And the Donation Goes to… Friends of Long Beach Animals

Instead offering the normal trade show giveaways, Branded Group reallocated the expense to help one local non-profit #BeBetter. Attendees of the annual PRSM conference had the unique opportunity to nominate one of five preselected non-profits to receive a $500 donation. Nominations were accepted on the company’s Facebook page. A third party application chose the nominating winner and the non-profit selected by the winner earned the donation

Winning nominator Brianne Bidwell Rechy, national accounts manager with Rainbow International, chose the Friends of Long Beach Animals (FOLBA), and for many good reasons.

“I researched the different organizations and really identified with Friends of Long Beach Animals,” Bidwell Rechy, said. “My husband is a veterinarian, and we have supported many animal advocacy organizations – what’s different about the FOLBA is the approach they take on educating the public about how to be responsible pet owners and stewards, which is a major piece missing in most programs.”

FOLBA promotes low-cost spay and neuter programs for low-income residents of Long Beach and Signal Hill, and provides humane education classes for all school-age children within the Long Beach/Signal Hill area. Since its inception in 1998, FOLBA’s Spay Neuter Incentive Program (SNIP) has sponsored the spaying or neutering of over 18,000 animals and, through its Humane Education Program, started in 2001, it has provided humane education classes to over 100,000 students at no cost.

Shirley Vaughan, President of FOBLA, was excited to be the recipient non-profit.

“I understand that Branded Group attended a trade show here in Long Beach and they chose to donate to a non-profit instead of giving away trinkets. Immediately I was grateful that this company decided to do such a valuable thing for the community,” Vaughan said.

The donation will be used for the organization’s SNIP Program (Spay/Neuter Incentive Program).

“The SNIP program helps the animals as well as their human counterparts, making this community a little bit safer and hopefully contributes toward our goal of a home for every shelter animal,” Vaughan noted.