February 2009 Newsletter
Greetings All!
The holidays are now behind us and hopefully people are not feeling the financial pinch of all that.
This is a very difficult time for us at Yogie and Friends. Since we close for the winter we have to work even harder to keep the sanctuary in everyone’s heart and minds. We close for the winter because the weather is just not conducive for visitors. We don’t have paved walkways and with typically rainy winters here we realize nobody wants to walk through wet grass.
New Visitor Hours: We are changing our visitor season. Our new visitor hours will be Saturdays only from noon till 5 P.M. and as always, weather permitting. It seems that the season slows down a great deal around the end of October and as a result we are considering closing for the winter beginning November 1st. Our board of directors is going to sit down and evaluate this. So, please keep checking our website for updates and information. Making changes to hours is always something that needs to be carefully considered because people don’t always see the changes and may get frustrated as a result. We want to ensure a smooth transition to the new hours and season. So again, please keep checking our website for new information.
The cats are all happy and healthy and we know that we have several older animals. Please keep the animals in your prayers as we realize that an older population also tends to have more medical issues. 2008 was such a difficult year for us with medical issues we hope that 2009 is a less medically traumatic year.
We are sad to announce that we no longer have a billboard. We want to thank Nancy Larsen who was with Lamar Outdoor Advertising for 14 years. She recently left Lamar to pursue other career opportunities. Nancy was a great asset to the company and advocate for Yogie and Friends. It was because of Nancy Larsen that we had the billboard space donated to us. We purchased the vinyl, but Nancy garnered us the free advertising spots. We want to thank Nancy for giving us the six years we had and we’ll miss her and the billboard.
We are happy to report that the 2001 Dodge pickup that Yogie and Friends has is now paid in full. That is a wonderful relief to us. That gives us the opportunity to focus on other projects and issues, which are many. We are facing some land issues that arose last year due to an improper land survey and have found that some of our habitats are on the adjoining property. We are working closely with the new owner of the land. He doesn’t want to sell us that portion of the land, but we are working on his heart and hope he will at least donate that portion or give us the opportunity to purchase that piece of land. At this time it is a bit cost prohibitive, but we are hopeful.
We also want to revisit the privacy fence fundraising and hope to raise the funds to finish that project soon. 
But, with the winter months and the current economic issues we are being more cautious with the funds we have to make it through the winter. This is a time that we need donor support more than ever. We are also facing a land issue and don’t want to install the fence too soon. We will continue to raise the money for it, but not install it until the boundary issues are properly verified.
Yogie and Friends can only experience financial success and growth with the help of faithful donors who know that we are truly a rescue and that it isn’t about us, but all about the animals. We hope and pray you will continue to stand by us and what we continually strive for to make things better for our resident animals. Please don’t ever give up on them. They need your help and support. Don’t ever let bickering and arguing cause problems for the animals. They need us all.
Yogie and Friends 10th Anniversary Calendar is in production. This calendar will be for the 2010 calendar years and will have amazing photos of our beautiful animals as well as species and biography information. If you are interested in helping sponsor this calendar, then please contact us. Our goal is to have the calendars available for sale by October 2009. May 2010 will be Yogie and Friends tenth anniversary. At this time it looks like the calendar may sell for $14 – $15, but we don’t have the final numbers at this time. Hey, 100% of the proceeds go to the animals and it will make a nice gift for next holiday season!
Upcoming Events:
14 March 2009 Semi-Annual Bake Sale and Fundraiser, Courtyard Coffee
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.
Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Program replaces the Kroger Share Card Program. The new Kroger program is now up and running. The advantage of the new program is now you only need to use the one card, your Kroger Plus Card. The Share card is obsolete. If you download the Kroger letter from our website and bring it with you the next time you shop at Kroger’s all you need to do is give the letter, with the bar code, to the cashier along with your Kroger Plus Card. The cashier will scan the bar code and it will be part of your Kroger Plus Card. One less step.
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.
