GOOD MORNING GOOD NEWS ---- Super Bowl Sunday
I'm so tired and so worried and so scared .... I’m having to take care of all kinds of
stuff here while Mom helps Daddy Fred get better nuf to get outta the hospital
and come home. I’m so upset and worried
about Daddy. Is he gonna get
better? Will he ever be well enough to
come to Rikki’s again? Mom is so upset
and so stressed out, she’s so upset about Rikki’s too. She’s scared what’s gonna happen to Rikki’s
cuz she can’t come to work till Daddy gets better. I’m trying so hard to help her ... and to help keep Rikki’s
together .... and prayin my Daddy gets
all better ....
well ....
I’ll let her tell you all about the troubles with
Daddy .....
But I get to tell my story bout Super Bowl Sunday first
!!
I came in for 5 minutes from the cold outside and
now there's a ruckus going on. I guess I have to investigate. *sigh* At least I
didn't take my sweater off yet.
I tried to come inside for just 5 minutes as I felt
weak and needed a Fancy Feast fix. Then a ruckus started outside so I had to go
see what was going on! This being in charge is hard!
Candy and Gruffy were talking and decided they
wanted to be in on this Super Bowl thing. The Colts were playing after all so
Candy thought she should get a team together. Since she's the only horse here
she decided to recruit the goats for help.
She started with Joey, Sally and Jessie who were
less than impressed with this idea. They were busy they said sunning themselves
and didn't want to be in on this game thing.
So Candy and Gruffy went back to the pasture and
found a few goats that said they would join the team but it was gonna cost in
extra hay. (Like we have any of that!)
PLEASE SHARE THIS GoFundMe !!
Rikki's Refuge Animal
Sanctuary cares for more than 1300 rescued farm and domestic animals. During
the winter months, increased amounts of hay and grain are needed for our farm
animals that call the sanctuary home. For the cows, goats, sheep, horse,
donkey, and even the pigs, this need alone amounts to the tune of $800 a week.
WE NEED YOUR IMMEDIATE HELP!
In the meantime, Husky said well then, the Panthers
are playing so I think all the cats will organize and play too.
The turkeys chimed in that they would like to play
but since there were already 2 teams they would be the referees for the game.
But both teams would have to follow the rules.
William and Calvin wanted to play but the teams
were already made so they would take care of ball inspection since they heard
that it was very important the ball was in good shape.
Petunia and the other pigs wanted to play but the
snow was an issue and couldn't everyone wait until it got warmer and there was
more mud?
And then the yelling and fighting started. Nobody
liked the rules the turkeys came up with. The cats said it wasn't fair that the
other team all had hooves and they could get trampled. The sheep and emus were
all pouting because they weren't invited at all and it just .... wasn't ....
fair!
That my friends is when I lost it.
I tried to get some help from Beauty who just
wasn't concerned in the least about my problem. All she would say was as long
as everyone is safe it's all ok. My job is to keep them safe and that's that.
And then..........then............Mikado pipes up
from the pool.
Not that anyone asked me or anything but you know the
Super Bowl is a FOOTBALL game right?
And everyone said ya, so?
You don't have any footballs, those are all
basketballs!
And so everyone went back to eating and sleeping
since they certainly couldn't play football with no footballs.
As for me? I have a headache. I didn't get my nap,
I missed at least 2 snacks and I didn't get any work done today and I’m so
terribly worried about my Daddy Fred! Mom
is counting on me and these...these animals are not helping!
Can you help me make up for it? Please help me keep Rikki’s Refuge running
.... I’m so scared bout what’s gonna happen if Mom can’t come to work, and we
don’t got no money for food and everything .... and Mom has to decide ....
no more Rikki’s Refuge.
This is the road that leads to Rikki's Refuge. For
many animals, this is the road that leads them to a second chance at life. We
want this road to be one that leads to peace and safety. We want this road to
ALWAYS lead to Rikki’s Refuge. The
animals here deserve this!
www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
I promised you Mom’s story .... so here it is ....
in her own words .... wiping tears away
while she writes ... I’m upset ... but
Mom is so very terribly awfully upset .....
I first saw
the land in spring of 1998. An
inspirational flash turned into a dream, then a plan, then Rikki’s Refuge in
the summer of ’98. And the work began. The all consuming work. Rikki’s became the driving force in my life,
and I’ve never looked back.
For 20 years
now, I’ve been focused on Rikki’s Refuge and other animals I can reach out and
help thru Rikki’s, for virtually all my waking hours. Many years ago I learned to sleep deep for four hours and feel
refreshed, and thereby earned extra hours to do Rkki’s things.
When people
learn that I schedule 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, to Rikki’s, they tend to
feel sorry for me, to tell me to leave time for myself, to tell me I need days
off, to act like those hours are an ordeal for me.
