RErescue.org, the non-profit organization dedicated to growing the foster-volunteer community, is stepping up its activities with a national “moonshot” campaign to reach out to every homeowner in the USA by the end of 2024 and share this lifesaving message: “fostering saves rescue pets.”
Every Door 2024 is a “moonshot mission” that RErescue.org and its founder, Brian Fitzburgh, are basing the organization’s activities around as they plan community activities and a focused membership drive. As a coalition of real estate agents who love animals, they are raising awareness that “fostering saves rescue pets” at their open houses and local public events, RErescue.org is aiming to grow its national membership to be 24,000 strong and reach out to every homeowner in the USA by the end of 2024 in order to grow the foster volunteer community.
“That’s about 80 million homes!” said Fitzburgh. “Just imagine that kind of widespread awareness that ‘fostering saves rescue pets’ and saving thousands and thousands of homeless animals. That’s our moonshot! We’re stepping it up, stepping up big, to really make a difference.”
Seeking only to raise awareness, and not asking anyone to actually foster, adopt or donate, RErescue.org is a uniquely altruistic organization driven purely by the passion for pets and led by a real estate agent who has made this non-profit a full-time passion project. Brian Fitzburgh, the principal of Fitzburgh Realty, is an unstoppable force of nature whose dedication to save rescue pets is his obsession. He is literally like a dog with a bone. Fitzburgh attends real estate conferences not to increase his real estate business, but to create a “Rescue Pet Lounge” and personally walk around the exhibition floor as a human billboard promoting RErescue.org and talking to other real estate agents about how they can help make a difference.
“Realtors are uniquely qualified to spread awareness, because they meet a lot of people,” says Fitzburgh. “They are great at social media, and spreading positive messages comes naturally, so incorporating this cause into their business is a no-brainer. Agents talk to people who are buying and selling homes and they share details about their family, their kids and pets. As agents, we connect with people on an emotional level and that makes our message of awareness so powerful.”
The Fitzburgh Realty Team is based in the Northeast Los Angeles (NELA) neighborhoods of Glassell Park, Highland Park and Eagle Rock, where they are already considered local heroes for their tireless work in their community to raise awareness that fostering saves rescue pets and do their best to help reduce shelter kill rates. “With the help of foster volunteers, homeless animals are no longer locked up in cages, instead, they live happily, out of harm’s way, in the homes of foster volunteers,” says Fitzburgh. “Did you know that you can foster for just a few days? That’s an eye-opening concept that most people don’t know.”
In their local area, RErescue.org has already established popular “Bark and Meow” events such as Glassell Bark and Eagle Rock Bark, welcoming thousands of local residents and visitor for a festive outdoor experience featuring pet-focused fun, including food and Halloween candy, costume parade for kids and dogs, a human barking contest, a doggie kissing booth, local artists, live music performances and much, much more, including adorable, adoptable doggies and kitties.
RErescue.org is also promoting initiatives that people can participate in across the country.
The Be A Hero Challenge asks people to watch and share a 1-minute explainer video about fostering. Simply watch the video and challenge three other people to watch and share with three others too. The Shake Your Booty Challenge asks real estate agents to create a video of themselves doing the “happy doggie dance” by shaking their bootie while saying “Fostering saves rescue pets!” And then they challenge three other realtors to do the same.
Plans are also underway for a massive LA Stadium Community Dog Walk in 2020 and a “National Community Dog Walk Day” as well as a national “Fostering Saves Rescue Pets Awareness Day,” among other events that will enable people across the country to get involved.
>While the outwardly facing mission is to grow the foster volunteer community, the RErescue.org team realizes that “fostering is a band-aid to the underlying problem that too many homeless pets are born because they are not spayed and neutered,” says Fitzburgh. If RErescue.org is successful in attracting 24,000 real estate agents, he says part of the organization’s efforts will be focused on sponsoring spay/neuter events.
RErescue.org is proof of the power of community activism, demonstrating that anyone can be a hero in their own neighborhood. Every Door 2024 might seem like an impossible goal but “I believe in my heart we are actually going to pull it off,” according to Fitzburgh. “You don’t have to be an astronaut – or a world leader – to have a moonshot,” he said. ”All you need is a vision and the conviction and determination to see it through.”
