Proud to be a furry

[tigertoy]

It's been the main topic of discussion in furry fandom lately, but the rest of my readers (all 3 of you) may not have heard about it.  In downtown Pittsburgh, there's an independent business called Fernando's Cafe, that got hit hard by the recession and was about to close.  It's right next to the Anthrocon venue, and they made a point of welcoming the furries in, and a bunch of people had good memories of eating there.  So Uncle Kage decided to see if he could round up the $4000 Fernando needed to stay in business until June.  Furries all over the world, including many who'd never been to Anthrocon and Fernando's, chipped in, and raised over $21,000 to help Fernando retire his debts and stay in business.  A bunch of folks get to keep their jobs, Anthrocon gets to keep Furnando's, and pretty much everybody wins except for the corporate fast food outlets where people would have to eat instead.  But how many special interest groups would bother to try to pass the hat to keep a business that catered to their convention open, much less succeed?

Furries and the kindest and most generous bunch of people I've ever run across, and I'm delighted that they let me hang around with them.

(Go look at Kage's journal if you want more details.)

Comments

[trektone.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful story and outcome! Thanks for posting this.

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

There's nothing better than an odd little misunderstood subculture, be it hard-core model rocket nerds, filkers, or furries.