July 2012 Sanctuary Newsletter
Hello!
June was a really good month for us at Yogie and Friends. In spite of the higher than normal temperatures our fans came out to support our animals and we thank you for that. Now that July is upon us we hope we have record numbers of visitors. Please tell all your friends about us.
Credit Cards: So far so good with our electronic method of accepting credit cards. This is so much faster and safer for both the card holder and card accepter. We always require a valid driver’s license and phone number for your protection. We are so happy to have this capability at the sanctuary. Unfortunately due to the costs to us we have to set a minimum use level of $5.
Military Appreciation Day: We had another successful Military Appreciation Day. It was crowded and fun. Thanks to Kathy Blount with Scentsy and the Pet Education Project (PEP) for participating in this event.
Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Donation Program: The 2012-2013 accumulation period began on 1 July 2011 and ends 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
Please don’t forget to bring the letter to your Kroger store on or after July 1st and link it to your Kroger Plus Card. This is an amazingly easy way to help the big cats just by doing your normal shopping.
Current Needs: Right now Yogie and Friends is at a more comfortable point than we have been in years. What we mean by that is there is no major crisis like there was with the freezer last year. We still have several critical needs, but not those that are a “must do it now” need. Here is how you can volunteer your skills to help:
Carpenters: We need work done in our gift shop/admission building with some inside trim work, installing linoleum, drywall repair, entry/exit door roof needed and some minor water damage in the bathroom. Also, we need some wooden fence repair work.
Plumbing: We’ve had a continuous problem with the bathroom plumbing that we cannot seem to resolve, so we could use a plumber to help figure this one out for us.
Landscaping: We need to plant some greenery in the pens and place sod in two of them. We are also trying to see if we can get some sod and plants donated. Also, we want to do some cleaning and clearing of brush and overgrowth on the property. This is where we can use some physical labor.
Financial: We can always use money. This helps us with the normal maintaining of the sanctuary such as water, electric, and vet care. We appreciate any monetary donation you can provide and it is tax-deductible. And, it ALL goes to the care of the cats. We remain a 100% volunteer driven organization.
If you can help with any of this, then please contact us at yogieandfriends@hotmail.com
Coalition of
Combined Federal Campaign (CFC): Military personnel and Federal Employees can do payroll deduction donations to Yogie and Friends via CFC. This program is another good way to give financial assistance to the big cats and makes it easy for you to do so. Please consider Yogie and Friends when making your CFC contribution. Our CFC number is 42427.
Recycle: Don’t forget to recycle those ink jet/laser jet cartridges. We have a really good program of recycling and this is an easy way to help both the environment and the big cats when you recycle your cartridges. Check out the link on our website how to participate in our recycling program.
Volunteer carpenters, plumbers, etc. are always needed and if you have these skills and can volunteer your time and skills we would appreciate the help. Please e-mail us at yogieandfriends@hotmail.com if you can.
Upcoming Events:
September 22nd, 2012 11am-4pm Bake
Petco,
October 27th, 2010 Noon – 5pm Yogie Season Finale
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.
PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. There are far too many unwanted adoptable animals dying everyday at local animal control facilities and this can be easily remedied in several ways. Don’t shop! Adopt!
Also, if you have outdoor pets, please make sure they have good shelter from the heat and other elements. Provide them shade, a clean and dry bed, cool clean water, and don’t chain your dogs to a tree thinking they are in the shade. The sun changes direction and you may not even realize your dog is chained in the hot sun as a result. They suffer the same deadly effects from the sun that we do. Heat stroke and exhaustion is a real thing and we’ve seen the catastrophic impact on outdoor animals. Make sure you give your dog heartworm prevention throughout the year. Not just the hot summer months. Cats also get heartworm and it is highly deadly for them. Talk to your veterinarian about all of these things. Take care of your pets and their humans. We need each other.
For the cats!
Jenny
Posted in Monthly Newsletter
June 2012 Sanctuary Newsletter
Hello!
June is busting out all over and it’s hot, hot, hot!
