CHICAGO - This past weekend, the 19th annual Midwest FurFest, a convention for the furry fandom, was held at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Convention Center in Rosemont, IL. At the three-day convention, attendees celebrated their community by gathering for an array of panels, dances, concerts, meet-ups, auctions, artists’ showcases, including opportunities to merchandise from fandom artists, and so much more!

Every year, the FurFest picks an animal-centric charity to benefit, and this year they chose SitStayRead! With a long history of philanthropy, the FurFest community has given over $449,000 to charities since 2000.

This year’s convention was their largest yet, drawing over 10,700 attendees from 30 countries and giving their largest gift amount to any charity in their history! From donations, charity auction sales, charity events, and the FurFest itself, SitStayRead received over $92,000 in donations.