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Happy New Year Everyone!
Thanks to your caring and support during 2015, the Sanctuary was able to rescue more than 475 cats and kittens in need. That number included 387 kittens brought into the Wild Blue program from trap-neuter-return (TNR), transfers from other rescues and the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region, strays & relinquishments. Each kitten is spayed/neutered, vaccinated and microchipped prior to adoption. We were able to find loving homes for a total of 415 of the 475 rescued kitties during the past year and the others have either been adopted so far this month, placed into foster care or are living happily at the Sanctuary. None of this live saving work would be possible without YOU!
We'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our individual donors, grantors and fundraising partners who supported us in 2015! We would not be able to exist without the dollars given and partnerships formed with these organizations.
Thank you to the ASPCA (Lil BUB's Big Fund for the ASPCA), Best Friends Animal Society - Save them All, Colorado Gives Day, Colorado Pet Overpopulation License Plate Fund Grant, Love Animals, Saving Pets Challenge, Petco Foundation and the Wells Fargo Community Assistance Fund.
We look forward to another year chocked full of rescues, events, adoption fairs and happy endings, including a new venue for our Fancy Feast event - the Swan House Manor in Colorado Springs.
Thank you for helping us put the animals first and Save Precious Lives!
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| Wild Blue's Volunteer of the Year | | |
 As the founder and director of Wild Blue, I'm am proud and so thrilled to announce our brand new Volunteer of the Year program! We are finally to the point where we have a leadership team and a wonderful group of volunteers who clean the sanctuary and care for the kitties there, fosters who take cats and kittens into their own homes to allow us to save even more precious lives, and adoption fair teams to ensure our kitties all have as much opportunity to find their forever homes as is possible. Choosing our very first Volunteer of the Year was easy! Who better than the one who created the Volunteer of the Month program, who completely organized the sanctuary, and yes, the same one who helped me properly organize our volunteer staff for success! And of course this volunteer continues to do so much more and is invaluable. Yes! Of course it is our beloved Melinda Reichal!
We cannot tell you, Melinda, how much we appreciate your hard work and dedication on behalf of our kitties! We also appreciate your devoted husband, Gordon, for sharing you with us in your retirement.
Thank you and congratulations! Lauri
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From Melinda
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"I am so excited to be chosen as volunteer of the year, 2015 for Wild Blue.
I started volunteering for Wild Blue in May 2014 after retiring as a social worker from Memorial Hospital. I started as a cleaner and because I had a lot of availability to be there I quickly filled in for peeps on vacation or during the holidays. Lauri noticed me hanging around a lot and asked if I would be interested in having more responsibilities and I evolved into the sanctuary manager. It's been so much fun working with everyone and getting to know all the kitties. This is how I can be a crazy cat lady because Gordon, my husband of 41 years, (I should mention I was 3 when I married him - HA!) has set the limit of 2 cats at our house. Duffy is 10 and was the existing cat and Lucky, a 12-year-old was adopted from Wild Blue last year. We also have 2 dogs, a 8 yr old short haired collie named Liz and a 15 yr old Bichon mix named Tiffer. Oh yeah, we have a daughter named Abbi who is grown and on her own but sometimes she helps me clean on Friday mornings so you might see her. Thank you again for this honor and recognition." |
| Maya's Wildheart Village | | |
Wild Blue's facility manager
Wild Blue's facility manager, Mike Nelson, feeding the kitties in Maya's Wildheart Village feral colony at the sanctuary.
Mike has formed a bond of trust with these precious cats and takes care of them on a daily basis.
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| GOOD MEWS! | | |
Whistler and Yarrow Are Home!
 For those of you who are new to this story, Whistler and Yarrow were rescued by Wild Blue in late 2015 and both had severe medical issues.
Both were found by the side of the road (in different locations) with multiple injuries.
Whistler had to have a leg amputated and Yarrow, only 8-weeks old, had an eye that needed to be removed.
Thanks to your support, we made our goal of $1,200 to help pay for intensive surgery and recovery expenses for these special kitties AND they are now in their furrever homes!!
