| Monthly Highlights |
December 2007 |
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Greetings!
I want to personally thank all our friends and volunteers for a successful 2007! Our first full year has been a very busy one for Sparky's Pals, and we should all take pride in what we have accomplished. There is more work to be done in 2008, so we look forward to your continued support!
Don't forget our kick-off meeting on January 8, 2008 at 7:00pm at the Ridgewood-Belcher Recreation Center!
Kevin Gilhooly
President
Sparky's Pals, Inc.
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| Contact Us |
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P O Box 600266
Dallas, Texas 75360-0266
214-823-7257
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Gift-Wrapping
For the second year, Sparky's Pals volunteers wrapped gifts at Barnes & Noble throughout the holiday season. It is our largest annual fund-raiser, and it was another success this year - we earned over twelve hundred dollars in donations! The money raised will be used to help cover our printing costs - producing additional copies of our brochures (we're completely out) as well as student hand-outs for our educational programs.
We met a lot of new volunteers through gift-wrapping this year, thanks to VolunteerMatch. Remember there is much more to do than just wrap, so don't be strangers between now and next wrapping season!
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Skyline High School
Sparky's Pals volunteers presented Pet Overpopulation and Your Wallet to the LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) student organization at Skyline High School on December 17th. There were over twenty-five students in attendance for a presentation and discussion.
This presentation was based on one done earlier in the year at the Dallas Library's Petzapalooza.
Thanks to our volunteer Jose Sologuren for inviting us to present and assisting with the presentation!
(If you have a group that would like to hear one of our presentations, don't keep it a secret! Let us know.)
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Weekly Storytime
 Sparky's Pals have been invited to host Barnes & Noble's weekly Storytimes for January and February. Our volunteers will be reading stories and having childrens' crafts every Saturday morning at 10am at the Prestonwood location at 5301 Belt Line Road (at Montfort) in Addison.
We will read a book each week, and then help the children with a pet-oriented craft project. It's a lot of fun, so please join us! If there is a specific week you would like to help, please let me know.
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Thank You!
Sparky's Pals would like to thank Leian Burttschell for her generous
donation of a laser printer to help produce hand-outs in-house! It will be most helpful for those last-minute publications.
Thanks to Cindy Ethridge for her PayPal contribution this month - our first donation from a newsletter link!
Sparky's Pals also thanks Jane Ferry, Stephen Gilhooly and Susan Pouget for their JustGive donations in December.
Thanks also to John and Mary Gilhooly for their cash contributions last month.
Finally, thanks to all who donated to the tip jar during the Barnes & Noble wrapping sessions, and especially, thanks to all the volunteers who did the wrapping. Also, thanks to Trish Gulino for furnishing the bows that sped up some of the wrapping!
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Save the date for Sparky's Birthday Party!
Sparky was adopted on February 10, 2002, so in his memory, we will be having his birthday party fund-raiser at Strong's Everyday Tavern on Sunday, February 10, 2008.
Strong's Everyday Tavern is located at Cedar Springs and Fairmount in Uptown Dallas.
Sparky's Pals would like to thank Strong's Everyday Tavern and Larry Lavine at Trout and Pepper Restaurant Group for their continued generous support of our programs.
Details to follow!
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Volunteer Meetings in 2008
Sparky's Pals will hold monthly volunteer meetings in 2008, a chance to review our progress and plan ahead.
They are generally held on the first Tuesday of the month at the Ridgewood-Belcher Recreation Center in Dallas (6818 Fisher Road.) Please plan to attend! The schedule is posted on our website.
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Help Print a Brochure or Two
 We can always use help with covering our printing costs, which is our largest expense.
Can you help us produce more brochures and handouts this month?
($10 donation)
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Alternate Donations
Non-profits spend a lot of time asking for money, but there are other ways you can donate besides writing checks (or clicking our convenient PayPal buttons in the newsletters.)
Remember to have your Kroger donation card scanned each time you shop at Kroger. (If you need a card, just let us know.) It works whether you have a frequent shopper card or not. Sparky's Pals receives 1% of your total purchases quarterly. We have more cards if you need one.
Remember iGive! If you start your online shopping through the iGive website, Sparky's Pals receives a donation which varies by store.
Remember in-kind gifts! If you have items that can be auctioned, crafts that can be sold or items that can be used (see the website for details), we would be happy to accept them! |
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January should be a relatively quiet month. We have three presentations scheduled for the Girl Scouts and weekly storytimes at Barnes & Noble Prestonwood. Remember to check our calendar for any updates!
Also, please remember we have our first volunteer meeting of the New Year on January 8, 2008 at 7:00pm at the Ridgewood-Belcher Recreation Center at 6818 Fisher Road in Dallas. All are invited to attend - this is our kick-off meeting for the New Year!
Sincerely,
Kevin Gilhooly
Sparky's Pals
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