Big dogs. Small dogs. Red dogs. Blue dogs. What better way to bring a group of IAA students together for a howling good time than raising money for the SPCA of Wake County? Along with fur balls of all sizes, the Volunteer Committee at the Institute for Advanced Analytics hosted a HOWL-o-ween Pet Picnic on October 26th at Centennial Fields. In the end, the IAA raised $430 for the SPCA of Wake County and provided a great afternoon for everyone in attendance.
The festivities began at 2 with numerous games being held, thanks to the generosity of several IAA students, but it seems the most popular activity was the mane event: the costume contest. Attendees were encouraged to buy raffle tickets to vote for their pet or others’. The heat was on and those that had the most bark-worthy costumes were eager to find out a winner. After some last-minute entries, votes were counted and the awards for best costumes were handed out:
The top three pets walked away with a goody bag of treats and toys, but dogs weren’t the only winners! We held a raffle, and 9 people won IAA-branded prizes, including business card holders and a laptop case.
In the end, though, everyone was a winner. Dogs had unlimited access to humans who played with them during a beautiful afternoon on Centennial Fields, and humans got to see the pets dressed in their best costumes. This was a wonderful opportunity for all participants to be awarded for supporting donations to the SPCA of Wake County.
The Volunteer Committee is currently howling back with a Holiday Toy Drive for WakeMed Children’s Hospital. If you are an IAA student or know someone who is, ask them about it and get in touch if you’d like to donate a toy! Our goal is to collect 200 toys by December 10th and to put smiles on a few more kids’ faces this holiday season.
Until then,
The Volunteer Committee at the Institute for Advanced Analytics
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