Rikki's Refuge: 10/01/2017

Saturday, October 28, 2017

GOOD MORNING GOOD NEWS of Cows and Pumpkins

Titan

I work bery hard as spokes kitty .... I work hard and I eat hard .... and I save other aminals who need help. This Monday Titan gotted saved.

My friends Cindy and David helped too. Titan lived near them ... he'd been like a pet to the people he lived with ... Cindy and David drove by every day when they went to or from their house .... and they stopped to pet Titan and to give him apples.

Then one day they heard this little cow was going to market .... and they knew that didn't mean to go shopping either ... So they talked to Titan's owners who said they loved him so much, and hated to sell him .... but this was the prime time to get the most money for him .... so to the hamburger factory he had to go ....

This made Cindy and David very said .... and you know what they said? Do you?? They said, would you let him go live at Rikki's Refuge instead of killing him? And the owner said, nope, sorry, we love him so much, and we'd so much like to see him stay alive ... but we can make money selling him ... so selling is what we gonna do, Sorry.

So Cindy looked at David. And David looked at Cindy. And they said, ok, we buy Titan if you can drive him to Rikki's? And the owner said yippie yeahhh .... and cows cost lots ... like as much as a car .... maybe not a brand new car .... but a car for sure ...... But Cindy and David said ... oh well ... maybe we no eatz for a while fur Titan ain't a gonna be hamburger.

So Titan came to Rikki's Refuge on Monday !!!!! Welcome TITAN !!!!!

Buddy to the left, Titan to the right

Titan's not very old. All our cows are well grown up. A while back a mostly blind cow named Buddy who is very young came.

Buddy was very scared. Moving was really hard for him. But he was glad the move was to Rikki's and not the hamburger place.

He was scared. And our big cows didn't like him. And pushed him away from food. Poor Buddy.

So Buddy had a place all his own. But Buddy was very lonely. Very.

Then Madison came. Madison is a horse. Madison looked like he was about to die.

Madison, when we went to pick him up. Animal control has told his owner get him medical care, put him down, or get rid of him, you cannot take care of him, you cannot keep him. Luckily for Madison, his owner called Rikki's Refuge for help.

He was so skinny and so sick when he came. But soon Madison got better. But Madison was lonely. So Madison moved in with our other horse, Honors. But Honors wasn't nice to Madison. So we let Madison meet Buddy and they became horse and cow friends.

Madison looking after his shy and scared friend Buddy

But recently Lucy a very poor and pathetic horse came. She's been left in a field and was all covered in burrs. Her tail and mane were soo full, I mean like so so so bad. So bad we couldn't even get them out. We got them off her body. But had to cut her mane and tail to get it all out. It was just horrible. And she had sores all over from being pricked by them all the time.

That's not some fancy crazy hairstyle on Lucy. That is so many burrs that her mane and tail were all tangled up. It took two hours of gently cutting it all out so she no longer had then sticking in her.

Now she's happy too .... and she and Madison fell in love.

f But once again ..... Poor Buddy had no friends.

So today when Titan came .... we said let's see if Titan will be nice to Buddy ..... they both need a friend right now. ........ Buddy on the left .... Titan on the right ..... just meeting each other ..... everybody is standing by to see it they get along or if they fight ..... if they fight ... I running and getting out a here ..... let da hoomans deal with that ... I not gonna get stepped on .... Opie

But look !!!!! I think Titan is gonna dopt Buddy as his baby !!!!! They seem to like each other !!!!

I so happy !!!

How bout you?

Does it make you happy to save somebody and see them make friends and be happy ?

Do you know the only reason we can do that is cus YOU help us feed them all?

I could no help nobody if you didn't help me!!! That one reason I love you so much .... YOU care and YOU save lives !!!!

You can help me feed Buddy and Titan by a little click right here .... just $5 would buy them a nice salt block all their own .... www.RikkisRefuge.org/FeedMe

Awwwww lookie lookie !!!! I just can't stop smiling!!!! Buddy is so happy one of his own loves him back !!!!! It makes me wipe way a tear of joy !!!! I bet you thought only hoomans did that !!!

PUMPKIN PICKIN'

Wonder why this time of year is so important? And why YOUR help is so very much needed?

Pumpkins are a wonderful treat for the animals ... nutritious too .... and FREE .... if you help haul them to Rikki's Refuge you'll be saving us money while the big animals eat pumpkins and we don't have to buy so much feed AND you'll be giving the animals a special treat.

PLEASE SIGN UP TODAY to help us with the Great Pumpkin Haul.