If you are interested in volunteering with us then please contact us. Come visit us at the sanctuary and see what we are all about. This is a 100% volunteer driven organization, which means, nobody gets paid for the work they do. We love the animals and what we are doing for them. There are many different volunteer opportunities such as tour guide, admissions, lawn care, fundraising, etc. A little something for everyone. But, please know this. There is absolutely no contact with the animals. If you want to volunteer with the intent of “touching” one of these animals, then this is not the place for you. If you are doing this for the love and care of the animals, then maybe this is something for you.
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.
Also, do what you can to prevent flea and ticks causing serious illnesses to your animals. They deserve your care and kindness. Don’t stop using preventative just because it is cold outside. Some of these pests are still around in the winter.
Please make sure you provide all your animals, inside and outside, fresh, clean water (and not covered in ice during the winter). Provide good, warm and dry shelter for those animals outside.
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 February 2009 Newsletter, Monthly Newsletter, Yogie and Friends News
October 2008 News
Greetings!
Fall is finally here and hopefully nicer weather. Yes, we are still officially in hurricane season. It doesn’t end till November 30th, but we are hopeful that we won’t have anymore bad storms for this season. I am happy to say that Yogie and Friends made it through both Gustav and Ike.
We have some very sad news to report. Our beloved cougar, Bubba, had to be humanely euthanized on September 24th. Bubba was
19 years old and his legs finally gave out. Our hearts are breaking. Bubba’s life started out so poorly. He was purchased by someone for $1000, then another for $500, traded for a horse, passed around from household to household, fed dog food, became obese as a result, had to have root canals, and overall was just not treated as a cougar should be. Yogie and Friends was his seventh and final home. His arthritis was being successfully managed for more than a year, but both his front legs finally gave out. We knew that no animal should suffer and the difficult, but correct, decision was made to have our vet check him out to assure that there was nothing more that could be done for him before the decision was made to humanely euthanize him. Bubba was a beautiful and amazing animal. I had never had any interaction with an animal like him before. Don’t misunderstand me. I never handled him. But, I would talk to him through the fence and he was very vocal and would always make his greeting to me when I would visit with him. He loved to purr. He just had an overall amazing personality. We miss him dearly.
Something that people don’t realize is that yes, we know these animals are not our pets and we don’t treat them like we would our domestic house pets. But we love them no less than we do our house pets. The 
difference with a sanctuary is that these animals will typically live out their lives at the sanctuary. They are not sent from facility to facility to be used as an attraction or a breeding tool. We give them a forever home. When it isn’t possible for us to rescue an animal because of the possibility of overcrowding and lessening the conditions for the current residents, then we contact other reputable sanctuaries to assist those trying to find placement for those animals. It’s a big network of caring rescuers. Sanctuary staff typically remain with sanctuaries longer than other facilities. Not sure why this is, but because of this consistency the animals in sanctuaries can typically live ten years longer than in other places. This caregiver stability seems to help reduce stress on the animals. So, I don’t know why anyone would not understand why we are so emotionally vested in these animals and so hurt when we lose one. It is a lifetime commitment of love and caring on our part as well. We so wish these animals could live out their lives in the wild, which is were they belong. Except! These animals never lived in the wild. They don’t have the skills and training to live in the wild. They were all captive born animals. So, we try to give them the next best thing. We truly know and love these animals. Sanctuary work and life is not for the fainthearted by any stretch of the imagination.
On a happier note we had another successful bake sale at Courtyard Coffee. We really like having these sales at Courtyard Coffee, but the business is up for sale and we are considering another, larger, and indoor venue for these bake sales. They are getting so popular that we need more space and may even have quarterly versus semi-annual bake sales. We’ll let you know. Thank you to all who have made this another success! Thanks to our contributors and bakers extraordinaire.
This is the month of the Louisiana State Fair. Please note: Yogie and Friends has never been a part of the state fair. Never has been and never will be. Whatever animals you see or have seen in the past were never ours. 
We have never participated in the photo op situation. We would never do that to our animals. Again, it is not us and never has been us
Well, it is that time of year for immunizing all our animals. Like the cost of many things these days the price of vaccines has risen tremendously. The vaccines alone will cost us about $1300.00. But, this is the price of caring for and doing the right thing for these wonderful animals. If you are interested in helping us defray the costs of the annual vaccinations, then please let us know. Your tax deductible donations are always appreciated.
