December 2009 Newsletter
Hello All!
The holiday season is upon us and we hope that everyone has a safe and blessed holiday. I realize this update is very late, but there have been so many things going on for the sanctuary that we delayed this in order to get the most updated info out.
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SOS! Save Our Sanctuary: Yes, that is what we are asking. As many of you know Yogie and Friends applied to be a non-AZA zoo permitted facility in order to remain open to the public. We only open for a very short season and only for five hours once a week. We do this to reduce stress on the animals, but at the same time offer an opportunity to educate the public about the plight of these magnificent animals and also as a way to raise the much needed funds for them. Well, we had our inspection to see what changes, if any, would be needed in order to get this permit. When we received our report from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries there were several changes they want us to make in order to remain open to the public. With the current cost of materials and labor we are looking at costs of around $500,000. We were told to provide a timeline of completion dates for these upgrades to LDWF by 31 October 2009. Our completion dates varied by the degree of work needing to be done with the obvious less involved to more extensive work taking longer to do. We also had to take into consideration any possible work stoppage due to inclement weather. LDWF would not accept our timeline and they are only granting us one year (10 December 2010) to complete these requirements. So, we desperately need the public’s help and support in this effort. If you can help or know others who can, then please let them know about these great animals and what we need to continue providing them this forever home. |
Tax Deductions: Yogie and Friends is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your financial contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. We hope you will contribute and do so in a big way. At the same time you will be able to claim a tax deduction at the end of the year. This is a win, win situation.
Upcoming Events:
Barnes and Noble Gift Wrapping Days: Yogie volunteers will be at Barnes and Noble on Youree Drive in Shreveport to wrap gift purchases for donations on the following dates and times:
Wednesday 16 Dec 5 – 9 P.M. Monday 21 Dec 2 – 6 P.M. Tuesday 22 Dec 2 – 9 P.M. Thursday 24 Dec 2 – 6 P.M.
Holiday Bake Sale and Fundraiser: 19 December 2009 11 A.M. – 4 P.M. at Petco on 6596 Youree Drive in Shreveport.
Volunteers of the Month: We want to thank the following Caddo Magnet Animal House Students for raising $136 for Yogie and Friends during their homecoming picnic. How very kind and thoughtful of you guys for doing this. They are: Jonathan Slocum, Jenny Fourcade, Marissa Monk, Jesse Schmidt and Brad Seidel.
We also want to thank everyone who helped with the pancake breakfast and Natchitoches Christmas Festival. You guys rock. We want to give a very special thank you to Andrea Labor. Andrea visited Yogie and Friends and began volunteering with us since. Her knowledge of the animals and love of the animals brings with it an enthusiasm for sharing with people that they really enjoy. She was a great asset to visitors at our vendor booth during the Natchitoches Christmas festival and this was a really hard day for us. We never hear any complaints from her about the hours, the heat, the cold, or anything. She loves what she does and is a great asset to the sanctuary. Thanks so much Andrea. You are appreciated. Thank you to our regular volunteers to help throughout the year as well with things like our bake sales, pancake breakfasts, last minute fundraisers, physical work at the sanctuary, our webmaster, and just all those who make helping our animals have a better life than that which they came from. You are appreciated and not forgotten.
Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Program: The Neighbor to Neighbor program is back on line. Please download one of the customer letters from our website and have the cashier scan it with your Kroger Plus card the next time you shop. Yogie and Friends will receive one percent of the sales. It is a great way to help the cats. The program is only available in Texas and Louisiana, but that’s still a large area of coverage. Please share this with your fellow Kroger shoppers.
Accumulation for linked cards will begin July 1, 09 – April 30, 10. Volunteer Help Needed: We need construction and carpentry work and expertise as well as other physical labor work to help meet the new upgrade requirements.
Materials Donation: We need all kinds of construction materials such as nine gauge fence, concrete, steel, etc., to complete the required upgrades.
A few ways to help financially:
An easy way you can help the cats is when you do your shopping on-line is by using iGive. If you do your shopping on-line then you can contribute by shopping through the iGive tool. Everything helps. Visit www.iGive.com and select Yogie and Friends as your cause when you shop. It’s so easy.
Combined Federal Campaign. It is that time of year again when Federal and Military personnel can donate to Yogie and Friends through payroll deduction under the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) program. If you are interested in contributing this way our CFC number is 42427.
Coins for Cats! I recently emptied a little piggy bank I throw all my change in when I come home. It wasn’t even full, maybe half so. It added up to $106! That little bit of effort ended up being a nice chunk of change. I gave it to Yogie and Friends. This is a neat way for kids to be able to help the animals with very little effort.
