Boonie Babies sets ‘Booze for Boonies’ fundraiser on Feb. 23

After a successful spay and neuter clinic with Saipan Cares for Animals, Boonie Babies’s sisters Aria and Grace Keilbach are preparing to hold their first Booze for Boonies fundraiser this Feb. 23 at the Tapped Out Bar in Garapan.

The fundraiser is being held to cover the additional costs that were charged during the spay and neuter efforts back in January 2024. Grace Keilbach told Saipan Tribune that international donors had contributed $4,800 for the clinic that was held back in January, but due to the number of pets that came in for servicing, they quickly exhausted all that funding in the first three days of the 12-day clinic, and incurred an additional $4,000 cost.

“… You had people come in with…like three, four, five dogs. That’s about $500, and that’s really tough for anyone to afford, so we were able to step in and for anyone wanting to provide a better life for their pets and their family…we weren’t going to turn anyone away from that,” Grace Keilbach said.

The sisters are taking the challenge head-on and, along with other fundraising efforts, are asking the community to join their first official resident fundraiser program.

“After doing our spay and neuter clinic with Saipan Cares, we were able to provide a lot of no-cost surgeries for community members, and therefore we spent an additional $4,000, and we’re looking to make that back with lots of donations from people around the world. We want to reach out to the community that we continue to support, and we’re doing our first ever Booze for Boonies fundraising event at Tapped Out in downtown Garapan, which we are super excited about because we haven’t done, like, a real official fundraiser—a local fundraiser for the dogs. All of our…fundraising efforts are focused off-island, [but] we know there are so many people here who want to support us as well and give back, so it’s going to be a really awesome event,” said Grace Keilbach.

Tickets are $50 and include a buffet and drinks. There will also be raffle prizes at the event. “It should be a really awesome party that we’re looking forward to hosting with our awesome friends at Tapped Out,” said Grace Keilbach.

She said the owner of Tapped Out, Perry Inos, is always more than willing to assist Boonie Babies and she is confident other organizations and businesses on Saipan are always more than willing to work with and support Boonie Babies.

“As I’ve said before, it takes the whole island to make a difference, so we’re very excited to be working with them to put on this event because we wouldn’t be able to do it on our own,” she added.

The fundraiser event will be from 6pm to 10pm on Feb. 23, and tickets are currently being sold at Tapped Out and The Shack.

The sisters shared that social media has been their main resource in providing financial support for what they do.

“We don’t get paid for what we do. Everything that we make on our dogs’ social media accounts goes straight back into the community,” Grace Keilbach said.

She said there is a misconception that because Boonie Babies have many social media followers, it doesn’t need support and that people don’t need to like, follow, or donate, and that Boonie Babies is doing just fine.

“That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Just because we are taking steps toward being more successful and doing well doesn’t mean that we can’t always use more help,” said Grace Keilbach.

The sisters emphasized that one of the reasons they love the CNMI, is because they have witnessed firsthand how the community comes together and works to better and support one another and they have seen community members join the effort to help provide pet care in the CNMI.

“… To have that support from the community…means so much to us because a lot of times you do feel really alone or it feels like nobody’s seeing what we’re doing. It’s not about the recognition. It’s about the education and knowledge is power, so we really need to branch out to our local audience and to the people we’re working to support so that they know these resources are available and those who can help support the efforts can actively get involved as well,” said Grace Keilbach.

To learn more about Boonie Babies Saipan, check out their media handles on Instagram, Tiktok and Facebook @booniebabiesrescue or visit their website at https://booniebabiessaipan.com/.

‘We want to reach out to the community that we continue to support, and we’re doing our first ever Booze for Boonies fundraising event at Tapped Out in downtown Garapan.’