Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Good Morning Good News - Happy Thanksgiving



GOOD MORNING GOOD NEW
     Happy ThanksGiving

OH NO !!!!!

I'm in BIG troubles, please help me .....

I left Obie, my assistant, in charge of the Thanksgiving Feast for the animals and well, nobody but the dogs are impressed with the results.

Can YOU help me earn enough green papers in time to make sure that all the animals at Rikki's Refuge have a happy Thanksgiving this Thursday and a nice meal of what they like ?

I've got to raise $1304 before THURSDAY - and that's just tomorrow - to make everybody happy and full !!!!

Won't you skip just one cup of coffee or one donut to help make 1304 animals HAPPY ???

THANK YOU!! Love, Opie

http://rikkisrefuge.org/donate?purpose=FEAST

Please ask all your friends to help me too !!!!!!!!



Did YOU sign up for the Thanksgiving Tour and Reception?  I sure hope you did ....  I hope I getz to seez you tomorrow ........  

Lots of exciting things going on this week ....   and next month too .... 

Here's the quick run down .....  I'll try to pop back in soon to tell you MORE !!!!



DELICIOUS NUM NUM POPCORN

Hurry!!   It's back!    Our Nom Nom Popcorn fundraiser is underway TODAY through December 9 - Just in time for the holidays!!

Rikki's Refuge earns 30% of each sale AND you don't have to wait until the end of the sale for your products. Your order will arrive within 7-10 days of placing it!!



AND in addition to the more than 65 awesome and unique popcorn flavors, new snack pack combinations, gourmet seasonings, and build-a-tins at great prices, they now also offer:

**Java Nom’s” Coffee – Eye-Opening Varieties of Delicious Coffee to please every java lover!

**Mama Bear’s” Pickles & Peppers – Tempting Pickle and Pepper Products to add a little zing to meal or snack time!

**A New Line of Savory & Sweet Flavored Nuts! Scrumptious Peanuts and Almonds and Cashews, oh my!

www.supportyours.org/rikkisrefuge  order for YOU and for your popcorn loving friends on your Shopping List ....  TODAY !!

You eat popcorn ... I get Fancy Feast !!!



BLACK FRIDAY EVENTS AT RIKKI'S


BLACK SHEEP FRIDAY


Join us for our very first Black Sheep Friday .....   don't rush out to spend money playing into the hands of commercializing every holiday and event .....  don't get caught up in the mad rush .....

Think about Thanks and about Giving at this time of year.  Look around ... be grateful for the planet you live on ....  be thankful for your fellow earth mates .....

Show your Thanks by Giving back this Black Friday ....   

You can pick who you'd like to spend the day with.  We'd pick the animals ......  and if you do too come to Rikki's or spend the day volunteering at a local sanctuary or shelter and helping the animals who are so often forgotten during the holiday season.

If you pick hoomans .....  spend the day visiting at a nursing home, a children's home, a homeless shelter, a woman and children shelter.  YOU can make a difference on Friday .....  

Show the world and PUT YOUR TIME AND YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR HEART TELLS YOU TO

Help commercialize holidays by forking it over to the big corporations you hate seeing growing fat on your dollars ......  or spend it really making a difference .....

The future of the planet and every soul on it, is in YOUR hands.   

Spend the day with us at Rikki's, working with our Sanctuary Manager, assisting in feeding of the animals, cleaning of the animal areas to include scooping poop, raking poop, and disposing of the poop!

Yup, it's a lot of poop !!!

It is outside work, so dress for the weather, bring your animal-friendly lunch (this means to share but don't bring animal parts to eat), and work from 10 am until 3 pm!!

It's hard work, but with great rewards and our volunteers will get LOTS of animal interaction (in addition to animals in pastures and pens, we also have many free range cats, dogs, goats, turkeys, peacocks, ducks, geese, chickens, etc that will likely be your shadows!).

We are a life care sanctuary with 1300 animals, both domestic and farm, of 22 different species - from cats, dogs, turkeys, emus, cows, pigs, goats, and everything in between!!

