One of the things Jenny and I decided when we made the life changing decision to drop everything and move to Asheville was that no matter how successful we were, or how much we struggled, we would give back! From local 5ks to raise awareness and money for autism, to local veteran organizations to help bride the gap between those in need and the VA, we’ve been blessed to have opportunities to help bring these organizations to light with our photography. One cause that has always hit home for us has been Brother Wolf Animal Rescue! They are a non-kill animal rescue and shelter that has been around for 10 years now! They are open 365 days a year and for anyone who hasn’t had any experience with brother wolf, let us be the first to tell you that the heart and soul of their staff and volunteers is truly the driving force of this organization! They don’t receive any government funding and their grass roots approach has been well received by the Asheville community, helping BWAR to save thousands of our furry friends every year! For anyone who knows us, we have 3 fur babies we love to death and if we had more space and time, we would most definitely have more!
One of the more popular and events that Brother Wolf throws during the year is its Drag Queen Bingo event! We were first introduced to this in 2016 when we were asked if we could volunteer the for the photo booths that are set up for those in attendance to get fun photos with the drag queens. Of course we said absolutely and we were blessed and fortunate enough to get the invite back this year in 2017! Though most of our year is made up of working with brides and grooms on their wedding day, Drag Queen Bingo photo booths are an absolute blast! Generally all the guests in attendance are having a good time and even the people who get drug along despite their best efforts, eventually end up cracking a smile and having a good time! Of course Bingo keeps the crowd busy for most of the night but while people enter and during intermission, our booths are slap full! And of course, the queens are dancing, singing, cracking jokes, making people smile, and giving the occasional sarcastic hard time (lol).
The crowd last year was so big that Brother wolf decide to open the fun up to two nights and offer a Trivia night on Saturday as well! The crowds fill up the entire floor of the US cellular center and people from all walks of life come to contribute to this amazing cause! The donations made here go directly towards helping the animals and everyone in attendance genuinely cannot wait to give.
This year there was also the added bonus of having one of the most famous and recognizable drag queens in attendance with Lady Bunny! This created such as buzz, I think I had every other person for the first couple hours asking me, “where’s lady bunny!?” “OMG is that her!?”.
Overall the event was an absolute hit like last year and we couldn’t be more thankful to be a part of this event!
As stated previously, Jenny and I love to be able to give back by donating our time and talent to causes just like BWAR! If you or someone you know operates a non-profit that could use some media coverage but may not have the budget, please get into contact, or have them get into contact with us as we are always looking to help new & established organizations that help make an impact on our local community!
Thanks as always for following along, special thanks to our friends and teammates Jenny & Jaime for the help as well as Brother Wolf for the opportunity, and lastly, remember to do something for someone else in need!
-Joe & Jenny