Lupine, Ultra Oil, 2 Hounds, Adored Beast, Austin & Kat, Dezi & Roo, Earth Rated, From the Field, Einstein's, Front Porch Pets, Go Cat, Hugsmart, Injoya, Multipet, Natural Dog, Ndependent, Nordic Naturals, Pet Adventure Worldwide, Petsafe, Plato, Primal, Shepherd Boy, Vital Essentials, Koha, Dog Treat Naturals, Koka Booth Amphitheatre, many of our vendors & rescues, & More (also find these great products at Unleashed!)

We are so delighted that so many vendors braved the rain with us to bring you great food, great products, great samples, and more!

THANK YOU, Food Trucks: Will & Pops, Mr. Cheesesteak, Party in a Pita, & Koka Booth Concessions

THANK YOU, Sponsor Vendors: Nature's Logic Pet Food, VICTOR Pet Food, Austin & Kat, Injoya, Pet Releaf, Plato, NDependent, Stella & Chewy's

THANK YOU, Local Vendors: All Dogs Allowed, Emily Petrilla Illustrations, Five Freedoms Photography, Furever Amigos, LHomemade Crafts, Mobile Paw Clips, My Buddy Bandanas, Paws Fur Joy Photography, Pet Butler, PetSound Daycare and Boarding, Red Dog Bakery, The Dabba Company, The Sassy Daisy, Triangle Treat Co, & Veronica's Doggie Delights

THANK YOU, musicians, for keeping the good vibes and playing through with cold hands: Steve Hobbs Quartet, featuring Steve Hobbs and Bill Easley AND The Whiskey Rebellion

THANK YOU also to all of the wonderful Unleashed employees who put many hours into this event. Every Unleashed employee deserves a thank you, especially those that worked all day in the cold rain. There were some pretty cold hands and feet at the end of the day, and we couldn't have done it without you, so thank you all for being such good sports and not giving up on us. An extra thank you also to everyone that pitched in at the warehouse doing all of the behind-the-scenes stuff like stuffing and sealing 6,000 eggs with prize slips (also printing and laminating these,) printing labels and stuffing badges (shout-out Jane,) securing prizes for the Egg Hunt (shout-out Julia, Lexy, & John), making all of the raffle baskets (shout-out Lexy), filling 600 tote bags for the Easter Egg Hunt, organizing all of the physical donations and loading them into the trucks of the receiving groups (shout-out Josh and team), and so much more. An extra THANK YOU to John for getting all of the major sponsors. And an extra THANK YOU to Lexy for being involved in all of these, plus blogging, newsletters, social media, and so much more! And, on the personal side, a shout-out to the grandparents for watching the kiddos extra while we put in many extra hours :).

Our hands were cold, but are hearts remained warm and we are grateful for an incredibly supportive community that didn't let the weather ruin our event. We will get planning next year's Spring Fling very soon and will be hoping that the weather turns out better so that we can raise even more for the rescue groups and see even more dogs (and other pets too!)

If you attended this year and would like to provide feedback, please use this form: https://forms.gle/5D4TWRVk4LAjW4Ro9

If you have pictures, please tag us #UnleashedSpringFling or email Lexy@unleashedmutt.com.

We are so grateful to so many, whether mentioned here or not, we appreciate you. If you read this, we appreciate you! If you support us or any of our sponsors, thank you. If you support Spring Fling in any way, thank you. Thank you again everyone and stay tuned for upcoming announcements about Spring Fling 2024!

Amy (& JP) Phinney,

owner/founder of Unleashed, the Dog & Cat Store

www.unleashedmutt.com

promoter/founder of Unleashed's Spring Fling Dog & Cat Fundraiser

www.K9SpringFling.com

Easter Egg Hunt- Sign Up is Live!

Who's ready for the largest doggie Easter Egg Hunt you've ever seen? Are you ready for your pup to hunt for eggs filled with prizes (well, redeemable prize vouchers because most of your pet's favorite things won't fit in an egg,) while also raising money for pets that aren't as fortunate?

We are! Ok, well, we are in spirit- I mean, we are still working hard collecting all of the amazing prizes, and still need to actually stuff the eggs... - but, we are ready to get you signed up so you don't miss out!!

If you really want to participate in the Egg Hunt, we HIGHLY recommend pre-registering. If we are able, we will take walk-ins, but there's certainly no guarantee we will be able to. If you pre-register, you will not only reserve your spot to hunt, you will also get a commemorative tote bag pre-stuffed with goodies from our sponsors!! (Check out our tote sponsors here)

So, how do you sign up? We are trying something new this year for our fundraising and that is a fundraising platform called GiveButter. All on this site, you can sign up for the egg hunt, buy event t-shirts, and give donations. You can also get a FREE General Admission "ticket" which will enter you to win a prize. Tickets are not actually needed to enter Spring Fling, but letting us know you are coming, really helps us plan the best possible event for you!