Why not try something different for Black Friday??

You must sign up in advance to attend !!!

Send an email to VOLUNTEERS@RikkisRefuge.org NOW for your free ticket !!




BLACK FRIDAY FOOD BOWL BUSTER

runs from midnight Thursday to 11:59 pm Friday Rikki's time

BLACK FRIDAY FOOD BOWL BUSTER – 20% Off ALL Donations!!!

20% Off Your Donation Shopping at Rikki’s Refuge From midnight Thursday thru 11:59 pm Black Friday, we’ve got the best shopping idea EVER!

ALL donations — no limits my friends — ALL donations —

are topped with 20% ….

YOU donate $80 and our Black Friday Donor drops in $20 ….
         and the animals get FED $100 of food!!

Is this cool or what??

          Spread the word ….

                    Feed ’em all!!




OH MY GOSH!!

Rikki’s 20% off Donations Shopping Spree just got BETTER!

How many folks are on your Christmas list?

Tired of shopping, spending money on gas or postage, fighting over parking spots, getting mugged in malls?

Well …. Look what we’ve got for YOU today,

donations of $25 or more will get an email OR snail mail holiday card from Rikki’s ....

just tell us who it’s for, anything special you’d like us to say from you, their name and snail mail or email address … we’ll take care of the rest ….

AND it still qualifies for the 20% Off Your Donation Shopping at Rikki’s

MIDNIGHT Thursday thru 11:59 pm Black Friday  !!!

Spread the word ….

Feed ’em all!!

AND get your Holiday Shopping ALL DONE TODAY with no trouble, no hassle!!

Can you possibly think of a better gift to give someone than saving a life in their honor?


WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ?



RIKKI'S LOGO JEWELRY SPECIAL SALE

Our fabulous authentic sterling silver Rikki's Refuge lapel pins and necklaces (custom made for us by Michael Gallagher Jewelers) are MORE than half off this weekend!!

Yes, they really are!!

The pins are normally $40, and the necklaces are $50.

But for a limited time this weekend, that brings them down to $14.99 and $19.99 respectively!

They've never been this low, and may never be again!

And there are limited quantities!

Get your necklace and pin at deep deep discount NOW !!!!!   

You can buy yours directly at our wonderful store in Fredericksburg

Re-Tail
3503 Lafayette Blvd, Fredericksburg
540-891-5300

Or you can buy on line and we'll ship to you !!!!!    

And shipping is $4 to U.S. addresses. International? Just let me know what country, and we'll let you know.

HURRY ...  inventory is running low !!!


HUGE STOREWIDE BLACK FRIDAY SALE
You can feel good about supporting stores like Re-Tail where 100% of sales stay with the Rikki's Family, supporting the animals that YOU love !!! 

No corporate CEO's or CCO's getting fat ... well ... not fat with green papers !!!!!

Mom be our CEO - Chief Excrement Officer and she don't get no green papers at all .... not even any to buy a veggie burger .... sometimes Petunia will share an apple with her. 

I be CCO - Chief Cat Officer and I might be fat ....  and I use the green papers to buy food for me and for everybody else here too ....  and to pay their doctors ....  and to pay the nice dump people who take all our poop to store it cus we'd just run out of room .... and to pay the lectic man so we have lights so da hoomans can see da poop at night to clean it up .....    

THANK YOU for supporting Rikki's Refuge and Saving Lives !!!!

Your EVERY purchase at Re-Tail makes a difference !!!



THE REST OF THE YEAR

GIVING TUESDAY
This will be a facebook only event and fundraiser only on Tuesday, December 28

Money raised during this opportunity be matched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Facebook is waiving all fees, so every penny donated AND MORE goes directly to Rikki's Refuge. 

It's simple for YOU to set you your own plea on facebook for donations for Rikki's Refuge.

Just ask me how, Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org or message me on facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Kerry.Hilliard   yeahhhh I know ... it's got HER name on there, but it's really MY facebook page !!!!!   