Cans for Cats! Kids can also help by collecting cans and taking them to the local recycling center for cash and this can also add up to a nice piece of change for the cats. It’s something kids can do to help go green and help the big cats all at once. Check out the programs being offered at Yogie and Friends.
There is the Yogie and Friends Membership Program , Sponsorship Program, and Corporate Sponsorship Program . These are programs that help us support the animals and another way that you can get involved. Program packages are available here on our website.
Go Green with our ink jet and cell phone recycling program. Details are listed on our website.
We have several programs for you to help our animals: www.magfundraising.com, 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.
Please remember to spay and neuter your pets. Be good to your animals. Be good to people! Be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Have a safe and blessed Holiday and Happy New Year!
Jenny and the Yogie Cats!
Posted in Monthly Newsletter and tagged December 2009 Newsletter, Monthly Newsletter, Yogie and Friends News
November 2009 Newsletter
Hello Everyone!
Can you believe it is November already? October 2009 went down as the wettest October in our area since they have been keeping weather records. We’re happy that the drought is over, but now we are facing flooding and pray that the waters quickly recede to a safe and normal level. We hope that everyone made it through the recent storms and tornados that came through our area October 29th. We are happy to report that all the Yogie volunteer staff and the Yogie animals are safe and well. The storms did bring far too much rain and as a result the already saturated property was unable to drain off and dry in time for our season finale on the 31st. Our unpaved parking area was so flooded that it would not have been safe to have visitors come to the sanctuary. We don’t want anyone getting their vehicles stuck in the mud. We plan to have some really fun off-season events since we were not able to open this Saturday, so please keep visiting our website for more information.
Finances: We are happy to report that with the help of many wonderful people out there we have been able to bring our check book up to over $5000. This is a wonderful thing because we realize these are tough economic times for everyone and animals are not high on everyone’s list of those needing help. If the animals could speak they would certainly say otherwise. This is just one bump in the financial struggle that we and other animal groups face. We still have several thousands of dollars to raise in order to complete the required facility upgrades. This is on top of our regular operating expenses. So, again, we thank you for this help and hope you will continue to support in the care of these wonderful animals. Your generosity does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. We continue to need your support and thank you so much for that which has been done. Thanks so much!
Yogie and Friends on-line store: Yogie and Friends has an assorted selection of gift items available on our website. If you are interested in purchasing items for Christmas gifts the cutoff for shipping is 17 December in order to guarantee delivery. Please visit our gift shop often.
Esteban Guitar Raffle: Yogie and Friends is raffling off an Esteban Vintage Legacy Signed Custom Series 33-piece. This is a great set and would make a great gift for someone. The retail value of the set is $627.68. Tickets are just $10 each and all money goes to the care of the Yogie animals. The drawing is scheduled for Saturday, December 19th at 4:00 P.M. (need not be present to win) at Petco on Youree Drive in Shreveport, Louisiana. The winner is responsible for picking up the prize and those outside the local area wishing to purchase tickets can pick up at Petco or pay for shipping to a desired location.
The guitar package includes:
- Vintage Legacy cutaway style guitar (Cognac) – measures approx. 41″L x 16″W x 5″H
- Nylon hard sided guitar case – measures approx. 43-1/2″L x 17″W x 5″H
- 10-watt amplifier
- Esteban holiday CD “Joy to the World”
- Guitar stand
- 9′ amplifier cord
- Chord chart
- Black case strap
- Black guitar strap
- Polishing cloth
- Hex key
- 6 extra strings
- 6 extra picks
- 10 instructional DVDs
Upcoming Events:
6 November – Belk Charity Day, Belk Department Store, 70th St., Shreveport, 5 – 8 P.M
14 November – Highland Jazz and Blues Festival – Columbia Park, Shreveport, Noon – 5 P.M.
28 November – Pancake Breakfast, Applebee’s, Bert Kouns, Shreveport 8 A.M. – 10 A.M
5 Dec – Natchitoches Christmas Festival, Natchitoches, Louisiana TBD
19 Dec – Holiday Bake Sale and Fundraiser, Petco, Youree Drive, Shreveport 11 A.M. – 4 P.M.
Barnes & Noble Gift Wrapping Days – Yogie and Friends will have volunteers present to wrap gifts for donations at the Barnes & Noble book store on Youree Drive in Shreveport the following dates and times:
Dec 16th 5 P.M. – 9 P.M.
Dec 21st 2 P.M. – 6 P.M.
Dec 22nd 2 P.M. – 9 P.M.
Dec 24th 2 P.M. – 6 P.M.
