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Practicing and promoting Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) in DuPage County, Illinois
We're
a 501c3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting and
practicing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) in DuPage County, Illinois. We
believe that TNR is the only effective, humane and long-term solution
to the problem of cat overpopulation.
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The Feral Fixers e-Newsletter - Issue #27 - January 2011
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Dear Friend,
It's been another very successful year for Feral Fixers. We set a new, yearly record for the number of cats we processed in a year, 1,002, breaking last year's record of 868!
In this newsletter, you can read our President's report, including information about our accomplishments in 2010. As Tammy notes, we've become the "Go-to guys" for all things related to feral cats in DuPage County (and sometimes beyond).
And, since it's January and that can only mean one thing - Frosty Claws!. It will be held on Sunday, January 16th, from 1pm to 4pm, at the VFW Post 2801 located at 39 E St. Charles Rd., in Villa Park. More details about this event, including how to purchase "Early Bird Special" tickets are elsewhere in this eNewsletter - SAVE THE DATE.
This eNewsletter also lists all of our upcoming events, ways to help Feral Fixers and a summary of how many cats we have had spayed/neutered to date.
Thank you for all of your continued support!
Sincerely,
Feral Fixers
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Letter from the President 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 FeralsRead more this month from our President here. |
You're Invited! 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!
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Want to help?
Interested in helping Feral Fixers? We are looking for a 'few good volunteers'! Specifically, we're looking for someone to help us transport cats to and from PAWS (the Spay/Neuter clinic we use) in Chicago.
We need transport both in the morning and the afternoon. If you're interested in helping, call us at (630) 881-FXRS (3977) or email us at info@feralfixers.org.
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How many cats? - 2,481 !!
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.
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Donate to Feral Fixers
Feral Fixers offers its TNR services to all colony caretakers, without charge. While we ask for donations from colony caretakers, we recognize that for some of them, any additional cost is just too much. Therefore we rely on donations from other individuals to make up the difference and allow us to continue our work. These donations allow us to spay/neuter additional cats, keep a 'bank' of traps and trap dividers we loan out for free, hold workshops and provide other educational benefits.
You can help us continue our work by clicking on the Donate button, above. This will take you to the PayPal website where you can donate to Feral Fixers via PayPal or credit card. Feral Fixers is a registered 501c3 charitable organization and all donations are deductible to the fullest amount allowed by law.
We greatly appreciate any amount you can afford to give - Thank You!
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A new, yearly record! 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! |
Calendar of Upcoming Events
January 16th, 2011 - Come and join us for our third annual Frosty Claws! This year, it will be held at the VFW Post 2801 located at 39 E St. Charles Rd., in Villa Park. More details (including information about how to purchase our discounted "Early Bird Special" tickets) can be found elsewhere in this eNewsletter - SAVE THE DATE! February 8th, 2011 - Another Sweet Tomatoes Fun-raiser - raise funds with your Sweetie at Sweet Tomatoes! We have booked another event at the Sweet Tomatoes Restaurant located at 2820 Highland Avenue in Lombard (630-932-5009). If you come for a meal between 5:00pm and 8:00pm on February 8th, please give a copy of this flyer to the person collecting your money. Sweet Tomatoes will donate 15% of all proceeds collected from people bringing that flyer to Feral Fixers! Come out, bring your sweetie and join us for a great dinner and help Feral Fixers!
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Other ways to help Feral Fixers
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!
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Kittens, kittens and more kittens... 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.
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Shop for Feral Fixers
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. To visit the store, just click on the iPad Cover or visit our website and click on the ' Buy Something' button at the top - Thank you! |
Visit us on the Web
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. If this newsletter has been forwarded to you, you can also sign up to be on our mailing list so you don't miss a thing!
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What is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)?
TNR is a full management plan in which stray and feral cats already living outdoors in cities, towns, and rural areas are humanely trapped, evaluated, vaccinated, and sterilized by veterinarians. When space is available, adoptable cats and kittens are transferred to sheltering organizations to be adopted into good homes. Healthy adult cats unsocialized to humans are returned to their familiar habitat under the lifelong care of their original caretakers.
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Feral Fixers, NFP, is a certified 501c3 corporation - EIN Number 13-4364615 |
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