Wow! We're Overwhelmed!

We've been posting about this year's Shelter Shiver fundraising event since November. First launched in January of 2011, we thought this would be a fun, unique way for us to raise funds for our rescue work. In our inaugural year, we had about 18 people who joined us on New Year's Day to brave the Chicago winter and jump in Lake Michigan to support Project Resuce and ALIVE Rescue. We had a lot of fun and we raised a few thousand dollars—we decided to make it an annual gig.

So this year we set the stakes higher. We challenged our friends and supporters to join us. We set the bar for dollars raised at $10,000—not sure if we could do it, but sure hoping! We talked up the mild weather and encouraged people to rope their friends into jumping with them.

This past Sunday morning, we were overwhelemed to have over 200 people join us as we headed down to the chilly sands of Lake Michigan! Groups and individuals; costumed, bare and bundled up; young at heart and just plain young—we even had a few furry spectators.

A special thanks to Busy Bee Productions—their team raised $2,000!

Temerpatures hovered just over 40 degrees!

None of this would be possible without the dedication of Kristen (ALIVE Resecue), Lindsay (Project Rescue Chicago) and Bridgid (Project Rescue Chicago).

Go time was 11 o'clock sharp—no exceptions!

It wasn't miserably cold, but it was certainly cold enough to ensure that no one lingered!



Afterwards, we all convened at the Old Town Ale House to commiserate, raise a glass to the weather gods in thanks for the mild temperatures, and warm up.

And here's the most amazing part: We didn't just meet our goal. Between our individuals lake jumpers, our team jumpers and some corporate matching donations, the event raised over $40,000—and $21,000 goes straight to Project Rescue! We still can't believe it!

We've always known our pups are very special pups. Yesterday's turnout and the amazing fundraising support just shows us that we also also have very special people backing us up. To those of you who helped make Shelter Shiver 2012 a raging success, we can't begin to tell you how much it means to us and how grateful we are to have your support. To those of you who weren't able to join us, consider some of the reasons we dreamed up this crazy fundraiser—and then consider joining us next year!

To view more photos, visit our Facebook photo album.