On-line Shopping: Yogie and Friends is constantly adding items to the on-line shopping. Check out our newest products from the Paul Cardew collection. Cardew collectible ceramics make wonderful gifts and we now have them at a price that is more competitive than most. With the holidays coming up we wanted to have another way of helping the Yogie cats and this is it. Check out the on-line store.
Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Program: The Neighbor to Neighbor program is back on line. Please download one of the customer letters from our website and have the cashier scan it with your Kroger Plus card the next time you shop. Yogie and Friends will receive one percent of the sales. It is a great way to help the cats. The program is only available in Texas and Louisiana, but that’s still a large area of coverage. Please share this with your fellow Kroger shoppers. Accumulation for linked cards will begin July 1, 09 – April 30, 10.
A few ways to help financially:
An easy way you can help the cats is when you do your shopping on-line is by using iGive. If you do your shopping on-line then you can contribute by shopping through the iGive tool. Everything helps. Visit www.iGive.com and select Yogie and Friends as your cause when you shop. It’s so easy.
Combined Federal Campaign. It is that time of year again when Federal and Military personnel can donate to Yogie and Friends through payroll deduction under the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) program. If you are interested in contributing this way our CFC number is 42427.
Coins for Cats! I recently emptied a little piggy bank I throw all my change in when I come home. It wasn’t even full, maybe half so. It added up to $106! That little bit of effort ended up being a nice chunk of change. I gave it to Yogie and Friends. This is a neat way for kids to be able to help the animals with very little effort.
Cans for Cats! Kids can also help by collecting cans and taking them to the local recycling center for cash and this can also add up to a nice piece of change for the cats. It’s something kids can do to help go green and help the big cats all at once.
Go Green with our ink jet and cell phone recycling program. Details are listed on our website.
We have several programs for you to help our animals: www.magfundraising.com, 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.
Please remember to spay and neuter your pets.
Please make sure you provide all your animals, inside and outside, fresh, clean water and shelter from the elements. Change their drinking water often and make sure the water hose has been running cool water before you fill their bowls. When the weather starts freezing make sure that the water hasn’t frozen open. Also, continue to use flea and tick preventatives.
Be good to your animals. Be good to people! Be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Jenny and the Yogie Cats!
Posted in Monthly Newsletter and tagged Monthly Newsletter, November 2009 Newsletter, Yogie and Friends News
October 2009 Newsletter
Hello All!
October is here and with that comes the winding down of our 2009 season. Yogie is closing for the season earlier than we have in the past. Our last day for the 2009 season will be October 31st.
With all the upcoming local festivals in the area starting this month we don’t get as many people visiting the sanctuary. Our board decided that it wasn’t as effective to be open during this time and that we should dedicate our volunteer time during the off season to do the much needed fundraising and community education. Also, it just gets so rainy and cold during this time. We do plan to have some special activities at the sanctuary during our off season and hope you will come and visit for these special events.
| Critical Finances:
We are asking that our supporters dig a little deeper in their pockets. We realize with the current economic climate that donations are down for non-profits all around the country. Yogie and Friends typically gets its food for the big cats from local cattle ranchers as an in-kind donation. Two of our cattle suppliers have gotten out of the cattle business and just last week we had to begin purchasing food again. The smaller cats are easier to purchase food for because they don’t eat as much, but the lions, tigers, and other big cats are voracious eaters and we feed them a whole prey, natural diet. Part of the problem has been the increase in utilities, fuel, and other operating costs. For example Valley Electric increased its fees and our electric more than doubled. It cost $550 for our electric and we don’t have many things needing electricity at the sanctuary. We also had to pay our liability insurance this month and that took a big chunk out of our account. Then there is the cost of the facility upgrades required by Wildlife and Fisheries. We have no choice. They have to be done and they are costly. We will continue to try for materials donations, but we have not been successful in this area as of yet. On August 3rd I went before the Desoto Parish Police Jury and requested a grant for $250,000. The Police Jury has received more than $27 million from the Haynesville Shale sign on bonuses and since Yogie and Friends offers a unique presence in the Parish both educationally and as a tourist attraction (the only one of it’s kind in the entire state), we felt this would be an opportunity for us to be an even greater presence in the community and be able to complete the upgrades even sooner. I was told last week that they don’t usually give money to non-profits. We are still waiting to hear a decision about our request. As of this writing our bank account is $878.74. We know that things will get better with a little help from our friends and hope you will make that little extra effort to help us through. The winter months are always difficult, but this hit us much earlier than in the past. We appreciate your help. |
Facility Upgrades: We have completed one of the required upgrade projects with the help of a group of volunteers from Barksdale Air Force Base. Five members of the 608 AOC Squadron came out on September 30th and completed the concrete footers around the bottom of our big cat pens. This was a lot of work. They had to dig ten inches down, mix concrete and poor it in wheel barrels, then push that to the trench and poor the concrete into the trench. This was over 9000 pounds of concrete. They want to make Yogie and Friends a monthly volunteer project. We thank them for their hard work and dedication.