It won't cost you a thing !!!!   Is donating to save a life on YOUR Christmas Wish List?   This is the PURRFECT opportunity to ask all YOUR friends and family to make a donation in you honor and as your Christmas Gift (like who needs another scarf, right?) AND to have it DOUBLED !!!!

Check our facebook pages on TUESDAY and donate thru any one of them marked as GIVING TUESDAY DOUBLES .....    and seriously ...  think about doing you very own fundraiser ....  it's really really easy and I'll walk you turn setting it up !!!!!

Visit us on Tuesday

Pick any of those pages and look for our Giving Tuesday DOUBLES !!!!



PHOTOS WITH SANTA AT RE-TAIL
Starting Saturday December 2

EVERYONE WELCOME

OUR SANTA DON'T CARE HOW MANY LEGS YOU HAVE
OR HOW LONG YOUR EARS ARE
HE WANTS TO HEAR YOUR WISH LIST


Pictures with Santa $10
You receive 1 print plus a cd with all the pictures we take of your family.
Pet and human friendly!

Appointments are preferred and will provide a guaranteed time, but walk-ins are also welcome.

Slots fill up quickly, call 540-891-5300 or email Re-Tail@RikkisRefuge.org us asap to schedule your appointment.

Saturday, December 2, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Sunday, December 3, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Saturday, December 9, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Sunday, December 10, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Saturday, December 16, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Sunday, December 17, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Thursday, December 21, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm


WRAPPING FOR RIKKI'S

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - ALL SHIFTS

Wrap for tips !

Help customers, help Rikki's and have fun all at the same time!

Volunteer Gift Wrappers are needed for Rikki's Refuge on December 16, 17, 23, 24 at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore (Seven Corners Location) in Falls Church, VA!

Please contact FRED at fred@z9a.com or Volunteers@RikkisRefuge.org if you can help!
Saturday, Dec. 16, 10 am - 9 pm
Sunday, Dec 17, 10 am - 7 pm
Saturday, December 23, 10 am - 9 pm
Sunday, December 24, 10 am - 7 pm

AND December 21, 22, 23 at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Charlottesville, VA!

If you can help, please contact Ron Herfurth (Rikki’s Refuge Director of Serving Cats) at topcat@cstone.net or Volunteers@RikkisRefuge.org
Thursday, December 21, 4 pm-8 pm
Friday, December 22, 5 pm-8 pm
Saturday, December 23, 5 pm-8 pm

All donations received go directly to Rikki’sRefuge!


CHRISTMAS DAY TOUR


OH NO !!!!   Did you forget to get your tickets for our Thanksgiving Day Tour ?

SIGN UP NOW for our CHRISTMAS DAY TOUR at Rikki's Refuge, followed by a small reception at our Life Center.

We would love to see you, but you MUST have reservations.

For more information and to reserve your spot, email us at Tours@RikkisRefuge.org

We also have a New Year's Day Wild and Wooly Nature Hike ....  noon on New Year's Day
get your tickets at Tours@RikkisRefuge.org  BUT only if you dare hike off into the wilderness where you have no idea who you may come across .....  will Bigfoote follow the hikers again this year  ........  You won't know if you don't sign up !!



CATCHING UP ON THE PAST


Ohh we've had exciting times since I last talked to you .....  
      and I'll tell you more about them later .....  
               but just to get you up to date.......


SAVING SARA

Sara kept coming to visit Rikki's Refuge since she was an itty bitty baby calf.  She was an escape artist living on an adjoining farm.  She kept coming over to visit with our cows and sheep and goats and cats and dogs ....  Sara was a friend to everyone. 

We welcomed her roaming our refuge, we wanted her to be allowed to stay, to grow up, to enjoy life with us.  Yet she would be retrieved and taken home.  But soon she'd be back. 

And she grew .... and grew .... and now she's about a year old and her family was being sent off to market ....  and still .... Sara came to Rikki's ....  looking longingly at the safety and protection we offer our animals ....  a life ... for as long as god let's them be here. 

