Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Tuesday, June 27, 2017 post Catathon

I don't even know where to start in showing my gratitude for a phenomenal 2017 Catathon! This was our 7th Catathon.  Sunday was just an amazable day for FFRC.

I'll start by giving some info! That's always a good place to start.
Round 1--$1,772 
Round 2--$3,920
Round 3--$3,890
Round 4--$5,075
Round 5--$3,865
Round 6--$7,595
Round 7--$14,936 (includes the quad and double amounts)

This makes the total at: $41,053!!!!!!!!  (still makes my legs wobbly!)

The above for each round reflects Baskets, Big ticket items, Catributions, each "thing" for that particular Round.  And then we received more Catributions after the last round.  This brought our total to:

...............you ready for this?!   $42,575

We already started packing items up yesterday! The first load will go out this morning. This will take a bit of time to get everything out, but we have Lynnette and her crew working hard on it! 

We had a special visit by the LaChat ladies. They flew in purposely just to give their thanks to our FFRCNation for helping FFRC!

We will make our goals set for this Catathon! 
You helped us get those lights under the walkway!
You helped us get that cement pad under the Covies jungle gym
You helped us get that cement pad inside the Feeding Station
You helped us pay for that safety fence in the farmyard to keep our visitors safe
You helped us to get that Firehouse insulated for winter time
You helped us pay for the screened in Porch
You helped us put some money in the general account for operational cost needs

You helped us put some money in our spay/neuter program

Words are often inadequate to express my joy for your help. For sharing my dreams; for your invaluable help, support and patience, I say thank you. 

We also had the winners for the Fun-Raiser drawn thru-out the Catathon. And 17 great consolation prizes were given away. 

Sometimes when all the volunteers are busy doing all the million things that needs to be done here, I pause and watch. I am constantly amazed at their compassion.  Sometimes I peek in at the moderators and see what’s up. I am constantly amazed at their kindness to the chatters and their willingness to give so much time of themselves.  Sometimes I’ll scroll thru the FB FFRC pages and marvel at the way the admins keep it clean and family oriented.  Sometimes I reflect on our fundraisers and am in awe of what you supporters do for us. Sometimes I’ll check the cam chat and I see the kindness and the friendships that are there between the chatters.  At the same time, I realize how many lurkers we have that are there watching over us too.  Sometimes I go and check supplies to make sure we are okay in those needs and I once again am humbled by the generosity of the givers. Sometimes I walk around and see all the things that we have built here for the cats and I am filled with gratitude.  And then sometimes I like to reflect back on many of the cats and kittens that we have had here and it gives me much joy and satisfaction, knowing that we truly enjoy caring for these cats. The cats are what it’s all about—to give them a better life than what they had before. And all of this is being made possible by our FFRCNation & volunteers.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

You all know the saying It Takes A Village.  Well, I can vouch that it Takes A Village To Keep FFRC Going.  YOU all are part of that. There's so many levels of help that we receive but....it takes us all to make us "work".  At the Catathon itself, there were over 45 people here for the afternoon. There were many of our mods/admins "out there" that worked behind scenes to make the Catathon happen. Every bid came from a supporter, whether you won the bid or not. 99% of the items in Catathon were donated by you folks "out there". Just a huge amount of people involved and I give you a huge amount of thanks! You all help us accomplish wonderful things here at FFRC.  

The cats have voted (and I agree with them!)---and since the cats have said this, it's true:  there is no better support group anywhere than our FFRCNation! We have a friendship that is real. We have compassion for the cats that is felt by each of them. We are a family of friends that truly care. We cover many miles around the world, yet are connected.