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Upcoming Events:
17 October – Fall Festival and Car Show, Barksdale Air Force Base, 10 A.M. – 4 P.M.
17 October- Belk Charity Day, Belk Department Store, 70th St., Shreveport, 5 – 8 P.M.
24 October – Fall Festival and Car Show: First Baptist Church, Ockely Dr., Shreveport 9 A.M. – 4 P.M.
31 October – Yogie and Friends Pumpkin Roll, at the sanctuary Noon – 5 P.M. (season finale)
6 November – Belk Charity Day, Belk Department Store, 70th St., Shreveport, 5 – 8 P.M
28 November – Pancake Breakfast, Applebee’s, Bert Kouns, Shreveport 8 A.M. – 10 A.M.
5 Dec – Natchitoches Christmas Festival, Natchitoches, Louisiana TBD
19 Dec – Holiday Bake Sale and Fundraiser, Petco, Youree Drive, Shreveport 11 A.M. – 4 P.M.
On-line Shopping: Yogie and Friends is constantly adding items to the on-line shopping. Check out our newest products from the Paul Cardew collection. Cardew collectible ceramics make wonderful gifts and we now have them at a price that is more competitive than most. With the holidays coming up we wanted to have another way of helping the Yogie cats and this is it. Check out the on-line store.
We want to remind everyone that the 2009 season will end on 31 October 2009. Hope to see you before then.
Volunteers of the Month: 2 Lt Heidi Kaufman, TSgt Martin Jackson, SSgt Brian Levo, A1C Taylor Buckley and A1C Benjamin McRae of the 608 AOC at Barksdale for finishing the concrete work.
Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Program: The Neighbor to Neighbor program is back on line. Please download one of the customer letters from our website and have the cashier scan it with your Kroger Plus card the next time you shop. Yogie and Friends will receive one percent of the sales. It is a great way to help the cats. The program is only available in Texas and Louisiana, but that’s still a large area of coverage. Please share this with your fellow Kroger shoppers. Accumulation for linked cards will begin July 1, 09 – April 30, 10. 
Volunteer Help Needed: We can really use some carpentry help to finish the admissions/gift building. There are just a few minor things to be completed such as installing a window and doing the finish work around the doors. If you can do this then please let us know. We can also use volunteers for our upcoming events and fundraisers. Let us know if you can help.
A few ways to help financially:
An easy way you can help the cats is when you do your shopping on-line is by using iGive. If you do your shopping on-line then you can contribute by shopping through the iGive tool. Everything helps. Visit www.iGive.com and select Yogie and Friends as your cause when you shop. It’s so easy.
Combined Federal Campaign. It is that time of year again when Federal and Military personnel can donate to Yogie and Friends through payroll deduction under the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) program. If you are interested in contributing this way our CFC number is 42427.
Coins for Cats! I recently emptied a little piggy bank I throw all my change in when I come home. It wasn’t even full, maybe half so. It added up to $106! That little bit of effort ended up being a nice chunk of change. I gave it to Yogie and Friends. This is a neat way for kids to be able to help the animals with very little effort. Cans for Cats! Kids can also help by collecting cans and taking them to the local recycling center for cash and this can also add up to a nice piece of change for the cats. It’s something kids can do to help go green and help the big cats all at once.
Check out the programs being offered at Yogie and Friends. There is the Yogie and Friends Membership Program , Sponsorship Program, and Corporate Sponsorship Program . These are programs that help us support the animals and another way that you can get involved. Program packages are available here on our website. Go Green with our ink jet and cell phone recycling program. Details are listed on our website.
We have several programs for you to help our animals: http://www.magfundraising.com/GroupPage.aspx?e=1058061, http://www.igive.com/, Cause ID 19883, http://www.networkforgood.org/, http://www.goodsearch.com/, just to name a few. They are all listed here on our website.
Please remember to spay and neuter your pets.
Please make sure you provide all your animals, inside and outside, fresh, clean water and shelter from the elements. Change their drinking water often and make sure the water hose has been running cool water before you fill their bowls.
Be good to your animals. Be good to people! Be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Jenny and the Yogie Cats!
Posted in Monthly Newsletter and tagged Monthly Newsletter, October 2009 Newsletter, Yogie and Friends News