Digging Up Positivity - January 2025

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Hello! And welcome to the January edition of Digging Up Positivity, from this year on we are aiming to have a new video every first Saturday of the month featuring amazing charity results from the furry fandom, wholesome animation and animal news and a special guest! This month we are having an interview with Maying from Maying Fantasy Creations.

And trust me when I say, we can use some positive news this year, now more than ever. So here are the charities, starting with a little update from last year from the Furry Charity Index.

Furs For Life raised $32,315

One entry that certainly does deserve love is the group Furs For Life. This wonderful group has been responsible for raising $32,315 for Seattle’s Children’s Hospital through some amazing streams, many thanks to good beans like TK Wolf for making this all possible. And they are showing no signs of stopping And now for the January charity updates:

Flappy New Year raised $14,525.00

This year we started out strong with two amazing events, the first one being: Flappy New Year, where Adler the Eagle and their friends got together with a really cool stream, raising $14,525 for Give Kids The World. A non-profit organisation devoted to provide critically ill children with their family a vacation at no costs.

Furvester raised $12,718.08

The other big event that started this year was Furvester where yours truly was the Guest of Honour. And the charity was the Catboat in Amsterdam, a cat shelter. They sent 2 amazing people to the convention who loved every bit of it!
[video]
While this amount is indeed the chairs’ locker combination, and such a satisfying number, converted to US dollars this is $12,718.08

Anthro NorthWest raised $18,410.76

Our friends from Anthro Northwest raised $18,410.76 for Sarvey Wildlife, a care center dedicated to save the lives of sick, orphaned, injured, displaced and debilitated wildlife animals that are entrusted to their care with the aim to successfully return them to their native habitat.

Painted Desert Furcon raised $10,315

Painted Desert Furcon raised $10,315 for Crystal’s Critter Haven, a volunteer animal rescue, but they also allow the animals to rehabilitate, and they are a sanctuary for all kinds of animals.

FNNY raised $4,158.62

In Ireland we had Furry Not New Year, traditionally held in January after the fireworks have been long gone where Irish furs go to dance the night away! This year it was sold out and they raised $4,158.62 for Mutts Anonymous Dog Rescue &
Adoption, which stands for Madra, which means dog in Irish! A very creative name for a dog shelter.

Japan Meeting of Furries raised $24,941.86

And on the other side of the world, we had a fan favourite return: In Japan we had Japan Meeting of Furries, who were raising money for the Toyohashi Zoo & Botanical park. Together they managed to raise $24,941.86!

Anthro New England raised $40,000

Back in the USA, we had Anthro New England, where 5761 critters raised $40,000 to be divided between their two charities: Wings of the Dawn, a wildlife rehabilitation center and Queer Scouts, an all volunteer run organisation whose mission it is to organize fun inclusive events where members of the LGBTQ+ community can have fun, share skills and empower each other in a safe environment.

MeetsFurYou raised $249.90

And yours truly was honoured to be part of a colourful bunch who collected in the Dutch city of Breda for Kika Kinderen Kankervrij, an organisation that strives for a world where cancer amongst children is no longer a death sentence. Together we reaised $249.90.

The Reality Of Hope

The Furry Fandom has a very big presence in VR chat, and one of the more well known furries there is Hiyu. Unfortunately we was diagnosed with kidney failure at the age of 28, changing his life drastically. After sharing the news with his community, his friend Photographotter who he met through VR chat offered him to travel to his place to become a live kidney donor for Hiyu.

Of this amazing act of friendship and love, a movie has been made, which includes this wonderful virtual world, including worlds from Furality Aqua, which Hiyu helped create. This movie has premiered at the Sundance Festival, sharing this amazing story with the world.

Furs Underground Dance

It seems so long ago, those turbulent years when the plague hit us. But even this day, organisations are recovering, including furry events, one of them is the Furry Underground Dance in France, and this year they managed to schedule an edition once more! For April 12th and the tickets are for sale right now, for a wonderful nights filled with beats. Link is in the description below.

Piñata: Meerkat style

Meerkats sure know how to party! Especially at the Peak Wildlife Park. They had a wonderful Piñata Party for the little diggers. One wonderful star filled with good grub!

Just ook at them go!

Part Zootopia, part Bad Guys, full Rembrandt

It is no secret I really love art, but not just furry related. One thing I share with Anthony, who was on this show before with amazing works in different styles. This time he took on a piece featuring the cast from the Bad Guys and Zootopia in the style of famous Dutch Artist Rembrand. I really like it when people explore different angles to re-imagine characters.

Chilli

The Korean ChungKang Animation school released a wonderful animation short by their students named Chili, about a kid named Oscar who falls in love with his neighbour Epona. And he tries to impress her with his small pet fish Chili, but there are some really BIG consequences to his actions! You can really see the passion with the mesh of animation styles, its a fun watch! Will it all go fine? Just check it out for yourself.

Robot Cat

I really love Lemon Demon, but recently I got introduced to Whiteburst through an awesome fan animation by Wikiforr, it truly is an amazing bob, and the fan animation itself really matches the silliness of the tune. [And when I say Ro- You say bot. Ro-Bot-Ro-Bot] And I love the heck out of that robot cat!

Now I need my own army of robot meerkats so I can conquer the world! Mahahaha!

[Featurette: Maying]

Thank You

A huge thank you for staying with us till the very end of this first episode of 2025! The next episode will be at Saturday March 1st. If you want more meerkat goodness, you can check out my weekly-ish livestreams on Twitch which are mirrored on this YouTube channel as well. And of course, I have my little meerkat store at Artwork Tee with amazing hoodies, T-shirts, stickers and more!

And now for a special thanks to my wonderful supporters:

For Subscribe Star: Barret D’Floof, Cosmik with a K, Hanzana, Manick, Taross
Youtube Members:Joe & Mavi, LorekByrnison086, Longtooth, Wither
Patreon: Tantroo McNally, Ishnula, Els Deckers
Twitch Subscribers: Drohan The Star Bear, Lady Lyanne, Treton The Dragon, Mieno The Badger, Light Nympha, Falconeo, CloFurs, Hanzana Janssen, Jake R G, Swex The Mischievous Fox, Ajabu Yeen

Stay awesome, and all the hugs!