What a Year!

2010 was filled with many firsts, among those firsts were:

• 2,000 cats neutered since we became Feral Fixers!
• 1,000 cats neutered between January and December!
• Over 600 cats have been deemed friendly and found homes - with their caretakers, thru adoptions by shelters, word-of-mouth - when these cats want a home, they find it!
• We have assisted over 530 colonies in DuPage County!
• We established working relationships with two more municipalities and, coming in February, Elmhurst will announce their endorsement of TNR in their town!
• We've had good press, even been on the radio and our name is recommended by shelters, veterinarians, police departments and animal controls more often than we can cope with!

2010 has been a year filled with so many achievements, whether it was the sheer numbers of cats that we helped, the people who were assisted that were desperate before they found us, or the individual cats that had their lives changed for the better because we were involved.

We say this as often as we possibly can, we could not do what we do without the support of you, the individual who is reading this newsletter. You have sought us out, continue to help us, continue to promote TNR and we will once again have another successful year in 2011!

Frosty Claws - SAVE THE DATE!

Sunday, January 16th is an opportunity for you to come visit with us, tell us your stories and share your experiences with others who care for feral cats or just cats in general. We will be having our third Frosty Claws at the Villa Park VFW Post #2801, 39 E St.Charles Rd, Villa Park, from 1 - 4 PM. Come enjoy warm beverages, baked goods, music, silent auction items, raffles, our boutique and just a general good time! Pre-register by mail or with PayPal, or come that day and pay at the door! Donations of our wish list items will be gratefully accepted. We'd love to see you and hear how things have been for you this past year!

Go-To Guys for Ferals

Read more this month from our President here.

January 16th, 2011, is the date of our third annual FROSTY CLAWS Open House.

This event will be held from 1:00pm to 4:00pm at the Villa Park VFW Post #2801
located at 39 E St.Charles Rd, in Villa Park

Come and celebrate our three year anniversary and our successes in 2010 with us!

We'll have hot drinks, desserts, a silent auction, a raffle, a boutique (including Recycled2New) and cat-themed music.

We'll also have some educational events, including discussions and demonstrations of trapping, using a drop-trap, colony care, etc.

Come and see where your colony is on our map of colonies and enjoy the company of like-minded people!

Admission: $15 at the door or $10 with our Early Bird special (see below).

Bring a friend!!

Buy your tickets for the 2011 Frosty Claws Open House now and get the 'Early Bird' special. By purchasing your tickets early, you can buy them for only $10 each. You can pay via PayPal or a Credit card by clicking the "Buy Now" button, below.



You can also purchase Early Bird tickets for $10 each by mail.
To do so, send a check or money order to Feral Fixers,
PO Box 1416, Lombard, IL, 60148.
Please be sure to specify the names of the people who will be attending.
Checks must be received no later than January 14th.

Thank you - SAVE THE DATE!

Feral Fixers was founded in September of 2007. In that abbreviated first year, Feral Fixers had 86 cats spayed / neutered. In 2008, Feral Fixers had 525 cats spayed / neutered and in 2009, Feral Fixers had 868 cats spayed / neutered. And in 2010, Feral Fixers had 1,002 cats spayed / neutered!

This brings us to a total of 2,481 cats. Clicking on the calculator to the right will send you to the Feral Fixers 'Statistics' page where you can see our progress, month-by-month, since we've started work.

In 2010, Feral Fixers spayed/neutered over 1,000 cats - the first time we have exceeded 1,000 cats in a single year.

It takes a volunteer network and it takes a Spay/Neuter clinic committed to spay/neuter and to TNR to do this kind of number.

We are once again very grateful to our volunteers and to the PAWS-Chicago Spay/Neuter clinic and we'll say it again - WE COULDN'T DO WHAT WE DO WITHOUT YOU - THANK YOU!

Jewel-Osco stores are now giving away "Reward Stickers" to shoppers who use the Jewel-Osco 'Preferred Card' during their purchase.  Shoppers receive one sticker for each $10 spent on eligible purchase (more details about this program can be found here).  These "Reward Stickers" can be redeemed for Thomas Professional Cookware.  If shoppers would mail these coupons to Feral Fixers (PO Box 1416, Lombard, IL.  60148) instead, we would use them to purchase this Cookware and then make these items as part of the baskets we sell at Silent Auctions.  This is a great way for you to help us without costing you a dime!  These stickers must be redeemed by January 26, 2011.

You can also help us by simply shopping at Gordon Food Services (GFS) and mentioning our name during checkout.  If you shop at GFS, when they ask if your purchase is for a business or charity, all you have to do is say Feral Fixers - you don't need a card or anything and a percentage of your purchase goes to FF at the end of the year.  Feral Fixers is on file, they just type it in and that is all you have to do.  Pass the info on to anyone you know who shops there, anyone can help us raise funds in this way with no added expense!
 
GFS has some great and convenient products - check out what they have to offer!
 
It's like a warehouse club without the membership fee and they have similar large packaging and prices.  And if you don't see something in the store, look online and you can order it for pickup at the store, and Feral Fixers still benefits!

Thank you Gordon Food Services!

Feral Fixers continues to be inundated with calls about "I found some kittens - can you take them for me?"  Even though we are not a shelter, we still get these calls.

The situation is simple; there are just too many kittens and it's overwhelming the shelters and the fosters.  It's SO important to 'TNR that mom' BEFORE she has her next litter.  We're now in the position of usually having to ask people who call about this to 'step up' and socialize and foster these kittens on their own.

And, if everyone who is thinking of adopting a kitten or a cat would adopt TWO of them, rather than just one, this could make a significant dent in the problem.  It's better for the cats anyway, to have some companionship when their owner / caretaker is not home.  It's OK to adopt from any shelter, even from Craigslist as this is where many caretakers are trying to place their cats.

Want to purchase something purr-fect for your cat-lover friends and help out Feral Fixers at the same time?  Just visit our CafePress store and Buy Something! In addition to the iPad Cover shown to the right (which will make your iPad Cooler than Cool!), we have T-shirts, sweatshirts, aprons, hoodies, Mouse Pads, gym bags, messenger bags, coffee mugs, tote-bags, pet food bowls, etc. A portion of each sale goes to help us in our TNR efforts.

Visit our website at www.feralfixers.org.  There you can donate to us (via PayPal or credit card), visit our store, read the latest news, and learn more about feral cats.