Knowing the end of her life was coming soon, our volunteer Nora, rallied others together and raised the money to buy Sara's freedom. 

The days the papers were signed and the exchange made, Sara stood there in the driveway that separates our two farms .... our farm of peace and happiness ever after called Rikki's Refuge .... their farm of the cycle of short term life and off to market ...  looking over our Sanctuary Manager's (Doug) shoulder as he signed her papers. 

Sara took one last look over her shoulder at her family, already loaded on livestock trucks and ready to ride off to market, she let out a long low mooo .....   and turned and followed Doug to Rikki's and turn our gate to live a life of happy ever after. 

We are so thankful to those of you who saved Sara from becoming a steak or a hamburger.  THANK YOU.  

It's wonderful people like YOU who support Rikki's Refuge and make it possible for us to feed, house, and care for all these wonderful animals of so many wonderful species who just want peace and happiness and live .....   and YOU make it possible for us to do it ....   ONE DOLLAR AT A TIME !!!!

Thank you for being there for Sara and her new family of 1300 saved happy animals ......
Your support means the world to every one of them ....  www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate


RIKKI'S 5K RUN


Our 5K Run was a huge success with 78 runners and walkers of two species !!!!!

Thank you Dennis and Crystal for sponsoring, coordinating, managing and making the run a huge success again this year !!!!!

Congratulations to our 1st place guy Tim Sveum, 1st place gal Tiana Laux, and our Team Winner the Marines !!!!  


THREE LITTLE PIGGIES
These three little gals won't blow your house down !!!!   But they will grow up to be big beautiful girls like our Petunia ... ONLY because YOU went out of your way to save them !!!!

These girls were on loan to a pick your own produce place ....  what a great place to fatten them up before they'd be going back to the feed lot and slaughter. 

They learned to love people and got so friendly.  One kind person visiting the produce place said WHAT ???  These beautiful creatures are here to learn to love humans, to get treats, pats, to be treated like living beings with a soul and a heart .... and then to be processed into Christmas Ham? 

NO FRIGGING WAY !!!!!

She told someone about them, who told someone else, who .......   and I bet you know the rest of the story.  She heard about Rikki's and about pigs like Petunia who can live in peace and happiness just being pigs .....  cus you know ... no pig ever wanted to be ham ... or bacon ... no none of them.

And now these three little girls are here for you to play with and watch grow up.

THANK YOU for making it possible for wonderful animals to live out their natural lives !!!


PUMPKIN PICKIN
Lots of nice hoomans picked and loaded and hauled pumpkins .....   and all the grass eatin, cud chewing, vegivores are very very happy !!!!!


THANKSLIVING
We had a lovely ThanksLiving tour and feeding of the animals.  Lars, our chief turkey, is a huge supporter of World Vegan Month, November, and he led the ThanksLiving Tour, constantly gobbling the message "Feed us, don't eat us" to all our visitors. 

Once again ... our fabulous chefs outdid themselves with a wonderful vegan dinner for da hoomans too !!!!!    If you'd like to join us next year for a tour of feeding the animals and then our Vegan ThanksLiving Meal in celebration of letting animals live their natural lives, sign up NOW, seats sell out FAST ....  so HURRY ....  it's NOT too early to reserve your spot for 2018 .....  Saturday before Thanksgiving.   Events@RikkisRefuge.org


 
KAITLYN SAYS COME MEET ME !!!!
Sign up for a tour soon and visit all the critters.  Kaitlyn and her friends look forward to seeing you and sharing purrs and love and hugs !!!!

Tours@RikkisRefuge.org



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

Don’t forget to SAVE A LIFE TODAY !
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

Opie and Vincent's Page


Duke's Page

Re-Tail Thrift Store in Fredericksburg

The Duke Thomas Peabody Antique and Collectables Shoppe in Culpeper

Opie's and Mom's Purrsonal Profile

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

Kitty Litter-Ature

Rikki's Crazy Cat Person Club

For the Love of Black Cats

Our Website
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.