Follow these steps to sign up for the Egg Hunt:

1. Check out our new fundraising platform: https://givebutter.com/UnleashedsSpringFling

2. Click on the button on the top right that says, "Donate & Tickets."

3. Purchase as many "tickets" as you like. Each egg hunt ticket is labeled with an egg hunt start time. This is the time you would need to arrive at the egg hunt, but you can search as long as you like once you start. Choose an available start time and select that ticket.

4. Decide how many eggs you would like to hunt, and purchase 1 ticket for every 5 eggs. Each $10 ticket is good for collecting 5 eggs. You may purchase as many available tickets as you would like. 1 ticket = 5 eggs, 2 tickets = 10 eggs, More Tickets = More eggs

5. Consider adding raffle tickets (each $5 raffle ticket gets you 5 raffle entries to win some amazing prizes,) and/or t-shirts (pre-buy your 2023 Commemorative Spring Fling t-shirt!)

6. Click continue to finalize. You will enter your info and be given an opportunity to add extra donation if you like. You don't have to have your ticket, but if you do print or save the ticket info to your phone, it will make check-in at the event go smoother.

Where does the money go?

We hold every penny we collect from you until the event is over and the total can be finalized. Once we have a fundraising total (eggs+shirts+cash+raffles+other,) we evenly divide every single cent by the number of rescue groups/non-profit animal organizations that join us at Spring Fling and send them a check. The rescues love getting the cash to spend however they most need it. We keep nothing. Separately from the donation that comes to us, GiveButter will ask you for the processing fees and an optional tip to keep their services free to us.

How does the magic happen?

We are so grateful to all of our sponsors that help cover the costs so every single penny we collect from you can go straight to the rescue groups! Please thank and support our sponsors:

• Unleashed employees for all their hard work getting prizes, stuffing eggs, stuffing totes, and so much more

• Our presenting sponsors, Nature's Logic and VICTOR, for providing the funds to make the event happen

• Our Tote Bag sponsors, who cover the cost of the tote bags, the goodies inside, and lots of egg prizes (in alphabetical order): Fromm, Instinct, Open Farm, Pet Releaf, Small Batch, Stella & Chewy's, Steve's Real Food

• Our T-shirt sponsors, who cover the cost of the T-shirts- sponsors TBA, stay tuned

• All of our wonderful partners who send prizes for the eggs and the raffles

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU- to our sponsors, to you, and to everyone that is a part of our Annual Spring Fling Dog & Cat Fundraiser!

Happy Hunting!

Check out our Tote Bag Sponsors: Welcome our Tote Bag Sponsors! (k9springfling.com)!

New Venue for 2023: Koka Booth Amphitheatre

8003 Regency Parkway, Cary, NC 27518

We are excited to announce a new venue for 2023! Although we are a bit sentimentally attached to our previous location, we have decided to try something new for our 10th Annual Spring Fling!

Join us April 8th from 12 - 6 pm at KOKA BOOTH AMPHITHEATRE in Cary, NC!

Koka Booth offers lots of outdoor space including a sunny grass lawn, several areas of shady pine trees, a professional music Amphitheatre, and a connection to Symphony Lake Greenway around Symphony Lake.

There is also plentiful parking, restrooms, and easy access from 40, 70, 440, 1, 64, and more!

Venue Details:

Weather: This is an outdoor venue, and Spring Fling is rain or shine. We're all wishing for a beautiful spring sunny day, but we'll pull the rain jackets out if needed,- the show must go on ☺. In the event of really severe weather, call the Koka Booth Weather Hotline: 919-459-8332.

Pets: Pets are allowed at Koka Booth for this event. Pets must be on a non-retractable leash that is 6' or less or contained in a crate, x-pen, or stroller at all times. Please pick up after your pet.

Cash: Koka Booth Amphitheatre is a cashless venue. Cash is not accepted at the Box Office, Concessions, or at Guest Services. This event will not be using the Box Office, but some Concessions will be open. For this event many outside vendors will accept cash and/or credit/debit cards. ATMs will NOT be on-site.

Bag Policy: Bags will be allowed at this event. However, please keep in mind that Koka Booth Amphitheatre has enhanced its public safety policies regarding bags and purses allowed in the venue including clear bags. Bags are subject to search and metal detectors will be in place.

Parking: Enjoy complimentary parking in the venue owned lots located outside the main gate/box office. For more details, click here.

Address & Directions: 8003 Regency Parkway, Cary, NC 27518 For directions, click here.

More questions about the venue? We highly recommend that you check out the "Know Before You Go FAQs" page on the Koka Booth Amphitheatre website: FAQs | Booth Amphitheatre.

We're excited to see Spring Fling at Koka Booth this year and hope that you are too!