CRITTEROCK Puts Fun in Fundraising for Lisa Sikes

Hiddenbrooke resident Lisa Sikes has been rescuing animals since she was 4 years old. Then, she would nurse hurt baby birds with her mother’s help. Later, Lisa co-founded an animal rescue organization that she dissolved when her co-founder moved away. Today, Lisa and her husband David have 3 rescued cats, Rocky, Moo and Mia (pictured below). They moved from Benicia to Hiddenbrooke in 2014 and love looking up at the hills and feeling so close to nature. Lisa created CRITTEROCK 2024 with her friend Jill Scheidel of The Good Works Kitchen to put the fun back into fundraising in ways that benefits other people’s local animal rescue efforts.

CRITTEROCK 2024 will be on Sunday, July 14 from 2-5 p.m. at the Empress Theatre in downtown Vallejo. In addition to music performed by local favorites Camp Jeff band and The Three Frantics, there will be specialty pet-themed cocktails, prizes and rescue animal meet-and-greets. The doors will open at 1 p.m. with food trucks parked in front, and the nearby Provisions restaurant will have a dine-and-donate offer all day.

In planning the event, Lisa recruited support from her husband and his musician friends. David’s musical career includes 10 years touring as a guitarist with the legendary band Boston, and he is as a member of Camp Jeff. Lisa arranged for the event expenses to be covered by area businesses and benefactors so that all of the money raised will directly benefit Underdog Animal Rescue and Solano County Friends of Animals (SCFOA). Lisa selected these 2 North Bay organizations because both are foster-based, working without facilities, rescuing dogs and cats from overcrowded kill shelters and owner surrenders, as well as fixing ferals to stop the population from continued growth. In 2023, the medical bills for Underdog exceeded $153,000 in their efforts to save 370 dogs plus they assisted families of 106 dogs, keeping those pets out of shelters. Founded in 1986, SCFOA boasts almost 450 cat adoptions last year. In addition to the 420 domestic spays and neuters performed, SCFOA also completed 655 TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) of feral cats. All of these cats were strictly from Vallejo and Benicia and their 2023 expenses for medications, microchips, spay/neuter procedures, and vet services exceeded $166,000.

Don’t miss this opportunity to support Hiddenbrooke neighbors who are doing good things for our animal-loving community. Tickets for CRITTEROCK 2024 are available at https://empresstheatre.org/event/critterock/. For more information, email LOVE@thegoodworkskitchen.org.

UPDATE on July 15, 2024: Amazing performance by Camp Jeff band yesterday. Thanks for a wonderful afternoon!