We want to give a shout out to Wild Blue's Deputy Director, Dayna Gould and her family who helped Whistler during his recovery time and to Dr. Estrada of Black Forest Vet Clinic for watching over little Yarrow.
Whistler adopters recently let us know that "Whistler is doing very well. He is so adorable and affectionate. He is the perfect kitty for us and we will do everything I can to spoil him." We are so very appreciative of all the support we receive from our community and for our wonderful adopters!
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| GOOD MEWS 2! | |
An Incredible Happy Ending!
Back in December, 2015 Wild Blue was one of the recipients of the PetCo Foundation's Holiday Wishes campaign.
The foundation, in partnership with Halo Pets, granted Wild Blue $5,000 based on a story that was submitted about a very special kitten named Harvey. His mom, Kim, wrote this heartwarming entry. After reading Kim's story, Lauri Cross, Wild Blue's Executive Director said -- "Wow, I had Harvey (originally named Forge) for a while as a foster kitty and in my heart and mind I can't imagine a better adoption story! We are all so blessed to have adopters like these!" 
Kim's story (edited for space purposes) -- We wanted a special needs kitten and we came across a sweet looking kitten named Forge who was diagnosed with cerebellar hypoplasia (CH), a condition similar to cerebral palsy in humans. We did research to determine if this was a special need we felt we could manage and then we went to visit this little cutie at the Petco adoption fair. Boy, was he a heartbreaker! We spent a few hours just cuddling and playing with him. I even nicknamed him the "Purrminator", because his little motor was running the whole time! We completed all the adoption paperwork and the following Saturday we were ecstatic to pick up our little purring bundle!
When we brought him home we knew there would be an adjustment period, but we were not prepared for how hard it actually would be. By the next day, full panic had set in. We felt overwhelmed by the constant supervision, his flip-flopping ambulation, and how difficult it was for him to eat and drink. We thought -- did we make a mistake? All the while, mind you, our little Harvey 'Wallbanger' was content and playful as he could be; he sure didn't think there were any problems!
Soon we came to the conclusion that Harvey was in fact the best match for us by leaps and bounds (pun intended!). He doesn't have special needs; he has unique abilities. He adapts to whatever task is laid before him, whether it's taking care of business in the litterbox or getting to his favorite kickeroo toy via hopping and flopping across the rug.
Harvey has changed our lives significantly. We see frequent examples of how we cause ourselves more stress and suffering than is truly there; we see how sometimes our brains interfere with the simple act of loving and trusting one another. He taught us to ease up on trying to control and to make room for everything to fall into place.
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| Colorado Gives Day | | |
Thank you so much!
THANKS to the more than 50 donors who participated in the 2015 Colorado Gives Day campaign, Wild Blue received $6,725 to go toward the construction of our Special Needs facility!
This was more than double the amount we received last year and it's all because of you!!
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| Upcoming Adoption Campaign and Fundraiser News! | | |
Save The Dates!
Best Friends Animal Society's FEBRUARY Special Adoption Campaign
Wild Blue will be participating in "The One" Adoption Promotion which aims to help adopters and pets find "the one" from February 1-15, 2016!
All kitties 6 months old or older will have a special adoption fee of only $14.
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Great News!
Wild Blue has partnered
with
Shop Thru the Heart's internet shopping program!
Shop Thru the Heart provides supporters with a way to give back to Wild Blue by shopping with a purpose. Are you looking for the purrfect last minute Valentine's Day gift?
When you shop at stores like Chocolate.org and David's Cookies or 1-800-Flowers the rescued cats and kittens at Wild Blue win!
Try it out at
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| Kitty Donate | | |
Please donate. Just Pet our Kitty!
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FREE
Offer! |
Great news! Thanks to Dr Elsey's Precious Cat litter - new Wild Blue adopters will now receive a free bag of litter and coupon packs/litter guides. We very much appreciate their support! Find out more about their products at www.preciouscat.com.
| Offer Expires: Once supply has been distributed
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| Photos Pics--Please Smile!! | |
 Send us a photo of your favorite rescued 4-footed family member to: wildbluenewsletter@gmail.com. We will select the best for Facebook.
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