Friday, December 30, 2011

December 31, 2011


RIKKI’S REFUGE - HAIRBALLS AND HAPPY TAILS
The newsletter of thanks from grateful animals to their beloved rescuers.

Christmas is a time of Miracles
And thanks to YOU these 13 cats and dogs had life saving Christmas miracles.  Without your love support every day of the year, we couldn’t save the lives we do at Rikki’s.  Without your support this Christmas, we could not have saved these 13 animals!

Read the stories of how YOU and Rikki’s Refuge saved their lives, just in time for Christmas!!
Opie, Nellie, Kennedy, Sugar, Monrovia, Lightning, Mercury, Peanut Butter, Thelma, Prudence, Virginia, Sylvester and Glenda would not have been here to celebrate their first real Christmas without YOU !!!  They send you nose kisses, big purrs and big sloppy kisses !!!!!



One Christmas Cabbage Means the World
to These Little Guys



Thank you Arthur and Annie !!!
Blue Dog is now a Rikki’s Resident !!!!  This is the truck my dear sweet Aunt Candy used to haul all kinds of goodies to Rikki’s.  Arthur and Annie came to visit Monday and donated Blue Dog !!!!  Thank you, that’s a really lovely gift.


Christmas Quilt Winner
Karen Jones was the winner of the quilt !!!!!    She bought 10 tickets.  Thank you Miss Marika for making and donating the quilt.  Thank you to everyone who took a chance on the quilt and bought a ticket.  Together you raised $265 for the animals !!!!!



Counting Down the Hours
Thank you for helping with our Double Your Donation End of Year Challenge!!!  A wonderful donor has challenged us to a year end, DOUBLE YOUR DONATIONS, up to $15,000.  The dead line is midnight the 31st!  That’s when he’ll look at the donations for this challenge and the pledges and write a check to Rikki’s Refuge for up to $15,000 to help save the animals !!!!

So far we’re at $9,301.50 ....  almost two-thirds of the way there ......  we desperately need just $5,698.50 to make our goal !!!!  

Every dollar we come up short - is two dollars short to care for the animals !!

Can you spare just a dollar or two or ten? 
or send me an email with your pledge and note that the check is in the mail!  Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org

A great big huge thank you to those of you who have contributed to the end of year Double Your Donation !!!!!

Kate Viscardi, Nora Eldridge, Missy Burns and the Wagglebutts, Janet Duran, Katherine Reynolds, Debra Berry, Nancy Mottershaw, Karen Friedel, Theresa Leppley, Mary Lou Pizzio, Vicki Gielen, Denise Halderman, Sue Banning, Dennis Nagy, Amy Madson, Deborah Jameson, Stewart Business Services, Inc., Betsy Brown, Beverly Cain, Martha Girdany, Theresa Loretto, Jayne Ashmore, Harold N, Deborah Forrest, April Nelson, Robert Tringali, John Bowman, Konstantin Shepelev, Suzanne Bolton, Sharon Dyer, Ann Claassen, Roberta Finkelstein, Suzette Haile, Elizabeth Gaver, Linda Downey, Amanda Bumpus, Douglas Michel, Erin Higgins, Jennifer Stocker, Jennifer Dorr Ziegenmeyer, Amanda Lea, Jeffrey Carey, Marlin Leonard, Lisa Millhorn, Wes Boyd, Lia Federico, Jean Evans, Robyn Schnellenberger, Claudia Espana, Mary Walker, Torre Taylor, Jill Pfeiffer, Winging Cat Rescue Inc, Barbara Lowe, Vicki Gielen, Carol Boyse, Marie Shirey, Lois Angeletti, Beverly and Jim Flynn, Amy Griffin, Jennifer Gundersen, Diane Thibault, Cynthia Scheel, Patricia Nelson, Greta Bollinger, Christine Kent, Sarah Cummings, Emily Elder, Morrigan Benton-Floyd, Melanie Jones, Jon O'Connor, Jae Berry, Nick Guagliardo, Margaret Shelbourn, Leigh Goodwin, Joanne Whalon, Martha Girdany, Cassandra Vago, Karen Friedel, Gigi Dul, Donna Bruno, Carolyn Demorest, Jeanine Van Voorhees-Bright, Sue Banning, Grace Lamoree, Elizabeth Mustakos, Craig McGruder, Diane Olin White, Paul Totten, Julie Sahlin, John Cann, Kathy Sheffield

!!!!!  You’re my angels!!!
to See YOUR name here TOMORROW !!!!!


