Don’t
forget to VOTE today !!!!!
Click on Vincent to cast
your vote for Rikkis Refuge, VA, USA .....
be a winner for the animals !!!!
If you set up an account
under this link, we could win an additional $1,000 too !!!!
Your daily
vote is very much needed.
Rikki’s
Refuge Thanksgiving Day Parade
Listen to all the animals give THANKS to YOU !!!!
Mom and me were snuggling
the other day and she was telling me about the times before me at Rikki’s
.... what it was like in the early days
.... about all YOU wonderful people who made it possible .... about all the
animals saved .... I’m sharing my
scratches about Rikki’s Refuge .... 15 Years in the Making with you as much as
I can paw in at one sitting ..... if
you missed Part I .... you can catch up
here http://rikkisrefuge.blogspot.com/2013/12/rikkis-refuge-15-years-in-making.html
and read from the beginning.
We ended up last time
hearing mom say, “I remember celebrating our 100th animal
saved. Our 1,000th. Today, at our 15 year mark, we’re very
close to having saved 5,000 animals.“
Rikki’s
Refuge .... 15 Years in the Making ....
Part II
But that number is really
misleading. That’s not just
saved, but almost 5,000 residents who lived and made Rikki’s their home. Animals who lived because of Rikki’s Refuge.
During the dark nights of
the winter of 1998-1999, while we often worked by the headlights of our
vehicles long into the night, while we itched, ached and dropped into
uncomfortably hard and lumpy sleeping bags, we dreamed of the animals we’d
save.
Those whose last chance we
were creating. Those who would escape
death, torment, abandonment, abuse, to come live in what we were creating,
those who would be loved again or loved for the first time.
No, not JUST those
nearly 5,000 residents have been saved by your dreams. Just as many wild animals have come through
the gates of Rikki’s Refuge. Working
with wildlife rehabilitators and animal control officers all over the state,
our woods and wetlands are home to many wild animals who would have otherwise
died. Would have been left on the road
to die. Trapped in someone’s house or
yard and sentenced to death for trespassing.
Lost their home to “development”.
Your dream saved these wild
animals too. Gave them 350 acres they
can live in, happy, secure, knowing it will never be bulldozed, never destroyed
by humans.
Wow, now we’re talking
almost 10,000 animals’ lives saved in 15 years! And it doesn’t stop there.
So many animals have been
saved, have had their homes saved, when we stepped in and helped them. They didn’t need to come to live at
Rikki’s. They needed us to make it
possible for them to stay in their loving homes. People and animals who loved each other, who were going to be
separated, the animals facing death.
Your dream made them able to happily and safely stay together.
Sometimes that’s helping
with an illness. The animal’s or the
owner’s. No place for an animal to go
while the owner is hospitalized or convalescing. Time and time again, we’ve been called in by authorities in
several counties to help. Usually it’s
an elderly or handicapped person on a fixed income, with a beloved animal they
are risking losing. An animal whose
life would be lost if they were taken to a typical pound or shelter. The need is simple, but beyond their
means. A dog house, a damaged fence
repaired, vaccinations, a speuter. So
simple and human and animal live together happily ever after.
We’ve saved hundreds of
those animals.
Every day we help people we
never actually meet or visit, find a way to keep their beloved animals. Sometimes they just need resources. How can I find an inexpensive way to speuter
this stray, and then I’ll give them a home?
Where do I turn for help? How do
I handle this or that situation? I’m
afraid, what do I do now? Finding the
answers, working through the situation with the people, hearing the good
results. A handful of these are
resolved everyday. Handful a day, times
30 days a month, times 12 months a year, times 15 years .... counting the times we’ve successfully saved
a life, a home ..... you can easily add
another 20,000 animals saved by Rikki’s dream !
Wow .... so now we’re talking about 5,000 who found a
home, 5,000 released wildlife, 500 touched and helped in their home, 20,000
saved through long distance assistance .....
30,500 lives saved, since we first started clearing up that poison ivy
....
WOW -- that’s a lot of
animals, domestic like me, that means cats and dogs and bunny rabbits and
guinea pigs, and farm animals like Petunia the Piggy and Calvin the Cow, and
wild animals who live in the woods and go bump in the night too .... AND ... hoomans !!! I guess I never realized how much Rikki’s
helps the hoomans too. But till we win
the right to vote, there seems to always be a hooman behind each of us animals,
doesn’t there?
We’ll hear more from mom
next time about other things Rikki’s Refuge does to help animals everywhere
.....
And in the mean time could I
please beg you to make a donation to help one of us? You pick, donate to help a domestic animal, a farm animal,
wildlife or hoomans in need .... just
let me know where to help YOU spend your donation!
Your donation TODAY could
enable the Refuge to help one more person keep their beloved animal friend out
of a pound or shelter.
Thank YOU for saving lives
-- we absolutely cannot continue to save lives without YOUR support !!
On line donations are easy
at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate you can even sign up for a life saving
monthly recurring donation!!!
I’m always happy to hear the
check is in the mail! Rikki’s Refuge,
PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960
Credit cards are accepted on
line at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
or over the phone.
You can call me directly at
540-854-0870 x5 to make sure your credit info is kept confidential.
Time to
Wrap it Up
I need YOUR help -- this is
good clean fun -- climate controlled -- sitting down -- Please spare a couple
hours to help wrap gifts at Barnes and Noble Book Store .... YOU wrap ... they donate .... we eat !!!
It’s a real win win situation.
In the past we’ve always filled
these volunteer slots quickly .... this
year ... it seems no one is raising their hands to donate a little time so we
can eat on Christmas .... Will YOU
please HELP ???
Click here to help in Charlottesville: topcat@cstone.net
if you'd like to help even if it's just for a half a
shift
Click here to help in Fredericksburg: mail@RikkisRefuge.org
especially need YOUR help on Saturday the 21st and
especially on the 4 pm to 9/10 pm shift
Now Taking
Reservations
Also Christmas Tour at noon
on the 25th. This is ONE
tour and is not an open house. Tickets
are required in advance. Email to mail@rikkisrefuge.org for your ticket
application, please mention which day in your request !!
You can also reserve for our
traditional New Years Day Nature Hike now: mail@rikkisrefuge.org
Turtles
Need Home
Congratulations
Autumn-Skye !
EVERY
Saturday !
Sign up as a docent to stand
by and accept donations at our Education Center ! Easy, clean and climate controlled. Mail@RikkisRefuge.org
THANK YOU
FOR HELPING ME TO SAVE SO MANY LIVES
... with your support we’re
able to help so many into their new furrever happy homes .... and to give that life long home to those not
quite so fortunate ... Thank you for your
support
Without YOU none of us would
be looking forward to Christmas this year
!!
Love you bunches,
Opie
1 comment:
thanks for the great video. looking forward to visiting some day.
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