Volunteers of the month: Thanks to Anne Shinoskie for helping me work the nursing symposium. Her help allowed me the opportunity to meet with people and also get ideas for other fundraising venues. I appreciate it.
Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Program replaces the Kroger Share Card Program. The new Kroger program is now up and running. The advantage of the new program is now you only need to use the one card, your Kroger Plus Card. The Share card is obsolete. If you download the Kroger letter from our website and bring it with you the next time you shop at Kroger’s all you need to do is give the letter, with the bar code, to the cashier along with your Kroger Plus Card. The cashier will scan the bar code and it will be part of your Kroger Plus Card. One less step. The only downside is that it must be renewed annually. But, that is a small price to pay to help the cats. So, if you are a Kroger shopper please help the cats with this program.
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.
Haynesville Shale. Are you benefiting from bonus money from the Haynesville Shale and need a good tax deduction? Why not consider Yogie and Friends. This is a good way to donate.
Upcoming Events:
11 Oct 10 A.M. – 5 P.M. Teacher Appreciation Day
25 Oct 2 – 4 P.M. Paint your Pumpkin Day
15 Nov 10 A.M. – 5 P.M. Military Appreciation Day
29 Nov 8 – 10 A.M. Pancake Breakfast at Applebee’s on Bert Kouns in Shreveport
6 Dec TBD Natchitoches Christmas Festival
If you are interested in volunteering with us then please contact us. Come visit us at the sanctuary and see what we are all about. This is a 100% volunteer driven organization, which means, nobody gets paid for the work they do. We love the animals and what we are doing for them. There are many different volunteer opportunities such as tour guide, admissions, lawn care, fundraising, etc. A little something for everyone. But, please know this. There is absolutely no contact with the animals. If you want to volunteer with the intent of “touching” one of these animals, then this is not the place for you. If you are doing this for the love and care of the animals, then maybe this is something for you.
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.org, 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. I recently found a dog who is pregnant and it is very sad that she was wandering my neighborhood and very hungry. She will be spayed after she weans her babies. Seven out of nine puppies survived and are thriving. We are looking into a grant program that allows the capture, spay/neuter, and release program, but we want to go a step further. All the puppies that were born on September 20th will be micro chipped. I am working with some animal groups to help me pay for this. I don’t want it to come from Yogie money. This way no puppy will be adopted out without a microchip and will always have positive identification. That is a grant we are researching. If you find anything like this, please let us know. 
Also, do what you can to prevent flea and ticks causing serious illnesses to your animals. They deserve your care and kindness.
Please make sure you provide all your animals, inside and outside, fresh, clean, and cool water. Provide good shade shelter for those animals outside. NEVER leave your animals outside in the hot car. Even parked in the shade temperatures rise to well over 100 degrees. With winter coming soon, please plan accordingly with warm, dry, shelter.
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 2008 News, Yogie and Friends News
September 2008 News
Greetings!
Well, here it is September and just last week we were so happy to get some much needed rain. Now, as I type this Louisiana has been hit by another hurricane. Fortunately the vast majority of the coastal residents have evacuated and many of them to our region of Louisiana. We are happy that the storm didn’t cause the devastation that Katrina had. But, it isn’t over yet. We are waiting to see how bad the storm hits us here in the Ark-La-Tex. As I look at the radar on my computer I am amazed how massive this storm is. We always take special care to heed the weather warnings. We certainly don’t want any harm to come to human or animal life. We expect the storm to hit us in the next couple of hours.
We continue to make improvements at the sanctuary. The good thing is that many of the recent improvements were to ensure there we no trees around the pens that could cause damage in the event of a severe storm. We just did this as a precautionary maintenance issue and long before hurricane Gustav. Talk about proactive work! Many trees in the area are also experiencing some strange tree disease and many needed to be cut because of the rot they had. Always better to be safe.