Northern Virginia? Sign up with Fred: fred@z9a.com or 703-568-7205

He needs folks to show up to help load vehicles and

folks with vehicles, pick ups, bigger truck, trailers, SUVs to deliver to the refuge

He's got at least three churches lined up and ready to give their pumpkins to the animals after Halloween. This haul will happen on Saturday November 4th and possibly the 5th if we couldn't collect them all on the 4th.

The NOVA Pumpkin Pickers will be starting early on the 4th in North Alexandria (Seminary Road), move on to McLean/Vienna (off Rt. 7), and south Alexandria (Ft. Hunt Road) and end at Fairfax/Chantilly (right off US-50). contact Fred to help with these locations fred@z9a.com or 703-568-7205

Paul and Cindy will be organizing the great Pumpkin Pick at St. Thomas in McLean, also in Northern Virginia. If you'd like to volunteer to help them load and or drive, please contact Paul at paulcandy214@hughes.net They'll be working this site on Saturday November the 4th, and possibly the 5th.

Do you remember the many loads of pumpkins from last year?

We get the majority of our Central Virginia pumpkins from Miller Farms in Orange !

This year they want us to pick, load and haul pumpkins on October 31 and November 1 -- and that is Tuesday and Wednesday .... so please HURRY to sign up .... come and pick, load and/or drive.

Contact our coordinator at Volunteers@RikkisRefuge.org

PLEASE HELP US IF YOU CAN !!!

RECRUIT YOUR FRIENDS !!!

The very first ever pumpkin run almost 20 years ago !!!

The 2nd Annual Fredericksburg Thrift Shop Shop Hop is back! November 4-19.

There are 8 stores participating this year.

Rikki's very own store, Re-Tail will have DAILY SPECIALS!

YES you read that right .... SPECIALS every single day of the hop !!!!

BIG or SMALL we save them all !!!! This little duckling and her mom strolled up yesterday for some cracked corn. It's awfully late in the year for mom to be sitting on eggs. She hid her nest from us and obviously only hatched one baby. They are now in a nice warm safe area so baby can thrive.

I totally rely on YOU in order to feed and care for everyone. Won't you please help out?

$1 feeds four meals !

$25 is a HUGE help !!

Just imagine what we can do with $100 !!!

You can donate on line at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate

Or by check at Rikki's Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960

Or send an Amazon Gift Card - these days, so much can be purchased there cheaper than in a store. Of course we can't make great big huge bulk savings deals on Amazon like we can at the store. So when you send the funds to buy food, we get to buy lots and lots more for your donation !!!!

No matter how you want to help .... won't you just HELP today ?

THANK YOU FOR LOVING ALL OF US AND

TAKING THE TIME TO SAVE A LIFE TODAY

CUZ EVERY ONE OF US MATTER S

DON'T YOU THINK ?

www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate

Love,

Opie

Opie at his very important private perfect sized desk !

Don’t forget to SAVE A LIFE TODAY !

www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate

Rikki’s Refuge

PO Box 1357

Orange VA 22960

And please come see me soon !!

In the mean time, Keep up with us on Facebook and you'll get the minute to minute details about what's going on at Rikki's Refuge .... you'll be the first to see the new residents .... and the first to know about up coming events !!!

Rikki's Refuge

https://www.facebook.com/RikkisRefuge/

Opie and Vincent's Page

https://www.facebook.com/vincent.cat

Duke's Page

https://www.facebook.com/DukeThomasPeabody

Re-Tail Thrift Store in Fredericksburg

https://www.facebook.com/ReTail.org

The Duke Thomas Peabody Antique and Collectables Shoppe in Culpeper

https://www.facebook.com/DTPShoppe

Opie's and Mom's Purrsonal Profile

https://www.facebook.com/Kerry.Hilliard

Opie's Edibles for Fun Animal Friendly Recipes and Cooking Tips: https://www.facebook.com/OpiesEdibles

Vincent D. Cat's Gathering Place, a place to hang out, chat, and have fun

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VincentCat

Kitty Litter-Ature

https://www.facebook.com/RikkisReadingProgram

Rikki's Crazy Cat Person Club

https://www.facebook.com/CrazyCatPersonClub

For the Love of Black Cats

https://www.facebook.com/BlackCatAppreciationPage/

Our Website

www.RikkisRefuge.org

which needs help getting up to date .... if you "do" WordPress and would like to help, let us know Volunteers@RikkisRefuge.org

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. Your donations provide direct support. A financial statement is available upon written request from the Virginia State Office of Consumer Affairs.

Monday, October 16, 2017

GOOD MORNING GOOD NEWS - October 16, 2017

GOOD MORNING GOOD NEWS

Bob Hilliard

GGP, Great-Grandpa to Opie and the animals at Rikki’s Refuge!

