May 2013 Sanctuary Newsletter
Greetings!
I realize this update is very late, but I had gone home to Boston to visit family. My trip had been planned prior to all that had happened, so it was a very good, but somber visit. But, here I am with our update.
We had our surprise USDA inspection before I left and the only issue of concern is drainage on the property. This continues to be a problem for us because every time we make improvements it seems to impact another section of the property causing water to get stuck. So we contacted our friends with the Navy Sea Bees on Barksdale Air Force Base to come out and look at the problem areas since we just had several days of hard rain and see what we are dealing with. We will have the team out again in the next week or two to assess, design, plan, or whatever it takes to let us know what we need to do and how to get there. After that we will look at the costs and fundraise accordingly and then plan to do the work. These guys are great and we are very happy to have them here. With three years of drought we never really had the opportunity to see the problem. Now we have and are going to hit it hard and heavy.
Our admissions building is looking good. We just need to do a second coat of paint on the outside of the building and then the inside. We have some Air Force volunteers coming out on the 18th and they will do this work for us. It’s nice to have these volunteer resources available.
Volunteering at Yogie and Friends is a unique opportunity. We always need, and depend on volunteers. If this is something you are interested in we ask you to come out and visit us on any Saturday during our normal noon – 5pm visitor hours and talk with us. We want you to first see who and what we are. Volunteering can be anything from working inside the admissions building, mowing, weed eating, helping with fundraisers, walk around guides (we don’t do guided tours, but walk around and provide information and answers), and basic maintenance around the property. Due to liability issues we ask that volunteers be 18 or older (17 for married or active duty military) and have reliable transportation to the sanctuary (we don’t want to set our schedule for someone and they not show up). We don’t have any veterinary or veterinary assistant volunteer positions. If you are interested, then please come out and make yourself known to us.
Coffee Fundraiser: Raise Money for Pets coffee fundraiser. This is a really neat program. If you purchase coffee via this website, they will donate $3 per bag to Yogie and Friends. This is a fair trade organic coffee and that makes it a win/win in our books. They have several varieties available and also decaf. Why not consider coffee in your gift giving?
http://www.raisemoneyforpets.com/yoandfrexcat.html
Donate your old Apple Products: We are trying out a new program where you can donate your old, non-working, or broken screened, Apple Products such as iPhones, iPods, iPads, and things like that. If you would like to help and donate to Yogie and Friends, you can mail us the items. If you have the original packaging they came in send that too. We get more money for the recycled product.
Recycle Ink Cartridges and Cell Phones: We have a really successful recycling program. You can donate your empty ink jet and laser cartridges and Yogie gets some much needed funds from this. It may seem small, but it all adds up. There are a couple of ways to get cartridges to us and you can find out more on our website on exactly how to participate. This helps the environment and the big cats when you recycle your printer cartridges.
Combined Federal Campaign (CFC): Military personnel and Federal Employees can do payroll deduction donations to Yogie and Friends via CFC. This program is easy and another good way to give financial assistance to the big cats. We hope you will please consider Yogie and Friends when making your CFC contribution. Our CFC number is 42427.
Look us up on Facebook and Like our page. We love to share with our fans.
Upcoming Events:
15 June 2013 Noon-5pm Military Appreciation Day
TBD (Sep) 11am-4pm Fall Bake Sale and Fundraiser
Petco, Youree Drive, Shreveport, LA
26 Oct 2013 Noon-5pm Yogie Season Finale
PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. Adopt! Don’t Shop! Also, please continue heartworm prevention all year round and not just in the summer months. Heartworm disease can be transmitted all year.
For the cats!
Jenny
Posted in Monthly Newsletter