September 2011 Sanctuary Newsletter

Welcome!

September is here and that means the Yogie and Friends visitor season for 2011 is almost over. Our last day for visitors for 2011 is October 29th. Just two months left. I hope you will come out and see these great animals. We open again for visitors the first Saturday in April 2012.

We have begun the strip down of the buildings from CellXion to make into den houses. We are not sure at this moment how we are going to approach making them into den houses. We have several ideas on modifications and waiting to talk with some carpentry and construction folks to help with the planning. At least we now have them on site and ready to work on them.

We had an amazing night at Bistro Byronz on August 22nd. The food and atmosphere was great. People are still talking about it and asking us to do another. We plan to do just that. We also had some great guitar playing by Danny Wilder and Matt Spears. Thanks to all who made this night possible. It was a fun and relaxing evening for all.

Freezer Fund: We have raised $10750.66 out of the $15000.00 needed for our freezer fund. We have already received one refrigeration unit and the new insulation. The other refrigeration unit and incidental materials are on order. We still need $4248.34. The work will begin on the freezer shortly.

Jambalaya Fundraiser Take Out Dinner: Tickets are available now for our Jambalaya fundraiser take out dinner for October 11th. Tickets are $6 for one, $10 for two. You purchase the tickets in advance and pick up your meals at Shaver’s Crawfish and Catering 270 Ockley Drive in Shreveport between 4 and 7 p.m. To purchase tickets you can mail a check or money order (please indicate the number of tickets and a good mailing address) to: Yogie and Friends, 128 Fob Lane, Frierson, LA 71027.

Calendar of Events: We have several events coming up and hope that you will be able to attend one or all of them.

10 September 2011    11 a.m. – 4 p.m.          Bake Sale and Fundraiser

                                                                        Petco

                                                                        6596 Youree Drive, Shreveport

 

14 September 2011    5 p.m. – 8 p.m.             Newk’s

                                                                        7427 Youree Drive, Shreveport

                                                                        Eat at Newk’s between 5 and 8 p.m. and drop

                                                                        Your receipt in the fundraising jar Yogie and Friends

                                                                        Will receive 10% of the food sales on the receipts.

 

11 October 2011         4 p.m. – 7 p.m.            Jambalaya Take Out Dinner

                                                                        Shaver’s Catering and Crawfish

                                                                        270 Ockley Drive, Shreveport

                                                                        Tickets are $6 each or 2 for $10

                                                                        Tickets may be purchased in advance and

Dinners are picked up at Shaver’s between 4 and 7 p.m. at Shavers.

 

12 November 2011     TBD                             Rummage Sale for the Big Cats

                                                                        First Wesleyan Church

                                                                        3200 Schuler Drive, Bossier City

                                                                        (Off Barksdale Blvd.)

 

24 December 2011     11 a.m. – 4 p.m.          Christmas Bake Sale and Fundraiser

                                                                        Petco

                                                                        6596 Youree Drive, Shreveport

Volunteers of the month:  Our volunteers of the month are members of the 2nd OSS from Barksdale Air Force base. They came out to help with fence post work and stripping down one of the new buildings. They are: TSgt Mindy Crouch, Jim Crouch, A1C Robert Schabel, 1st Lt. Heidi Kaufman, Sra Chet Long, A1C Guy Keller, A1C Brad Clott, 1st Lt Daryl Miller, and 2nd Lt Bill Katz. Thanks for all your hard work. We appreciate you.

A special thank you to Bill Lyons from Kona Ice in Shreveport for his donations to Yogie and Friends from Kona Ice. Bill has been parking at Petco in Shreveport on alternate Saturdays to help raise funds for the big cats.

On-Line Gift Shop: We have a very nice assortment of t-shirts available for sale on our website. All the money from the sales goes to the care of the animals. Please check our gift shop on-line. We are trying to add other items as we get them. Some of our ceramics have not been added as of yet because of the high cost of shipping such items. We are looking into different shipping methods because we want to increase our gift shop.

Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). If you are a Federal Employee or military member, don’t forget you can make your donations to Yogie and Friends via CFC. CFC is a Federal payroll deduction program that Federal and Military personnel can donate to the charity of their choice. If you are interested in contributing this way our CFC number is 42427

Facebook: Don’t forget to follow us on Face Book. We have a very active page and update it often with news and events as they happen.  Sometimes we even make special offers on Facebook for our fans and it’s a good way to spread the word. We’d love to increase our fan base.

Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Donation Program: Now is the time to reenroll your Kroger Plus Card in the Neighbor to Neighbor program. The accumulation period is 1 July 2011 – 30 April 2012.  It is so easy to do. Just give the cashier the letter we have linked on our website. The old letters work since it is the same barcode. The cashier will scan that and your Plus Card and it will be linked. Every time you shop at a Kroger in Texas and Louisiana and use your card, then a percentage of the sale goes to Yogie and Friends. Kroger gives a portion of $1 Million to local Texas and Louisiana programs through this program.

A few ways to help financially:

Coins for Cats! Do you empty your pockets of all your coin when you get home and throw them in a jar or piggy bank? Well, what a great way to get kids involved in fundraising help for the animals.  A little coin can go a long way! That little bit of effort can end up being a nice chunk of change.

Go Green with our ink jet and cell phone recycling program. We have a very active recycling program. This is an easy way to help both the environment and the big cats. All you have to do is place the empty cartridges in a box and we’ll even get a postage paid shipping label to you. We have several businesses, libraries, and other organizations that have boxes set up just for this purpose. When they fill the box, they seal it, place the label on it, and if UPS happens to stop by your business for package pickup you can just give them this box of cartridges. Or just drop it off at any UPS drop-off location. That’s how easy it is. This all adds up to dollars for the animals. It’s an easy way to get kids involved too. Details are listed on our website.

We have several programs for you to help our animals: www.igive.com, Cause ID 19883, www.networkforgood.org, www.goodsearch.com, just to name a few. They are all listed here on our website.

Your visit to our sanctuary is another special, and enjoyable, way you can help our cats. Hope to see you soon!

Jenny and the Yogie Cats!


Posted in Monthly Newsletter