August 2008 News
Greetings!
For those of us living here in the south we most definitely know what summer is. It has been brutally hot and that means taking extra special care of those in our lives. Animals and people. Please use caution when you work in this weather.
We experienced some difficult days both personally and as a nation in July. The very sad news of the crash of a B-52 off of Guam had us all extremely concerned and worried. Many of us at Yogie and Friends have friends who fly them here at Barksdale Air Force base. The waiting for the terrible news was nerve wracking. We send our condolences to the family and friends of Raider 21. We have a very close knit Air Force, and military community in general, here in the Shreveport-Bossier City, Louisiana area. Both I and our vice president are retired from the Air Force from Barksdale Air Force base. Many of our Yogie and Friends volunteers are also active duty here at Barksdale. Our thoughts and prayers are sent to all.
We are still working on fundraising for the privacy fence. If you are able to help with any of this, then please let us know. We are at a standstill at this time.
The Haynesville Shale. It’s crazy isn’t it? There are a lot of things going on out there and one thing people may have forgotten is the taxes. Yes, you will have to pay taxes on that bonus check. Well, if you are looking at a good tax deduction then why not consider Yogie and Friends? We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and your donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. We hope this helps you when considering looking for a good tax deductible charity and you will be helping a great cause.
Our annual vet visit is coming up and the cost of the immunizations has risen, like many
other things, tremendously. Much more than we expected. Unfortunately we have been unsuccessful at getting these items donated this time. We do have a regular contributor to our veterinary fund and that is so appreciated, but the increased cost of materials and medicines will deplete a great deal of these funds and we always want to have emergency money for vet care on hand. Things do happen and we always want to be prepared for that. Any contributions in this area are appreciated. All the animals will be immunized in late August.
We can use some more fire hose from the fire stations. If you know of any fire stations that are getting rid of their old fire hoses, then ask them to donate them to Yogie and Friends. We build hammocks out of these for the animals because they are virtually indestructible. The cats really enjoy them.
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.
Volunteer of the month: Our volunteer of the month is our webmaster, Paige Bass. We never really tell her how much we appreciate the great job she is doing for us with our website. It really looks great. Thanks!
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. We have been receiving numerous calls for fostering or adopting domestic cats. The Ferrell cat problem is really bad in this area and this can be better controlled with just spaying and neutering these animals.
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.
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 Sanctuary News, Yogie and Friends News
July 2008 News
Greetings!
Well, summer is officially upon us and with that comes the typical seasonal issues. Storms, water and road safety, and of course, heat related care for your animals. Please be aware of these things. It’s hot out there!
We want to thank everyone who came out to Yogie and Friends to support our military personnel and their families during our Military Appreciation Day on June 14th. We had a steady crowd all day and it was a fun time for us all. It looks like we may even have some new volunteers from this day.
The grant we wrote for our privacy fence was turned down. We do understand the reasons for that and know that in the future we will be considered for other grants from that organization. But this now means we must work even harder to raise the money we need to build this much needed fence. We aren’t afraid of a little hard work and will press on towards that goal.
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.
Volunteer of the month: Our volunteer of the month is Anne Shinoskie. Anne helped work the Saturdays we needed an extra hand to help with admissions and visitors. It is greatly appreciated!
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. We have been receiving numerous calls for fostering or adopting domestic cats. The Ferrell cat problem is really bad in this area and this can be better controlled with just spaying and neutering these animals.
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.
Please be safe this July 4th holiday. People who have no business handling fireworks will be out there doing so and it adds stress to the animals and danger to humans. We hear every year about serious injuries. Please use some common sense and care if you are going to be celebrating this way. We certainly want this to be an enjoyable time of fun and not something to look back on with sorrow. Safety, safety, safety!
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 July 2008 Sanctuary News, Latest News, Yogie and Friends News
June 2008 News
Happy June!
Well, the heat is on. With temperatures already in the nineties I hope you will take extra special care to make it a safe June. Hurricane season is also upon us. Please prepare accordingly for both human and animal lives to be safe.
As many of you know the 13th and 14th of May we had some very heavy rains resulting in some damaging floods. We are happy to report that we had no damage at the sanctuary or any of our homes. Yes, it was messy and we had some trees down, but not in an area that impacted the animals or any of the volunteers. We realize not everyone was so lucky, but we know it could have been worse.