1926 - 2017

Those of us who knew Bob Hilliard (GGP or Great-GrandPa to Opie and all of the animals of Rikki’s Refuge and Daddy to Kerry), who loved him, who appreciated the work he did for our animals, for our planet, who were thankful for his help to Rikki’s Refuge, who appreciated his building skills for the refuge, missed him so much this summer, when he's often spend a month or more working on projects to better the Refuge.

GGP loved designing, maintaining and upgrading the infrastructure and the buildings of Rikki’s Refuge. Many projects he could not work on hands on, he was eager to fund, always wanting to see life improve for all the animals of his beloved Rikki's Refuge.

This is the first year we celebrate his birthday without him here on earth with us.

In his memory we ask that you Donate towards your favorite project of his or that you sign up to provide the labor for the maintenance and construction he so loved doing on his frequent visits to Rikki’s Refuge over the years.

It's been a tough summer. Donors and volunteers go on vacation. Our sponsors look forward to special fun and activities and travel. And sometimes they forget about all the animals back home at Rikki's Refuge. They have other expenses, things to do, and writing a check for the animals of Rikki's Refuge just slips their minds.

Can you just imagine the disaster if Rikki's Refuge decided to take a day off !

Let's go to the beach today ...... and skip feeding everybody ! Oh no........

Or off to the mountains for a hike and we'll just worry about scooping that poop tomorrow ! Oh yikes, I can't find anybody, they're all buried in poop.

Or just take a nice relaxing day in our backyard hammocks instead of passing out meds and visiting docs. Oh no ..... sneeze sneeze ouch ouch ....

Rikki's Refuge needs the funds to feed and care for everybody every day, and the labor to pass out that food, and clean up what the critters leave behind, and hand out the medicine, and see the doc. Every day costs just as much as every other day. And so by the end of summer our pantries are bare and all our reserves have been drained, and we're toughing it out day by day.

GGP was a big help to Rikki's Refuge when the going got tough. No matter what, he was there for the animals he so dearly loved. We know he's watching over us now .... but he can't be there helping us catch up on the work, or fill the pantry and pay the bills.

So we're hoping and praying we can count on YOU today !!!

Just click where you want YOUR SUPPORT to go.

Do you prefer to help with the
VET DEBT

or being a PANTRY PROVIDER

or helping out with one of GGP's PROJECTS ?

The driveways are in need of $3,780 of gravel to keep it a smooth ride for the animals going in and out to see their doctors ~ a bumpy road is uncomfortable right after surgery. Donate one truck load for $378.

The medical treatment room is in need of a brand new interior, walls, ceiling, and floor. Easy to keep sterile materials will run a bit over $4,000. That's a lot, but you can help out just a little.

The plastic mesh roofs on the cat runs have lasted well beyond their expected lifespan. They got us thru our early, oh so lean, years. Now we must replace roofs and this time, we’re using metal mesh that will hold up longer and better with snow loads and other issues that we never thought about when putting up the plastic mesh in the hot summer 16 years ago. The cost of just the roofing material for all cat runs, feral quarantine runs, and day rooms is $8,768. We will need fasteners and other hardware as well. The labor is immense. Yet when we all chip in ... it goes so fast !

The roof on the 9th Life Center, which GGP helped to put on 17 years ago, is in need of paint. $300 should cover the cost of the roofing paint we need.

Please help us today! Donate

We are in the process of setting up a second quarantine room and haven't fully estimated the price to completion. I know we'll be looking at between $2,500-$3,000. Quarantine of incoming animals is so important to everyone’s health. We’ve helped animals from almost every state, and from many countries around the world. An animal coming from even blocks away could be carrying a devastating contagious illness, that could easily spread throughout our current residents if we allowed instant mixing. Many diseases show no symptoms what so ever for a week or more, but can be contagious during that time. How often do you hear of shelters having dozens, or hundreds of animals all sick? It started with one sick soul they tried to help. When you don’t have good quarantine with totally separate air flow, it’s so easy for that to happen. It happened to us a couple times in the early days before we had better facilities. One time the medication to care for all our residents who got sick was over $8,000 !! It can be financially devastating as well as deadly to the residents. No amount of money is too much to prevent the spread of such things.

Doggy Downs clubhouses have needed roofing repairs for a very long time. Three clubhouses, and each needing $2,850 to repair leaks and problems. Somebody didn't listen to GGP's design of these buildings and changed it to save a little bit of material, and they've been a disaster we've been adding bandages to ever since.

These are the necessary upgrades GGP would have focused on this year if he was still here to help at Rikki's Refuge.

Won't you help out and fill in his place? A donation today of $25 will help us on the way to a better refuge doing a better job for the many amazing residents that call Rikki’s Refuge home !!!