Credit Cards: Good news about credit cards. We can now accept them electronically. This past Saturday was our first time using this method and we are so happy because it is faster and much more efficient. We had a little trouble with the printer, but that was fixed. So now, when someone uses a credit card at the sanctuary we have the instant approval method. No more calling in and waiting for approval.
Military Appreciation Day: We have been preparing like crazy for our upcoming Military Appreciation Day. Every year we honor our military personnel with Military Appreciation Day. This year it will be held on June 16th during our usual hours of noon – 5pm. On this day active duty and retired military personnel (with valid military I.D. cards) have free admission to the sanctuary. Their family members (with valid military I.D. card) get 10% off admission. All get 10% off merchandise (excluding sale items). This year we will be hosting the Pet Education Project (PEP). PEP will be doing what they do, educating the public about proper pet care. Kona Ice of
Volunteer of the Month: Hannah Efferson of Grand Cane,
Carpenters: We really could use the help of some carpenters. We need help in our admissions/gift shop building with things such as finishing the trim around the side door, a porch roof to cover the door entrance and repair the current one on the side door, trim around the air conditioner, base board work, and someone who can install linoleum. We are also looking at building a little concession booth on the back side of the building for our special events such as Military Appreciation Day. This would all be volunteer work. We will raise funds for the materials or may have some of them already on hand, such as the roof shingles. We would really love to get this done as soon as possible and if you are ready, willing, and able to donate these skills it would really be appreciated.
Sod: With the drought we have had over the past two years we have two big cats’ pens that are in need of grass in them. The problem is that the soil in the lions pens is so packed down there is no way to plant new grass and for it to take root. We recently visited with a local lawn and garden center that deals specifically with these kinds of issues. They told us that we don’t want to till the soil, but instead lay down a layer of sugar sand and then the sod and after watering it takes root nicely. We need approximately 3000-4000 square feet of sod for the lions and some in Putty Tat and Gomez’ pens. We are looking at a cost of around $3000. So, if you are interested, and able, to help with this project we would really appreciate it.
Coalition of
Wish List: As many of you know equipment breaks down over time. We are experiencing this ourselves. Our big Stihl weed eater just broke in a big way. It was a well used weed eater for the past ten years. We have an Efco trimmer on order because they hold up very well, but they cost around $439. We need pool shock. We get the 100 pound shock from Leslie’s Pool in
Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Donation Program: The 2011-2012 period of collection is over and there is this non-accumulation period until July 1st. 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
Combined Federal Campaign (CFC): Military personnel and Federal Employees can do payroll deduction donations to Yogie and Friends via CFC. This program is another good way to give financial assistance to the big cats and makes it easy for you to do so. Please consider Yogie and Friends when making your CFC contribution. Our CFC number is 42427.
Recycle: Don’t forget to recycle those ink jet/laser jet cartridges. We have a really good program of recycling and this is an easy way to help both the environment and the big cats when you recycle your cartridges. Check out the link on our website how to participate in our recycling program.
Volunteer carpenters, plumbers, etc. are always needed and if you have these skills and can volunteer your time and skills we would appreciate the help. Please e-mail us at yogieandfriends@hotmail.com if you can.
Upcoming Events:
.
June 16th, 2012 Noon – 5pm Military Appreciation Day
September 15th, 2012 11am-4pm Bake
Petco,
October 27th, 2010 Noon – 5pm Yogie Season Finale
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.
PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. There are far too many unwanted adoptable animals dying everyday at local animal control facilities and this can be easily remedied in several ways. Don’t shop! Adopt!
Also, if you have outdoor pets, please make sure they have good shelter from the heat and other elements. Provide them shade, a clean and dry bed, cool clean water, and don’t chain your dogs to a tree thinking they are in the shade. The sun changes direction and you may not even realize your dog is chained in the hot sun as a result. They suffer the same deadly effects from the sun that we do. Heat stroke and exhaustion is a real thing and we’ve seen the catastrophic impact on outdoor animals. Make sure you give your dog heartworm prevention throughout the year. Not just the hot summer months. Cats also get heartworm and it is highly deadly for them. Talk to your veterinarian about all of these things. Take care of your pets and their humans. We need each other.
