THE HANGOVER HAS A MERCH STORE

The real news

The story, straight

A fundraiser can sell something instead of asking for donations. Buyers get merchandise; the campaign raises money for its cause.

In Hanover County, Virginia, the sales pitch came from a raccoon with absolutely no business plan.

Last year, the animal broke into an ABC liquor store in Ashland, got into 14 bottles and passed out beside a toilet. It recovered and was released into the wild about a mile away.

Nobody knows where it is now. This is not a shelter pet with a drinking problem.

Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter teamed up with apparel company Bonfire on the Trashed Panda collection, selling shirts, hats, mugs and other merchandise inspired by the incident.

The campaign raised more than $290,000 over the past year, county animal protection chief Jeffrey Parker told The Washington Post. That is merchandise money, not a donation total.

The department normally receives less than $20,000 annually in donations, Parker said: the merchandise campaign beat that baseline more than 14 times over.

Most of us wake up after a bad night wondering what we spent. This raccoon accidentally inspired a product line.

The money is helping pay for animal housing, toys, a temperature-controlled food shed and a community pet pantry. Parker also hopes to establish an emergency fund for injured animals.

The useful lesson: an attention-grabbing story can keep helping after the headlines fade when people have something tangible to buy. The raccoon returned to the woods.

Its hangover stayed in retail.

Repost for the fundraiser whose founding document was a bathroom floor.

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