Wow---our Raffle was spectacular! We had 3 goals for this particular Raffle:
**we need to order major amounts of vaccines as many of our residents/long term cats are in need of annuals.
** our operational costs needs a bit of a boost for this past week and this coming week
**to help our new Spay/Neuter program (more in blog)
First, we have thanks to give! We had BOXES last night before the Raffle. Big thanks!
Bet/eaglewater--10 bags of spring toys for the cats
Mayumi--Tokyo Branch, aunt to CHoco kitty with note, lots of food that Choco is not fond of, bonito flakes
Deb11111--Synology back up for computers on network!! So excited!
Gossamer--Bonito flakes, 4 broth packs, 3 snackers, can of KMR & 3 cat milks
Medic--2 cases Fancy Feast
Cool Penquin--pink poof!
Memorial stone for Aloha--will go in Angel Garden
Pat, our Thursday vol--4 sets of very pretty handwarmers
Kathleen M--card with donation in honor of Janessa
Tom & Linda C from IL--donation to FFRC
Then we had the Raffle! I am so extremely grateful for you all. The support of these Raffles is huge for me. It spreads out widely--to the people who made the items in the Raffle, to all the people who sent in payments for tickets,to the people who help promote the raffles, to all the well wishers too! You are all so appreciated.
Here's the winners of each item:
A--Cream afghan 49 tickets sold=$245, winner Abby Clo
B--Cat Carrier/blanket 75 tickets sold=$375, winner Joco
C--Warped Blanket 77 tickets sold=$385, winner Pawlapurr
D--Fitbit 81 tickets sold=$405, winner Dianne
E--Laptop 219 tickets sold=$1,095, winner Jinkie
F--Grape Ripple afghan 86 tickets sold=$430, winner Canton & Chance
G--Fi Fi's memorial afghan 94 tickets sold=$470, winner Echomist
H--iPadAir 246 tickets sold=$1230, winner Luvtheanimals
The total of that came to $4,635. Then we had a bunch of "bump ups"--you all are quite amazing! Many thanks to the following for the bumps: Joco, Eaglewatcher, Eartheyes, Lewbeth, MaryMort, Lewbus, Pawlapurr and Donnajb.
This bump up resulted in our total for the Raffle to be $5,145!!!!! Just awesome! We will get those vaccines ordered, drop in money to help with the operating costs for those 2 weeks and then the rest will go in our Spay/Neuter Program!
Consolation prizes were won by: Jon Fi, Joey, Kittiemom, Needtoretire, Jackie S, Susan345, Lori Giu, Catopractor, Littleonemine, Pckrbckr, Kate Ho, Ladydoc, Macncheese, Newfiedogmom, Nancy Par, Ferole, Hencass for Angie M. And one final one--Leisl & Everly won a soft blankie for their Uncle Hershey!
Many thanks to you all. These Raffles are huge to FFRC. Truly means a lot to us.
Now, I'd like to explain a bit about our 2016 Spay/Neuter Program. This is something that's been going around in my head for 2 years. We love our adoptions and every cat/kitten is spayed or neutered before adoption. While adoptions are wonderful, it's only a small part of the answer to the overpopulation problem. Last year we were able to help with quite a few (but under 40) spays/neuters to the community. It's not enough.
It's time for FFRC to step it up--to be more responsible, to be more willing to help more cats get spayed and neutered, to be a part of the answer. Spaying and Neutering is the true answer to cat overpopulation. There's only so many homes available to take on a new cat. We routinely turn down in the winter, about 5 calls a day (for adults) that we have to say no. In the spring, summer and fall, we can easily receive 30-40 calls each and every day with wanting us to take on more kittens.
People sometimes ask me what the hardest part of doing this rescue is. The answer to that, for me, is having to say no. I worry and worry about all those homeless cats and kittens. Too many means neglect and more babies. Do we love kittens? Oh my yes! Do we enjoy having a large load of kittens--you bet! But, knowing there are so many "out there" with no homes weighs heavy on my heart. So....it's time. We need to step up and help with this problem.
On Jan. 30th, Dr. Darcy and Amber will be coming to FFRC. We will be having a NEUTER DAY (males) for approximately 35 cats. Remember--we use to have our Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic (Earth Angels) and did 15,000 surgeries in the years that we were here. We will simply apply what we learned from that to this Neuter Day. We will be advertising for this soon and I have no doubt we will fill those 35 slots very quickly. The cost to these folks will be $10, with FFRC's spay/neuter fund kicking in the rest.
Next, we will participate in a Voucher Program--this is where we use the services of Humane Ohio in Perrysburg. We will encourage spays/neuters to those that cannot afford it and offer them a voucher for their cat. When the voucher is turned in to Humane Ohio, the low cost surgery price will be deducted from our account with them. We are still working out details on the cost but it will be an encouragement to the owners to get their cats done.
The third way we will hit this is with their Transport Truck. We preplan a date with Humane Ohio to come to FFRC. They can do approximately 35 spays/neuters. We pre-sign up the cats, they arrive early in the morning, owners get them signed in, then they are taken to Perrysburg for their surgeries. In the early evening, the Transport Truck returns and the owners pick them up. This too will be done with help from FFRC.
I know there are lots of questions about all of this, but I am 100% determined to make this work. Because of the load of work this will be, we will probably need to decrease our numbers here slightly at FFRC--to not take in as many as we have in previous years. My greatest goal and dream is that FFRC didn't have to be here! The reason that that would happen is that every cat and kitten had a home! That would be just wonderful. In the meantime, we are devoted to reducing the overpopulation problem. There's lots of details to work out yet. As we get things ironed out, I'll be happy to share the info with you all.
I mentioned all of this last night after the Raffle. We have already been donated money that is specifically reserved for the spay/neuter program. Many thanks to: Mich & Vern, Pat C/volunteer, Mudjie, Joco, Eartheyes, Farmgirl, LJ, Mnsnowy, Zoolove, Floppy, Freckles, Donnajb, Pat P, Lannml, Maime, Cinder, Yarnlover and Susan F. Our fund is already growing and I promise to use every single cent to it's best use! If you are interested in helping us, we'd be very honored to accept. Simply use PayPal or send a check or money order and please be sure to mark Spay/Neuter Program on it. Thank you ever so much. We're going to do this--we want to be a part of making a big dent in the overpopulation problem. Thank you!