For the cats!
Jenny
Posted in Monthly Newsletter
May 2012 Sanctuary Newsletter
Hello!
Well, May is already here and we have had a banner beginning to our 2012 season. We have great fans.
We opened for the 2012 season on April 7th and what a day that was. We had lots of new visitors who were excited to see us for their first time and of course, our regular seasonal visitors. It was great and so glad it was busy. Thanks to everyone who made April a great month for the big cats.
New Volunteers: Please help us welcome our two newest volunteers to Yogie and Friends. They are Stefanie Anderson and Karen Ludke. We need help on visitor days with the admissions/gift shop area and with “guides” to walk around the property and answer any questions our visitors may have. Stefanie and Karen are working in these two areas. Welcome aboard!
Credit Cards: Yogie and Friends is able to accept credit cards at the sanctuary, however, since we do not have any electronic way of accepting credit cards at the sanctuary we use the old fashioned “knuckle Buster.” Some of us “old” folks will remember this. In this day of automation and fast processing this will seem really crazy to many people. But, the problem with this method is that we MUST call in the credit card transaction and get the approval at the time we accept it. I know, very slow and antiquated, but it works. We cannot get DSL at Yogie and Friends. It isn’t available in Frierson and cable is cost prohibitive. Also, the cost of electronic equipment processing devices is astronomical. There is no good answer at this time. We ask your patience when coming to Yogie and Friends if you choose to use a credit/debit card. If we don’t call it in and get the approval at the time of use, we risk too much loss. Finances are difficult enough for us we cannot afford any loss. We hope to find another method someday soon, but until then we beg your pardon and patience. We have a small, but very nice, gift shop and would love to see you spend your money to help these great animals. Of course, cash is always accepted and very easy to use. J Thanks again for your patience and understanding.
Military Appreciation Day: Every year we honor our military personnel with Military Appreciation Day. This year it will be held on June 16th during our usual hours of noon – 5pm. On this day active duty and retired military personnel (with valid military I.D. cards) have free admission to the sanctuary. Their family members (with valid military I.D. card) get 10% off admission. All get 10% off merchandise (excluding sale items). This year we will be hosting the Pet Education Project (PEP). PEP will be doing what they do, educating the public about proper pet care. Kona Ice of Shreveport will also be at the sanctuary as well as a representative from Scentsy to do a fundraiser for Yogie and Friends. There will be hotdogs, snacks, and cold drinks available this day as well as other goodies. Since parking is limited at the sanctuary we highly recommend car pooling. Please let all your friends and family know about this special day at Yogie and Friends.
Combined Federal Campaign (CFC): Military personnel and Federal Employees can do payroll deduction donations to Yogie and Friends via CFC. This program is another good way to give financial assistance to the big cats and makes it easy for you to do so. Please consider Yogie and Friends when making your CFC contribution. Our CFC number is 42427.
Recycle: Don’t forget to recycle those ink jet/laser jet cartridges. We have a really good program of recycling and this is an easy way to help both the environment and the big cats when you recycle your cartridges. Check out the link on our website how to participate in our recycling program.
We still need volunteer carpenters, plumbers, etc. who can help us make improvements to the animal habitats and surrounding structures such as the admissions/gift shop building. At this time we need some carpentry help to repair the floor in the building. Also, someone who can do some finish work around the entry/exit doors, and wooden fence repair. If you have these skills and can volunteer your time and skills we would appreciate the help. Please e-mail us at yogieandfriends@hotmail.com if you can help.
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Upcoming Events: June 16th, 2012 Noon – 5pm Military Appreciation Day
September 15th, 2012 11am-4pm Bake Sale and Fundraiser Petco, Youree Drive Shreveport, LA
October 27th, 2010 Noon – 5pm Yogie Season Finale |
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.
A few ways to help financially:
Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Donation 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.
PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. There are far too many unwanted adoptable animals dying everyday at local animal control facilities and this can be easily remedied in several ways. Don’t shop! Adopt!
For the cats!
Jenny
Posted in Monthly Newsletter