Digging Up Positivity - July 2022

Hello and welcome to another episode of Digging Up Positivity! The summer is in full swing. And we have many amazing conventions and fundraisers out there! A lot of furs amongst us have shown that their generosity knows no bounds! But otter than that, we have some cool animation news and our special guest for this month is Keenora. A friendly German wolf known for not just his crazy antics in fursuit but for some lovely charity initiatives as well. And of course, at the end of this episode I will tell you who won last month's raffle: A license for Clip Studio Paint, the software I, together with many artists use for my art. But first, the latest charities!

StratosFur

This year, the theme of StratosFur was ‘Cruising the Milky Way’ complete in the typical 50’s style. With 798 attendees they raised $1.139.23 for Give us Paws. An organisation focused on training dogs for veterans suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury and other limited mobility, but they are also helping other people who are disabled according to the American's with Disabilities Act.

AnthroCon

Kage: It's like coming home after an incredibly long and difficult trip.

Zafara: It is the people of Pittsburgh and its people that makes this so special, because of the way you welcome us.

After several years, Anthrocon finally returned to Pittsburgh and they were received by open arms, or paws if you will. And just like previous years they did raise a substantial amount for Wildlife Works Inc. a non profit organization serving Westmoreland County and surrounding areas, focusing on rehabilitation and release of distressed wildlife. At the end of this lovely convention, the amount raised was a very impressive $41,553.

Fur-Eh

In Canada Fur-Eh was making waves. Not only did they raise $10,187.17(US) for Gear Animal Rescue, a local animal rescue group, but their hotel was a shelter for a few Afghan refugee families with children. Which resulted in some magical encounters. Amazing critters such as Kitwana Lion made sure that those children had a day they will most likely never forget.

BrazilFurFest

And in Brazil we had the ever so colourful Brazil Furfest, where from 15 to the 17th of July the Sheraton Santos Hotel in São Paulo was transformed into a fantastic candy factory!

And amongst this colourful chaos of all sorts of critters they raised $6,107.46 for S.O.S. Vidapet Litoral, who helps maintaining local shelters for street dogs and cats. This convention is rapidly is becoming a destination for furries all over the world and from their lovely highlight videos it looks they are in what I refer to as ‘the sweet spot’: Big enough to have all the cool things of a big convention, and small enough to retain that up close and personal atmosphere.

Anthro Weekend Utah

Back in the US, we had Anthro Weekend Utah raising $10,716.26 dollars for Wild Wonders. A local non profit animal rescue and education facility aimed towards the injured, displaced, non-releasable and geriatric animals. This amount includes a
restroom sign being sold for $2,000!

Relay’s fundraiser for Make-A-Wish

In New Zealand we have Relay, who doesn’t just enjoy fursuiting, but he helps raising money for various charities, such as Make-A-Wish, a worldwide organization dedicated to granting wishes of children with a critical illness. This month he
managed to raise $1,473 New Zealand dollars, which is $908.82. But that is not all! Relay can be seen throughout the year raising money and awareness for various charities, we are sure to check back often on this charitable critter!

Furs4Hope

Benji The Beagle, an upcoming furtuber organised a fundraiser for The Arc, and I was a special guest. Both we managed to raise $70 to help people with disabilities.

Encanto Plush update

And last but not least, a little update regarding last months coverage of the Encanto Charity plush auction. Kali managed to raise $2,000 in the end!

Good Furry Award: Lifetime achievement

Since this year, the Good Furry Award has an additional category! The lifetime achievement award. This year they went to Mark Merlino and Rod O’Riley. These two gentlemen not just played a pivotal role in ConFurence 0, Califur and In-fur-nation, a furry magazine, but also in the early years of the fandom as a whole!

Mark is also known for the Skiltaires, some may recognise this alien weasel like critter from the Furry Fandom documentary by Ash Coyote.

The Legend Of Pipi

Last month several big animation projects graced us on YouTube. One of the is The Legend of Pipi. A raggedy little cat that takes on the quest to rescue the Cat Kingdom’s princess. Despite every cat not thinking he will complete this most important task, he ventures out and starts looking for her. The animation is just gorgeous and shows once again, 2D animation is far from done.

Ghost Egg

Another amazing animation is the first episode of Monkey Wrench, titled The Ghost Egg. Set in space, in an universe with all sorts of weird creatures, where birds are still very much around! That is a plus. We follow Shrike and Beebs who are taking on a new job, but their new client is not all what it seems, and what is that Ghost Egg he keeps on yelling about? The unique designs really compliment the fast paced story and the first episode leaves me wanting for more!

And on a closing note: Queen Potoe is totally my spirit animal.

Guest appearance: Keenora

[Interview]

Thank you

And with that, we are at the final segment of the show. As you may know, every Monday you can find me on Twitch, streaming while I am drawing and with that software that I use: Clip Studio Paint. And last month I promised to pick out a comment to
give away one license key.

So, the lucky winner is *drum roll*— Wovstah, I hope I pronounced it right. Please do contact me before the start of the next Digging Up Positivity so I can verify your identity and you can get your key!

The next video is set for August 27th, which is smack dab in the middle of Eurofurence, so the premiere might be a little bit different but the video will go live that very day. But in September we are back to our regular schedule and premieres will return to normal. See you then!

Of course, I would like to thank the following sponsors of the channel: Cosmik with a K, Els Deckers, Falconeo, Hanzana, Ishnula, Kitako, Manick, Tantroo McNally, Taross, and Score Chaser!

Thank you all for dropping by, stay awesome, and all the hugs!