“Thanks for keeping me warm
with nice fresh straw all winter long.
I have FIV so lots of shelters wanted to kill me. I’m alive!
And I’ve lived at Rikki’s for 7 years. Thank you for supporting Rikki’s Refuge
and giving me LIFE !”, Iggy
But to me,
it’s not an ordeal, it’s getting to spend my time doing what I want to do, what
I love doing, saving lives. I know that
every moment I’m not working on Rikki’s and animal things .... somebody dies
that I might have been able to save.
And there is no better feeling in the world, than knowing you saved a
life. There are so many lives that need
saving, unexpected things come up, and so my expected 16 hours a day, often
morphs into 18 or 20 -- so often that it’s really the norm.
Just give me
my 4 hours of sleep and some nums to shove in my mouth occasionally ... and I’m
happy. Very happy.
The only time
I’m unhappy is when I can’t devote everything to Rikki’s Refuge.
When my mom
was ill in 2004 I turned my attention to her.
She moved to Orange so I could spend more time with her. I shared my time with her and Rikki’s
Refuge. Unfortunately she passed away
not long after moving here.
Then I sunk
myself back into Rikki’s full time.
I’ve always been a volunteer.
After all, when you devote virtually all your waking hours to a cause,
you really don’t need much spending money !!!
No vacations, no fancy clothes ... gee I don’t think I own anything
anymore except Rikki’s T-shirts and jeans!
Fred, my
partner of over 30 years, continued to work in the real world and shared enough
with me to keep me from starving !!
Then in 2012
my dad needed help and could not live alone so he moved to Orange. For the next three years I cared for him,
having to devote the majority of many days to him. It became rough to keep up with the work I did at Rikki’s. Very rough.
Many things fell behind. I do a
great deal of the administrative things and the fundraising, a lot of work in
our hospital, and helping with all kinds of daily chores, building, cleaning,
picking up supplies, picking up and delivering animals, what ever is
needed.
Some folks
helped to take on some of my chores.
Others became overwhelmed with taking some of my responsibilities
and ended up burned out and leaving. I continued to carry a large load with paper
work, compliance, accounting, administrative, a lot of medical work, and a huge
amount of the fundraising.
“Hi, I’m LoveBug, and if you
visit me you’ll find out how I got that name.
I’m a lucky kitty. I was on
death row and so scared. Then YOU make
it possible for me to come to Rikki’s and I’m so happy. Thank you !”
Much of the
fundraising I do is thru writing and thru speaking events. When I’m physically caring for someone, I’m
not able to get out and do speaking events.
Writing becomes hard when someone you love is ailing. Just try writing something upbeat and fun
while sitting in a hospital room worried sick.
Not so easy.
And so I fell
behind in my duties. We used up the
reserve Rikki’s had. With 1300 animals,
even if each one requires only $1 a day for basic care of food, water and
sanitation ... a little math will tell
you funding Rikki’s Refuge is a HUGE undertaking. Yet it must be done daily without fail.
If one day of
fundraising is skipped .... it puts Rikki’s in the hole ... miss 3 or 4 days ... even a week .... and
that debt becomes huge. I had to find
loans.
I’ll help out
as soon as I get a nap. Wyatt a recent arrival at Rikki’s Refuge
Shortly after
my son returned from worldly travels to take care of my dad, I became quite
ill. Some said it was exhaustion from
too many nights with no sleep trying to do everything that needed doing to keep
Rikki’s going. Some said I was just too
old and washed up and no good anymore.
But I got
better ! It was slow going at first,
but after a few weeks I started getting stronger everyday. It was a good six months before I had my
strength and stamina back and was able to work 16+ hour shifts again. But I made it !! And we’ve been doing wonderful things for the last several
months!
Fundraising
was catching up, we began to catch up on building and repair projects at
Rikki’s Refuge.
We have an IMMEDIATE NEED at
Rikki's Refuge! We are out of canned
cat food and could really use your help!
Can you be our hero and donate in one of these ways:
www.Paypal.com
: mail@RikkisRefuge.org
Opie’s Corner Store: http://astore.amazon.com/wwwrikkisrefu-20
Mail a check or money order:
PO Box 1357, Orange VA. 22960
And then it
snowed.
What a mess
!!
But the snow
wasn’t the disaster ... just more work and extra shifts for the few of us who
stuck with it. Over half our staff quit
over the snow. Now everybody agrees
before they are hired, that when it snows, they stay nights at the life center
to make sure the animals are cared for just like they would be any other day. They all said they’ were so excited, but as
the snow began to fall that Friday ... one by one they finked out and
left. Many never to return again.
