The face that launched over $1,000 in donations
When Redditor Akslfak's cat Refurb (short for Refurbished, after she lost one of her legs as a kitten), made it to the front page of photo sharing site imgur, he had a good laugh about it, and then turned the tortie's 15 minutes of fame into over $1,000 in donations for animal shelters around the world.
After taking the story of his cat's unexpected popularity to internet forum Something Awful, another user joked that they would pay for an autograph from the famous feline. Thinking it was a joke, Akslfak sarcastically replied that if he sent proof of making a $10 donation to a local shelter, he would send him Refurb's pawtograph in the mail.
Much to the surprise of skeptic's everywhere, the autograph seeker posted proof of the donation right away, spurning others to make the same request. Less than a week later, there were 35 donations from around the U.S., and six different countries across four continents.
The "Refurbographs" were created using washable non-toxic ink, and pressed on to custom made postcards. Akalfak says that Refurb "put up with the paw print making like a champ"... probably because she knew it was for a good cause!
"This is by a wide margin the silliest thing that I have ever done, and yet I don't feel that silly about having helped out some animals that need it," Akslfak says. "However, I will feel silly when I go to the post office with a postcard of my cat's paw print, asking for postage to Australia."
After raising $1,300 and running out of custom cards, Akslfak and Refurb are shelving the project for now, but they hope people will still be inspired to donate money to their local animal rescue organizations.
Via Reddit (Akslfak) / imgur