Please Help Me

YOU can help TODAY in many ways !

Your on-line help is only seconds away www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate

or you can send a check or money order to

Rikki's Refuge

PO Box 1357

Orange VA 22960

or use www.paypal.com with our address mail@RikkisRefuge.org

Plan time to come out and VOLUNTEER on projects

Come on a TOUR , meet your friends and bring lunch!

Sign up for PUMPKIN PICKIN' , help us collect pumpkins after Halloween to feed the cows, goats, sheep, horses, chickens, turkeys.....

SHOP Re-Tail, Rikki’s Refuge’s Resale/Thrift Shop

3503 Lafayette Blvd, Fredericksburg, Virginia 22408

540-891-5300 Open M-Sat 10-5:30, Sun 12-5

We NEED your tax deductible donations of clothes, household items, furniture and more.

Come join us at Lake Anna State Park on a scenic road/trail course for the Annual Rikki's Refuge 5K Walk/Run for the Animals. Saturday, November 4. Packet pick-up and race day registration from 7 - 8am at Visitors Center. Parking fee waived for RACE PARTICIPANTS. Race begins promptly at 9 am, rain or shine. Top male & female finishers and top 3 in each age group awards. Team award for the team with the most runners/walkers. Prize drawings after race. T-shirts to all pre-registered runners, t-shirt not guaranteed on race day. Spectators and dogs welcome.

ALL REGISTRATIONS THROUGH WWW.ACTIVE.COM (search for Rikki's Refuge)

ThanksLiving

Is coming soon. A time when we celebrate LIFE and we have our friends over for dinner, including the turkeys and the pigs and the geese .... The date is yet to be set ... it's usually the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Sign up to come on a tour followed by a vegetarian meal with us. It's a wonderful day filled with the joy of life .... Feed your friends ..... then feed yourself ..... and nobody gets hurt !!!!

Leonard just wants to be loved.

Stella and Stu want YOU to join them for a gentle and kind ThanksLiving !

TODAY, October 16th, is National Feral Cat Day! There is an estimated 50 million feral cats living in America. This day is all about raising awareness about feral cats, promoting Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) and recognizing the millions of compassionate Americans who care for them.

At Rikki's Refuge, we believe that feral cats are just as deserving of love and life and happiness as anyone else. Of our almost 1300 animals here at the refuge, about half of them are cats and more than half of those are or once were feral cats.

Rikki's Refuge believes first and foremost in TNR, with the emphasis on RETURN. Ferals have families and homes, and that's where they belong. Yet, when it's not possible, when a feral will be killed, when their homes have been destroyed, when they are frightened and in a shelter, then we believe in saving them and introducing them to our Feral Family!

We could not do what we do without your SUPPORT of our mission!

Will you please consider donating for the care of a feral cat today???

We can feed one cat for one month for $27. If your budget allows, would you consider being a monthly supporter of Rikki's Feral Cats .... only $27 a month .... and we'll open all the cans and wash the plates for you !!

www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate

THANK YOU!!!

Did you know that if you are a federal employee, you can give to Rikki's Refuge (Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc.) through the Combined Federal Campaign? Use our CFC # to give to Rikki's Refuge! We are so grateful that you support our mission! Another easy way to make a BIG difference!!

RIKKI'S REFUGE CFC #77674

http://www.opm.gov/combined-federal-campaign/

Did you know if you're a state employee of Virginia, that you can give to Rikki's Refuge (Life Unlimited of Virginia) through the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign? We are so grateful for our supporters who believe in our mission! THANK YOU!!

RIKKI'S REFUGE CVC #003163

http://www.cvc.virginia.gov/

Help us help them !!!

Through your gifts of generosity and love, more than 1300 animals are able to call Rikki’s Refuge home. You are important to the lives of the animals at Rikki’s Refuge - from the biggest cow, to the many cats, to the smallest bird. Your kind and generous donations mean the world to us !!

What is YOUR favorite way to help the animals?

_____$3,000 completes our new quarantine room

_____$2,850 repairs one Doggie Downs clubhouse (x 3)

_____$300 gets the 9th Life roof painted

_____$4,000 completes the new Medical Room

_____$8,768 for new metal mesh roofing on all cat & day runs

_____$25 gets us started on the upgrades needed this year

_____$3,780 provides gravel for both driveways into Rikki’s

Or make a simple donation of:

□ $200 □ $25 □ $50 □ $45 □ $100 □ $150 □ $75 □ $10 □ Other$_____

Rikki’s is an IRS 501(c)(3)charity and your contributions are tax deductible.

RIKKI’S REFUGE