A small crew
stayed, which you can read about in the last edition of Good Morning Good News:
http://rikkisrefuge.blogspot.com/2016/01/normal-0-good-morning-good-news-january.html
Rikki’s
survived just fine thru the snow ... no
disasters ... no buildings damaged ... no animals harmed.
But the real
disaster for me struck after the snow stopped falling.
Fred, my
heart and my forever partner of well over 30 years, was shoveling snow in
Fairfax where he lives and works - except when he comes down many weekends to
visit me and volunteer at Rikki’s. He
felt weird .... he dropped the snow shovel .... and he could not pick it back
up. He knew something was wrong and
called for help.
“Did you know YOUR donations
allow us to go shopping for NUMS? Thank you.” Darwin who’s currently residing
at Rikki’s Refuge’s adoption center at Re-Tail our Thrift Shop in
Fredericksburg. 3503 Lafayette Blvd.
That’s on the Spotsylvania side of Lafayette.
Come visit me !
In Fairfax
Hospital they found he’d had a stroke.
His right side was pretty useless.
Now, after two weeks or treatment and rehabilitative therapy, Fred is,
thank goodness, doing much better than expected. Though he still has some more obstacles to overcome and after
he’s home later this week he’ll need a lot more therapy. He’ll be coming to stay in Orange as he’ll
need quite a bit of help.
While he’s in
rehab in the hospital, I’ve been and will continue to drive 5-6 hours a day
round trip to be with him. To visit as
well as attending therapy with him to learn how to care for him at home and how
to help him exercise. I’ve tried the
best I can to keep doing what I can for Rikki’s during this time. But I’ve had so little time to spare for
Rikki’s.
As you may know, Kerry
Hilliard's partner and Opie's daddy, Fred Friedman, is recovering from a stroke
and is in rehab. Opie is trying hard to keep things running so his mom and dad
can be together and get Fred home soon. So Opie has a great idea! For a
donation of $10 to Rikki's Refuge, he will mail Fred this Bouquet of Fancy
Feast! Let's fill the walls of Fred's room with these bouquets! Just send $10
via www.PayPal.com
to: mail@RikkisRefuge.org or donate at www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
and add a note stating what you would like the card to say! Fancy Feast and
well wishes will go a long way in recovery!!
Fred really
needs me now. I don’t know how long his
rehab will be, how long before he can drive again and get to docs on his
own. But I know I have to be there to
help him.
It’s a
horrible choice to have to make ---
Fred or Rikki’s Refuge --- yet I must give Fred as much of my time as he
needs to recover from this devastating event.
I’ll do what
I can for Rikki’s, but it’s not going to be close to the necessary 16 hours a
day. I’ve barely been able to do any
fundraising the last two weeks. The
little bit of reserve Rikki’s ended up with at the end of the year is almost
gone.
The mandatory
bills for feeding, cleaning, medical care won’t stop just cuz I can’t be
there.
Feeding? Feeding won’t stop, will it?
I need your
help. Everyone. I need everyone to help with the
fundraising. Please.
Please don’t
let Rikki’s Refuge fail while I take care of Fred and help him to reach his
maximum possible rehabilitate level now.
It’s so urgent that he work on therapy, that he make all his
appointments, that I work with him. Yet
every second I give to him, is taking my time of fundraising away from Rikki’s
Refuge and bringing this dream one step closer to the end.
If you can
help financially now, please do. www.RikkisRefuge.org/donate
Did you know that you can
become a monthly donor for Rikki's Refuge?
Learn how here: www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate
If you can
volunteer to help with fundraising now, please do. There are so many things you can do. Photos, writing, social media of oh so many avenues. Just let Lolly know that you want to help volunteers@RikkisRefuge.org
and she’ll tell you how. So many kinds
of fundraisers ... even just spreading
the word of the Refuge ... SHARING social media posts. So many things only take seconds .... others
take more time and concentration.
STAY CONNECTED with Rikki's
Refuge Animal Sanctuary!
Subscribe to our blog: http://RikkisRefuge.blogspot.com
Follow us on Twitter: https://Twitter.com/RikkisRefuge
Follow us on Pinterest: https://www.Pinterest.com/RikkisRefuge
Follow us on Flickr: https://www.Flickr.com/photos/Rikkis_Refuge/albums
Subscribe to our YouTube
channel: https://www.YouTube.com/user/RikkisRefuge
And of course, follow us on
Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/RikkisRefuge
I’m just
worried sick about Rikki’s failing financially while I can’t devote my full
attention. And if it fails ... I can’t
even think what will happen to most of the animals. Please don’t let it happen.
I often ask
you to help with a special shipment of food, building a new animal neighborhood
.... this time I’m begging you to help keep Rikki’s Refuge alive and saving
animals.
We also need
physical help at the refuge. There are
a couple staffing positions open. Learn
more at 540-395-3339.