Please Spend New Year’s Day With Us
January 1st Sunday - Opening the New Year at your favorite place will bring you good luck all year!!!   11 am Tour of the Refuge - note 11 am - not our usual noon - 11 am so we can squeeze in Nature Hike before it gets dark and cold.  Gates open at 10:30 am.  Tour at 11 am, yup, it’s all outside so dress warm warm warm.  Then at 1 pm you’ll head for the hills!!!!  Pristine Nature Hike thru the 367 acres of Rikki’s Refuge.  Good boots, waterproof and all dressed up for the weather.  Wear orange and red and bright colors so any evil poaching trespassing you know what’s don’t think you’re a deer!!!


Christmas with the Critters
Click to see the animals Christmas Photo Album, including Timmy’s First Christmas.


HELP .. I need somebody ...
Help ....  Not just anybody ....
Heeeeeeelp ......
Where’s my bed?  I’m having to sleep on my toy cuz I don’t got no clean bed!  Jennifer left us on Monday - just walked out in the middle of the day - so I need somebody to take care of the feeding and cleaning in the 9th Live Center and the Hospital Cages.  Is that YOU?  Call for a job interview - 540-854-0870 x8 .  If you’re a good volunteer, please come and help till the position is filled.



Miles says it all
Thank you Michael and Lanell Gardner, we LOVE you let me give you a great big hug!!!!   Michael and Lanell brought this big beautiful van to Rikki’s yesterday.  There’s a story here.

Last week Lena was telling mom about a program she’d like to start.  Offering free or low cost Speutering to a few local citizens - I mean their pets - every month.  Maybe we could start with 10.  For $1,000 a month we could probably do 20 a month.  It wouldn’t be hard to get going.  We’d need to line up a doctor or clinic to work with.  Get paper work ready for folks.  Have the animals come here.  Find a volunteer who’d drive them, in the morning and back in the evening.  We’d need the volunteer, and we know someone would help with this kind of a great program.  And either they’d need transportation that could fit in many carriers or crates.  Or better yet, we’d get a van that we could outfit with cages and carriers and our volunteer could drive .........

Well the next morning when the phone rang and the caller said ..... I have a van I’d like to donate if you could use it ....   mom was jumping with joy and now Lena is working on implementing the all new Community Speuter Program !!!



Thank you for your love and support. 
Together we’re making a marvelous difference!!!
LOVE,
VINCENT
December 31, 2011

PS: Please help me, I’ll try anything to keep the Refuge Running. I need your continued support.


The Fine Print
Rikki's Refuge in Orange County, Virginia, is a 367-acre, no-kill, all species, peaceful sanctuary supported solely by donations from kind and loving individuals just like you!   We help farm animals, domestic animals, and wildlife.  Over 1200 individuals of 22 different species now reside at Rikki's Refuge.  Please continue to help us help the animals.  To learn more about Rikki's Refuge go to http://www.rikkisrefuge.org/, http://www.rikkisrefuge.blogspot.com/, and http://www.flickr.com/photos/rikkis_refuge . 

We survive on donations from kind and loving people, just like you.  We live on a shoestring and make it on less than one dollar per day, per animal.  So if you can spare a couple of bucks to buy a few meals, please go to http://www.paypal.com/ and use our email address of mail@rikkisrefuge.org .  We do accept checks, money orders, cash and stuff, too!  Thanks for your support.  Rikki's Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960

Your donations directly support the Critters of Rikki’s Refuge.  Rikki's Refuge is owned and operated by Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc., an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Virginia Corporation. Federal Tax-ID 54-1911042. We hold membership in all Combined Federal Campaigns in Virginia #77674, Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign #3163, PetsMart Charities #1377, iGive, Benevolink, paypal.com (mail@rikkisrefuge.org), your donations provide direct support. A financial statement is available upon written request from the State Office of Consumer Affairs.

If you know others who'd enjoy reading about the exciting adventures at Rikki's Refuge let me know and I'll be happy to include them.  If you are one of those strange humans who does not wish to laugh and cry with us, simply reply with "REMOVE" and nothing but "REMOVE" in the subject line. 


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