Pie Party at Mac’s Tavern

In October of 2019, Tim Chlopowicz was on his way to the NC State Fair when he passed by Second Chance’s adoption center. He saw our sign and took it as his sign to finally make a big impact on homeless animals, about which he’d been passionate for a long time. He introduced himself to our staff and volunteers and committed to fundraising so stray and abandoned cats and dogs could get their second chances to know love.

When Tim began collecting donations in July of 2020, he made a promise to his grandsons: for every $1,000 he raised, one of the two boys could hit him in the face with a pie. After the first few pies came in quick succession, Tim did what he does best and began to think outside the box. Having asked Lily, the owner of Once in a Blue Moon Bakery in Cary, to donate the pies for his continued efforts, he then asked her to do the honors of hitting him with pie #5 ($5,000 raised!) at her bakery.

And so began Tim’s traveling pie show. The Chief Meteorologist at CBS 17, Wes Hohenstein, clobbered Tim at the studio for pie #6; Stormy, the Carolina Hurricanes mascot, hit Tim with pie #7 at PNC Arena, followed by Wool E. Bull, mascot of the Durham Bulls, for pie #8 in the stadium; Second Chance staff and volunteers, our shelter partners, corporate donors, and our sponsors have all gotten a chance to throw pies in Tim’s face (and some others’ faces as well!) all over Raleigh and in neighboring towns, too.

Now that Tim’s raised over $46,000, it’s time to celebrate in style! His 46th pie toss is thus part of a larger event that now features adoptable dogs, the chance to clobber a bartender, and a 50/50 raffle (you know he had to find a way to raise even more money even while celebrating how much he’s done already)! His daughter, Jackie Minas of Minas Bookkeping, took a pie to the face in the early days (pictured here), so now, it’s payback time–SHE will finally get to clobber her dad! Meet us at Mac’s Tavern to have a great time for a great cause!