Or
volunteer. Some of the terribly
important tasks are hauling a pick up truck of trash to the dump everyday. Washing dishes. Driving to pick up supplies, to take animals to and fro.
I’ll help
out doing the laundry. Captain, who’s
called Rikki’s home for close to 15 years.
Maintenance. For example we lost our hot water a week or
so before the snow on one of those terribly cold nights ... the pipes
froze. We’ve not had time to fix it, so
all hot water now comes from the microwave and that is time consuming !!! We need roofing, we need painting, we need
all kinds of building maintenance. And
the funds to do it.
We did raise
the money for the fencing for the new herbivore area and the fencing has been
delivered. But we haven’t had the
chance to put it up .... too few staff
and volunteers and everyone working just on absolute necessities.
“ahhhh geeee come on !!! Not rock hard kibble again. I so wish someone would donate some canned
food .... it gives me extra energy to keep
up my night job.” Kiki
When there’s
not enough grass ... or the grass is covered in snow ... or the grass is
stomped down into mud .... it costs $800 a week in hay to feed everyone. Fencing in the new area will help
tremendously with that ... for all situations except snow !! But really, it’s usually one of the other
reasons that we’re just burning money to turn it into hay.
Willing to
volunteer? Just let Lolly know that you
want to help volunteers@RikkisRefuge.org and she’ll tell
you how. So many things that need
doing.
We’ll handle hospital
security! Twix and Robert.
You all have
helped in many ways to build this dream we call Rikki’s Refuge ... I need you so desperately now to take over
much of what I usually do ... the
fundraising is the most important ... without money, we can buy no food, no
medical care, no medicine and no staff to care for the animals.
What it all
boils down to is we can’t keep animals if we can’t keep up with their
necessities. So many of the few hours
I’ve been able to be in bed, I’ve not been able to sleep thinking about what
this really means, literally sick to my stomach at the thought of the options I
might be forced to make if we can’t find a way to keep up financially without
me spending most of my day fundraising.
I’ve saved these animals, I’ve promised them life, a good life .... will I have to take that promise away? I don’t even know if I can survive thru that
if I have to make the worst choices possible.
I simply
cannot devote enough time to volunteering for Rikki’s right now. I need you so very bad.
Artist Wayne Morris has
provided this whimsical creation as a Rikki's Refuge exclusive to help Opie
raise money for the Feed Fund! For your $10 donation to Rikki's Refuge, you
will receive a digital download of this Wayne Morris Original that you can use
to print photos, put on cards or other private uses.
**please make a comments in
the notes that your donation is for the "Wayne Print"
With Fred
unable to work, I’ll have to be the one to bring home the tofu. I haven’t even figured out how or when that
will be possible. And I’m just blocking
from my mind now all the bills that will be coming in. Can you spell terrified? Yet even more thankful Fred IS here and he
will get better ! That is the driving
force that will keep me going. Oh my
gosh ... this could have been so much worse, so I am very thankful.
Get your thinking caps on -
naming contest coming soon!!
I’ve been
told for at least the first two weeks that Fred is home, he’ll need someone
with him all the time. Therapy will be
an hour or more away in Fredericksburg or Charlottesville ... five days a week
for a while ... and he needs physical therapy, speech therapy and cognitive
therapy ... so it will be a lot more than an hour of therapy a day !! But we must do it so he can get fully well
as soon as possible.
Please help
me. Once I have Fred back on his feet
and doing better than he’s ever been .... I’ll be back and I’ll put every hour
I possibly can into Rikki’s Refuge once again !! I can’t wait to get back to my Rikki’s work. Pray that Fred is totally recovered and I’m
back to 16+ hours a day at Rikki’s as soon as possible.
Thank you so
much for your kindness, understanding and help. I truly cannot do it without every one of you.
Rikki's Refuge is in the
running! Will you help us and VOTE for us in the "Reward A Rescue"
Contest? One lucky rescue will get $500 and $500 in NaturVet products!! To
nominate your favorite rescue (us!)...Send an email with the rescues name and
city where they are located (Rikki's Refuge, Rapidan, VA) to Facebook@naturvet.com
! All entries must be received by March 25, 2016!
Kerry
Back to me, Opie.
Wipes away tears. I so wish I
could comfort Mom .... she and me ...
wez never been so sad before. Some how
I know YOU and me, we’ll save Rikki’s Refuge.
I keep begging her not to worry and let me and YOU do the work
..... right now I think she really
needs some time off.
Please pray for my Daddy to get all well .... and
for EVERYBODY to chip in and keep Rikki’s Refuge alive for ever and ever.
It sure has been a long day.
Night night.
I love you though,always,
Opie
Don’t forget to HELP US SAVE RIKKI’S !
Rikki’s Refuge
PO Box 1357
Orange VA 22960
And please come see me soon !!