As you can see on our site we are trying to raise some money for a privacy fence. There is some property adjoining Yogie and Friends that we have been unsuccessful in purchasing. The owner is planning on moving her daughter and children onto that
property. For over eight years the land was overgrown with brush and provided a natural landscape barrier on the other side of our fence. Our concern is now that the land has been cleared and people moving that close to the Yogie property it will now be a source of noise and stress to our animals. We currently have a cyclone fence separating the property for safety reasons, but it doesn’t provide any privacy and we have found people who don’t want to pay admission walking onto the lady’s property and looking through the fence. They are trespassing on her land when they do this. But, again, our concern is providing privacy and noise reduction for the cats. So, if you can help with this effort it would be appreciated. The current quote for all the materials is $6500. Yogie and Friends volunteers will provide the labor and that will save us a bunch. If you can help, then please do so. You can contribute on-line or just by mailing a check to us. You can also watch the fundraising progress on our site as well. We’ve taken a couple of pictures of a fence at another sanctuary that we are modeling ours after.
One of our major goals for Yogie and Friends is to locate more land. The ultimate dream would be to have someone donate 40 – 200 acres of land, in a safe location free from future highways, like I-49 or I-69, have no land leases with anyone, and then build our natural habitat designs and move the cats there. We realize this was never God’s plan for animals to be in captivity. Since they are we want to provide them something more like nature intended. Unfortunately we rescue animals in crisis and don’t always have the luxury of waiting to build the ultimate dream home for these animals. We need to save then and save them now. But, with our plans for the new and future sanctuary we can build first while keeping the animals safe in current sanctuary before moving them to their new dream homes. Again, this can be made possible with your help. Being a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization gives the donor the opportunity for a really great tax deductible gift. Think about it. Getting a tax break while helping these amazing animals. It’s a win-win situation.
Military Appreciation Day will be held on Saturday, June 14th, 10 A.M. – 5 P.M., to honor our military men and women, active duty, retired, guard, and reservists with FREE refreshments and admission to Yogie and Friends Exotic Cat Sanctuary (military I.D. required). Yogie and Friends is a 100% volunteer driven organization and military personnel are an integral part of our volunteer team. This is our way of saying “Thank you!”
On a sad note for us at Yogie there was a dog who adopted us about four years ago. She had seven puppies under our education building and when they were big enough to be weaned and wandering around the property we caught them and socialized them. They were frightened because they were not used to humans. But, I brought them home with me and had friend’s children play and get them used to people. All seven were successfully adopted. The mother dog never let us touch her, but we found her eating in the waste pit of the food we had for the big cats. That was how we came to know her. Well, we started feeding her dog food and eventually we trapped her in a safe capture cage. She was taken to the vet and spayed and immunized. She was a true stray, but she would interact and play with us, but still never allow us to touch her. I looked forward to seeing her every time I arrived at Yogie and she would do her little doggy dance. Well, we have not seen her since May 10th. After all this time we can only assume she is dead someplace and it breaks our heart. Tim and I drove all over Fob Lane and the Stonewall-Frierson Road. We have not found her body anyplace, but after all this time we feel she is gone. She is truly missed. I know we didn’t have a very original name for her but we called her Mama Girl. We miss you Mama Girl.
The education building has come a long way. We just have a few things left to do and it will be done. We have two windows to install, finish work on the trim around the inside of the exterior doors with the drywall work. We need to build awnings over both exterior doors as well as ramps for wheelchairs. If you can help, the please let us know.
Volunteer of the month: We want to thank Brianna Volk for helping me with the tour from Camp Tiger. There were 103 people on that tour and she was a great help. She also helped me paint the outside of the education building after the tour. The girl really works! Thanks Brianna!
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 here.
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.
We are still waiting for the Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor program to come on-line. Keep watching our website.
Please remember to spay and neuter your pets. We have been receiving numerous calls for fostering or adopting domestic cats. The Ferrell cat problem is really bad in this area and this can be better controlled with just spaying and neutering these animals.
Also, do what you can to prevent flea and ticks causing serious illnesses to your animals. They deserve your care and kindness.
Posted in Monthly Newsletter and tagged June 2008 Sanctuary News, Latest Sanctuary News, lion, tiger, tigers. lions, Yogie, Yogie and Friends News