Con report: Furnandocon

     Okay. Maybe this technically wasn't a real convention. But come on. We organized an event involving 100+ furries in about two weeks!  And the money we raised! *dies* For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I'll rewind to somewhere closer to the beginning...

     Once upon a time, it was 2006 and Anthrocon came to Pittsburgh. Many businesses were understandably frightened by the weirdos in animal costumes. But Fernando's Cafe threw it's doors open. By the time I got there in 2007, the owner was having a convention special, with a decent meal for a very cheap price. It was understandably busy. We had to share a table with some people we didn't even know because there just wasn't enough room. It was either 2007 or 2008 when he was assaulted by a mentally unstable person, because he wouldn't give the Convention Special meal price to a person who was not part of Anthrocon. This won him the undying support of everyone in the Anthrocon community, because in their minds, he was standing up for furries. I have no idea how that works, but let's just pretend it makes sense. Anyhow, every year, people line up on the sidewalk to get into his little sandwich shop. It has become an integral part of our convention to go to Fernando's for a lasagna wrap and a T-shirt.

     We, as a community, found out at the beginning of March that Fernando was going to have to close the doors of his restaurant due to the poor economy. At the time, we were merely told that the lack of business was the reason for him closing. It was mentioned a short time later, that Fernando did try to stay open till Anthrocon, but there just wasn't enough money in the business. The furries were upset. No lasagna wraps? We can't have that! There was much discussion on Twitter, Facebook, furry websites, everywhere. A gentleman I talk to online, by the name of ShadowWolf decided he had to have one more lasagna wrap. So he organized a meet-up at the restaurant for April 21. Originally, it was meant for a handful of people to get together and have lunch, and basically, give Fernando a fond farewell for being such an amazing friend to our community.

     I say "originally" because just over a week ago, Uncle Kage made the announcement that Fernando was broke. He had sunk all of his personal money into trying to keep his business afloat till June, because he knew he'd be able to make it up with Anthrocon. That kicked the furries into charity mode.

     I was so excited! I watched the official donation amounts crawl up past the $4000-5000 Fernando would need to stay open till June. Then came the big day. We got to the restaurant an hour and a half early! But when we got there, by being among the first, I got to shake hands with Fernando and tell him how glad I was to be able to come by one last time. OH! I forgot to mention, he didn't know anything about us raising money for him! He just knew that by convincing his employees to come in on their day off, there would be a chance to make some additional money to hopefully stay employed a bit longer.

     Here are a few pictures I managed to get from my spot tucked into a corner:

     Shortly after I finished eating, I made the mistake of going outside for a cigarette. I never got back in. It was way too crowded! So I missed Fernando getting the check for over $21,000 that was raised for him. But this morning, I did finally find video of it.

     It felt so good to be a part of this. When people ask me why I am a furry, this is the kind of thing I think about. I do not know of many groups that can raise that kind of money in one week, when most of the donations come in $5-20 amounts. There were many jokes about getting between furries and their food. But, in my mind, it was more of an instance where we "take care of our own" and Fernando is definitely one of ours. And we get to have lasagna wraps at Anthrocon again!