“Forgotten Horses Rescue is a foundation that was started in 2012. It is located in Riverside County, California and they have rescued over 600 horses since they began,” Emmanuelle Vaugier told Entertaining Options. “Trish Geltner and her husband, Greg, do such amazing work. They save the horses that are going to auction, the ones going off to slaughter. They save the ones that are sick or older or have just really been beaten up. They rehabilitate those horses or give them a safe place to be until they pass.”

“After Hurricane Harvey, Forgotten Horses Rescue had a huge convoy of trucks that went down to Texas. They brought feed and set up in the fair grounds to take care of, and give medical attention to as many horses and other animals as they could. It’s an amazing organization.”

Emmanuelle is the founder of The Fluffball Foundation, a nonprofit comprised of a small group of remarkable individuals who are all devoted to saving animals. Vaugier and her team work year-round to raise money and awareness for their handpicked animal organizations. This year’s beneficiary is, as you might have gathered, Forgotten Horses Rescue, a 501(c)3 organization located in Southern California.

“Every dollar counts,” Emmanuelle emphasized. “Not to discredit the big organizations, they do amazing work and they raise a lot of money, but they also have a lot of administrative costs. We focus on the smaller mom-and-pop foundations that might be made up of just two or three people who run their organization out of the back of their homes. They do incredible work, but they don’t have the support and funding that a big corporation has. They really have to work hard to raise money or they go out of pocket. It’s important to raise awareness so these organizations can get people to donate to their cause. The money they raise goes to the animals, where it’s supposed to. Yes, there are costs to run any sized organization, people also need to eat and have a place to live, but it is nice to know that every dollar that we raise for them matters tremendously.”

Each year, The Fluffball Foundation holds a charity event that is the cornerstone of its fundraising efforts. That event is called The Fluffball. This year, The Fluffball will take place on Saturday, November 4, 2017 at Lombardi House in Los Angeles.

“It’s going to be a little different this year because the venue is not a restaurant,” Emmanuelle explained. “We’ve designed the furniture layout so it will have more of an outdoor living room feel to it. The event is in the evening, so it will be dark and we’ll have twinkle lights, the mood will be different. It feels a bit bigger this year, which is exciting. We’ll be featuring a vegan menu, a live auctioneer, a VIP silent auction, a photo booth, and a DJ.”

Some of the donors and sponsors supporting The 2017 Fluffball include Moët & Chandon, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, O’neill Vintners & Distillers, Equinox, Carmex, Skydive Coastal California, Cycle House, Dalia MacPhee, Skinpeccable Dermatology, J. Elizabeth Portraiture, The Little Door, Voltaire Design, Baked LA Bid, and more.

Additionally, Emmanuelle has secured some phenomenal collectibles and once-in-a-lifetime experiences that she is auctioning off for the event as well. Some of the auctions that have already closed are a chance for you and three of your friends to visit the set of Modern Family, a signed script from the premiere episode of the return of Will & Grace, Riverdale memorabilia, and a number of signed items from Bruce Springsteen. Auctions that remain open include spending a day with the LAPD S.W.A.T. team, a tour of Nickelodeon Studios, and perhaps the most prized of all, a horse ride along and lunch with Emmanuelle herself!

These spectacular opportunities are a result of Vaugier’s relationship with her community and the help of her amazing friends.

“A good friend of mine happens to be the sergeant of LAPD S.W.A.T.,” she noted. “I’ve known him for a number of years. He used to be the sergeant of the LAPD Mounted Unit and the facility with their horses was located right next-door to where I ride, so that’s how I met him.”

Through a friend, Emmanuelle was introduced to producer Danny Zuker who came up with the idea of auctioning off a visit to the popular television show set to help support The Fluffball. The Bruce Springsteen memorabilia came about because Emmanuelle knows someone who is connected to Bruce.

“It’s connections of connections,” she revealed. “We are still a very small organization and we do the best we can to find ways to raise money. We don’t have those big sponsors that some of these other companies or organizations have, so we really depend on getting these types of things donated to us.”

Since Emmanuelle is a successful actress, if you attend The Fluffball, there’s no telling who you might end up running into.

“We do have a VIP list of celebrities who are invited. In the past, we’ve had people like Elisabeth Shue, Anna Faris, Alyssa Milano, and Robbie Amell.”

When asked about the rumors that actress Rachel Skarsten (Reign, Lost Girl) might make an appearance this year, Emmanuelle coyly replied, “You’ll have to come and see for yourself.”

And finally, for those individuals who can’t make it to The Fluffball, but still wish to support this year’s beneficiary, there is an online store.

“We have hats and T-shirts and keychains and cute stuff like that that are all new this year. We also have some items from last year as well [autographed photos, a love bracelet, and unisex T-shirts].”

“The 2017 Fluffball happens this Saturday, November 4 at Lombardi House. Buy tickets, come to the event, donate, bid on auction items… However you can contribute or want to contribute, please do because every dollar counts. If every Twitter follower that I have donated one dollar, that’s over $34,000. Please, don’t be shy about contributing just one dollar. Our goal is to raise as much money as we can so we can give as much as we can to Forgotten Horses Rescue.”

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