We recently heard some sad news about the death of the director of the Alexandria zoo. Mr. Les Whitt, died on August 16th. He was a very pleasant man to talk with and he was always willing to share ideas with me about the animal world. He was also a fellow musician and the few times I had the opportunity to speak with him I had the pleasure of talking music as well. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
I had the pleasure of meeting guitarist, James Burton, at his annual festival. Mr. Burton has a program that gives children who wouldn’t ordinarily have the opportunity to get a guitar and learn to play and they give underprivileged kids guitars. Very cool thing Mr. Burton does. Music and animals are just two areas that kids benefit from. They get to express themselves in unconditional ways. It is a great program.
Yogie and Friends has started a program that allows young volunteers to work with us. Ordinarily we don’t allow anyone under 18 years old to work with us at the sanctuary because of the liability issues. But, now we are opening up a program to train kids 16 and up to be tour guides. We decided this was an opportunity to get some of these energetic and enthusiast kids the chance to do something with the animals, without any direct contact with the animals. This way they get the opportunity to learn about the species, while learning how to teach as well. We have a training program in place now and already have volunteer teens in training.
Another opportunity for teens is the gift shop and admissions area. Sometimes we realize that there are those who don’t want to do the heavy physical things. We understand. That isn’t for everyone. But, they can work in the admissions area and that is a big help. It also gives the teen a chance to demonstrate they are responsible enough to do things like this. So, if you have anyone interested in these areas, then please contact us. It’s really a lot of fun to teach them and watch them in action.
Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Program replaces the Kroger Share Card Program. The new Kroger program is now up and running. The advantage of the new program is now you only need to use the one card, your Kroger Plus Card. The Share card is obsolete. If you download the Kroger letter from our website and bring it with you the next time you shop at Kroger’s all you need to do is give the letter, with the bar code, to the cashier along with your Kroger Plus Card. The cashier will scan the bar code and it will be part of your Kroger Plus Card. One less step. The only downside is that it must be renewed annually. But, that is a small price to pay to help the cats. So, if you are a Kroger shopper please help the cats with this program.
Upcoming Events:
13 Sep 10 A.M. – 5 P.M. Grandparents Day
Kids can bring their grandparents to Yogie and Friends on this day and the Grandparents will get in for FREE! Kids, don’t forget to bring your grandparent with you since you need an adult with you to visit Yogie and Friends.
20 Sep 11 A.M. – 4 P.M. Semi-Annual Bake Sale at Courtyard Coffee on Youree Drive in Shreveport. This is always a big success. So much so we have requests to do them on a quarterly basis. If you’d like to help with this event, then please let us know.
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24 and 25 Sept 8:00 A.M. – 4:30 P.M. LSUHSC Nursing Symposium at Diamond Jacks Casino in Bossier City. This is an annual event that the nurses hold and they asked Yogie and Friends to participate to help Yogie get more exposure and raise some money at their event. We appreciate this invitation. We will have all kinds of t-shirts, coffee mugs, and other unique Yogie and Friends merchandise available.
If you are interested in volunteering with us then please contact us. Come visit us at the sanctuary and see what we are all about. This is a 100% volunteer driven organization, which means, nobody gets paid for the work they do. We love the animals and what we are doing for them. There are many different volunteer opportunities such as tour guide, admissions, lawn care, fundraising, etc. A little something for everyone. But, please know this. There is absolutely no contact with the animals. So, if you think this is the place for you, then let us know.
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.org, 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. I recently found a dog who is pregnant and it is very sad that she was wandering my neighborhood and very hungry. She will be spayed after she weans her babies. We are looking into a grant program that allows the capture, spay/neuter, and release program, but we want to go a step further. When all the puppies are born to the dog I found they will all be micro chipped. I am working with some animal groups to help me pay for this. I don’t want it to come from Yogie money. This way no puppy will be adopted out without a microchip and will always have positive identification. That is a grant we are researching. If you find anything like this, please let us know.
Also, do what you can to prevent flea and ticks causing serious illnesses to your animals. They deserve your care and kindness.
Please make sure you provide all your animals, inside and outside, fresh, clean, and cool water. Provide good shade shelter for those animals outside. NEVER leave your animals outside in the hot car. Even parked in the shade temperatures rise to well over 100 degrees.
I hear the storm intensifying outside my windows. I hope you all fare well through the storm.
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, September 2008 News, Yogie and Friends News