On November 5, Safe Haven Baby Boxes Inc held their annual gala/fundraiser, This year in Louisville, Kentucky. SHBB claims that the yearly event is its major source of funding so it is a big big big deal. For weeks the SHBB Facebook page was filled with daily notes and reminders to buy tickets and to donate money and items for the silent auction. For extra dollars, attendees could get their pictures taken with keynoter movie star Kirk Cameron or get to sit at the head table with him and Mrs. Kelsey. We were promised the special guest appearance of boxed babies. I was really excited about the whole thing, and I contemplated ordering a ticket. I especially wanted to meet the babies. We could swap foundling stories and head bumps. Unfortunately, there was no special rate for low-income cats offered. That worked out in the end, though, since I would have had to take a Greyhound to Louisville (I don’t fly) and that’s just too unpleasant to ruminate on. On my last bus trip, I was forced to sit next to a gentleman drinking a bottle of Fireball from a brown paper bag who keeled over on my head. When I complained to the driver, he threatened to throw me off the bus.
Anyway, more than a week has gone by and there has been barely a boo! about the event on SHBB social media or their webpage. Outside of a thank you note, it’s radio silence.
It’s weird.
It hasn’t always been like that. Earlier “galas” have been met with huzzahs and hurrahs, scads of pictures of babies and regular people whooping it up, and comments from attendees and fans. I mean a lot. A few years ago keynoter Willie Robertson (Duck Dynasty) was a popular pictorial subject and Mrs. Kelsey wrote a rather amusing account about picking him up at the airport.
Where’s the gala? This year’s lack of post-party coverage throws me. You’d never know it happened unless you’d been following the page. At first, I thought the organization had listened to our complaints about the dog and pony show where they poodled “their” babies around the ballroom, and decided to keep those on the down low. That’s fine. But why not Kirk, Mrs. Kelsey, and the adults?
Where’s the gala? I started to worry. Did the gala actually happen? Did Kirk Cameron’s plane crash? (We would have heard about that). Did his SHBB check bounce? Like one of those horrible stories you read about where nobody shows up to a birthday party, did everyone stay home to watch Svengoolie? I looked at FB pages of people and organizations connected to SHBB, but zilch. Then I got egotistical. They don’t me to see them. Meow! that’s silly, of course. Maybe they have a secret dedicated FB page for special people. Maybe they are putting together a video. Maybe they are drunk. Maybe they are just lazy. Eventually, I found a handful of pictures on a couple of individual personal FB pages. Those pictures belong to those people and I’m not posting them.
We (the Putative Boss and I that is) have been involved in throwing several non-profit fundraisers and conferences over the years and we posted news and pictures all over the place right away. Besides being the thing to do, it gives donors a bang for their buck. They can see their money actually went someplace other than your trip to Aruba.
Stop Safe Haven Baby Boxes Now! is planning our own gala at the Library of Congress next year. Right now it’s a toss-up between Taylor Swift and Elon Musk for the keynote. One wants us to pay them $150,00 and the other wants to pay us $375 billion for the privilege of speaking to us. At least that’s what they told us on Twitter.
In the meantime, I know it is none of our business if SHBB Inc doesn’t, for once, parade its virtues around but I can’t help but wonder what is going on. Did they take too seriously No Shame, No Blame, No Name?
I checked again just before posting this and there is now a very short TikTok post of a little boxed boy.
Why is everything always so weird with the baby box gang? Sometimes after I blog and need a nice handful of treatos to calm down…In Love and Solidarity, Angelika the Personal Assistant Cat
Poke the Bear?
We Poke Back!
Day 13 NAM/NAAM/NanoPoblano
Originally posted: Stop Safe Haven Baby Boxes Now! November 13, 2022
Svengoolie? You are not old enough to remember that reference, unless it was in a former life!
And if you don’t fly, how have you been to Aruba?
I am rather pleased that you and the PB did not attend the gala. It could have been dangerous for all attendees. They could not handle the truth, to coin a phrase.
I meant their trip to Aruba, not mine! Isn’t that what fundraisers are for? One of their critics claim they own their own airplane! Even I wouldn’t even say that — Angelika, the Petsonal Assistant Cat
I have been involved in volunteer and charity work a lot over the years and I have noticed the same about a lot of galas and fundraisers this year (and part of last) but this year especially. There seems to be no real participation and then it is just kind of silent when they do happen. It is odd.
It’s very weird. They are all about self-promotion and $$$. According to Kirk Cameron’s management page, he charges $50,000 per shot. They can afford him, but that’s a lot of money to me. I know you gotta spend money to make money, but that’s sort of excessive. Anyway, I hope I rattled their cage. Thanks for posting.