August 2012 Sanctuary Newsletter

 Hello!

We have been experiencing very hot temperatures, actually since May and June. July was very, very hot and we know August won’t be much better. We appreciate our fans who braved the heat to visit our animals. We had a very good visitor month. Thanks so much.

Heat and your pets: After the sad loss of the Louisiana Tech mascot, TechXX, we hope people will truly watch out for their outdoor, and indoor, pets. Don’t leave them out in the heat too long. Be careful about any exertion as well. I happen to have two rescued Labradors and they want to play non-stop. So much so they would probably play till they died from heat stroke. I am very careful NOT to let them play much and then I bring them into the cool house with plenty of cool water. People often forget that animals die from heat related illnesses too. Please use some common sense in this area. This Tech alumnus is going to miss the Tech bulldog.

Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Donation Program: If you are a Kroger shopper in Texas or Louisiana, then we hope you will take the letter on our website with you the next time you shop and have the cashier scan the bar code and pair it with your Kroger Plus Card. Once you do this, then every time you shop you will be contributing to Yogie and Friends. Nothing comes out of your pocket. What Kroger does is donate a portion of your purchase to us. Pretty cool deal. The 2012-2013 accumulation period began on 1 July 2011 and ends 30 April 2012.  It is so easy to do. Again, 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. This is an amazingly easy way to help the big cats just by doing your normal shopping

Current Volunteer Needs:

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.

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.

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.

 

Upcoming Events:

.                        

September 22nd, 2012       11am-4pm                             Bake Sale and Fundraiser

NEW DATE                                                                            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.  

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

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 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 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 Louisiana Animal Advocates (COLAA): Louisiana has an organization, COLAA, that advocates for animal rights. They have a small, but growing, membership and they do a lot of good for animal rights and issues in this state. Check them out at www.colaa.org and learn about their efforts in this state.

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 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.  

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 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, and we are working very hard on a good solution for this, we highly recommend car pooling. Please let all your friends and family know about this special day at Yogie and Friends.

Volunteer of the Month: Hannah Efferson of Grand Cane, Louisiana is our Volunteer of the Month. Hannah is working on her Gold Award for the Girl Scouts. The Gold Award is the highest achievement within the Girl Scouts of the USA. Only 5.4% of eligible Girl Scouts successfully earn the Gold Award. Hannah made fire hose balls for our cats and when she brought them to the sanctuary for our cats they loved them. They are still playing with them. Thanks Hannah and best wishes on your continued success!

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 Louisiana Animal Advocates (COLAA): Louisiana has an organization, COLAA, that advocates for animal rights. They have a small, but growing, membership and they do a lot of good for animal rights and issues in this state. Check them out at www.colaa.org and learn about their efforts in this state.

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 Shreveport because they give us a decent discount. This runs us around $180. Gift cards are always a great and easy way to help. We get a lot of our repair supplies from Lowe’s and Home Depot. We get concession supplies from Sam’s Club. We use a lot of gas and diesel fuel. Gas for our lawn equipment and diesel for the Yogie truck. Gift cards are a great way to help with this. OR, you can donate cash. Cash is easy to track for accounting purposes. We deposit your check and send you a donation receipt for your records. This is all a great way to help the big cats. We appreciate our fans for the help they provide us. There are many needs that are not obvious because they are the behind the scenes items you don’t normally see, but they are just as critical and important to the care and support of our animals.

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 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 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.

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 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.

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