Puppies, pasta, wine and mimosas were available at the packed Digiulio Brothers Italian Cafe on Sunday morning for its Pups and Pasta Benefit Brunch.
The brunch was held for Friends of the Animals Baton Rouge who teamed up with Digiulio’s to raise awareness and donations for Friends of the Animals, a non-profit rescue organization.
Puppies Violet and Andouille joined the Friends of the Animals volunteers and staff in providing Digiulio customers with information about their mission and how people can get involved.
“It’s a way for the community to know about us and also to get donations for our medicals,” Friends of Animals Executive Director Paula Schoen said. “Our medicals run about $55,000 a year, and since 2010 we’ve adopted out 2,500 from Baton Rouge and [find homes for] on average 46 a month.”
Friends of the Animals’ Dog Adoption House is located on Highland Road where people can come to volunteer, donate or adopt any day of the week. While you must be 21 to adopt, all ages may volunteer to walk, socialize and play with the dogs.
“We’re always looking for volunteers,” Schoen said. “A lot of LSU students come through and volunteer, usually the students come through who need community hours for fraternities, sororities and other groups.”
Anyone can volunteer from 30 minutes to three hours. Individual volunteering usually includes activities such as taking the dogs out for walks, throwing toys and playing with them, while group volunteers may do larger projects such as cleaning, Schoen said.
To further help the cause, hand-selected wine and Friends of the Animals T-shirts could be purchased for $20 during the brunch. All of the proceeds from the wine were donated to Friends of the Animals.
Digiulio’s brunch menu was admired by many. All of the indoor and most of the outdoor tables were filled, leaving only a few outside tables for additional customers. The brunch menu offered dishes such as Pasta Frittata, which is cooked as an Italian omelet including spaghetti and eggs. Also on the menu, Eggs Di Giulio included two poached eggs on fried eggplant medallions with a creole sauce.
“The atmosphere was great, but the food was even better,” customer Barry Kinsey said. “It was nice to not only enjoy a unique brunch but to also learn about an amazing organization I had no idea Baton Rouge had.”
