Our friend Judy and her organization, RPAL, is competing in the Pepsi Refresh contest. Their goal is to win $250,000 to purchase dog food, which RPAL will distribute to other rescues.
or Text 10246873774 Thank you!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Monday, Nov 8
At Risk of Dropping to 9th Place... Maybe as Early as Tomorrow!
Please be sure to vote today and every day from every computer you have access to... now more than ever! And please try to find some NEW voters every day. To vote, just click on
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?
The guys in 9th place are now just .01% behind us... they are at .73!
We have dropped back to .74 once again. We have been as high as .76, but we keep sliding backward.
The guys in 7th place, just ahead of us, are all the way up to .90... we now need .17% to move ahead of them. But they have been increasing the distance between us and them steadily every day.
And then there is the Basenji Rescue in Garland. They have closed the gap between us to only 2.04%. At our high water mark, we had a lead of 2.43% over them.
And the $43 Million Dollar Man is holding steady at 1.96... no evidence of any weakening there!
I think our team is still trying their best. We just don't seem to have the sheer numbers on our side.
I am open to ideas to share in this forum. If you can think of something we can do that we are not already doing, I will be glad to report in these contest updates!
If you are not receiving these posts from me and would like to be added to my list, please contact me at hellerich@aol.com.
Maybe tomorrow will be better!
Please be sure to vote today and every day from every computer you have access to... now more than ever! And please try to find some NEW voters every day. To vote, just click on
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?
The guys in 9th place are now just .01% behind us... they are at .73!
We have dropped back to .74 once again. We have been as high as .76, but we keep sliding backward.
The guys in 7th place, just ahead of us, are all the way up to .90... we now need .17% to move ahead of them. But they have been increasing the distance between us and them steadily every day.
And then there is the Basenji Rescue in Garland. They have closed the gap between us to only 2.04%. At our high water mark, we had a lead of 2.43% over them.
And the $43 Million Dollar Man is holding steady at 1.96... no evidence of any weakening there!
I think our team is still trying their best. We just don't seem to have the sheer numbers on our side.
I am open to ideas to share in this forum. If you can think of something we can do that we are not already doing, I will be glad to report in these contest updates!
If you are not receiving these posts from me and would like to be added to my list, please contact me at hellerich@aol.com.
Maybe tomorrow will be better!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Our Cookbook Project
It seems like all I ever have to report is unhappy stuff anymore.
The cookbook was a great idea, suggested by a volunteer who offered to do the lion's share of the work to create it -- receive the recipes, retype each in a standard format for publishing and generally organize the book.
My job was simply to edit the finished product, checking for standard format and checking spelling and the like. And to come up with the book's title!
Ricky was only supposed to choose the paper stock for the cover and the recipe pages, and coordinate the process of bringing the book together.
Shawn, our graphic artist and screen printer from Ballyhoo Specialteez (www.ballyhoospecialteez.com), developed a special graphic for our cookbook cover. You can see, above, what Shawn created for us.
The book was supposed to be finished, and ready for final edit no later than Nov. 1. That would have given us two weeks to edit, proof and print it so that we would have our cookbook ready for sale by mid-November.
Unfortunately, it has not worked out that way. Ricky and I are spending 4-6 hours a day on this project, trying to get it ready for print, and have been for the past couple weeks.
We still hope to have it printed and ready for sale by Thanksgiving. That would allow sales and shipping in time for Christmas. However, there is still very much work to be done before we can go to print, and we want it to be right.
So many of you have told us you plan to purchase cookbooks to give as gifts -- and we don't want to disappoint you or lose those potential sales. If we miss our next deadline, we are working on a "Plan B" to provide pictures of the book cover to give as gifts... we'll then contact buyers when the books are printed so they can pay for them, and we can ship the cookbooks directly to the intended recipients!
But we are hoping it won't come to that, and we will have the cookbooks ready to go by Thanksgiving! Cross your paws for us!
Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Contest Update for Thursday, Nov 4
Mixed Bag - Some Up, Some Down
Please vote every day from every computer you have access to! And please help us get NEW voters every day! Not just to vote, but to find NEW voters themselves! To vote, click on:
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?
On the good news side, we have shored up our position with Basenji Rescue in Texas. For the first time in a week and a half, we are slightly more ahead of them. Monday, the spread between us had shrunk to just 2.15%. Today that distance is 2.18%. It is a gain of .03% since Monday, so that is very good news.
And we have moved up .01% nationally and are back to .75%, after having slipped to .74% for several days.
Unfortnately, that is the only good news I have to report!
The guys in 7th place keep opening up the distance between us and them. Today, they are at .88%. On Monday, they were .86%. It will now take us a gain of .14% to overtake them. That number has been steadily growing for two weeks!
There is now a scarier prospect than even that. Number 9 has moved up to .67 from .65 on Monday! Even though we are up by .01, they are up by .02... so they have closed the gap a little bit! They just need .09 to move ahead of us!
And 10th place is keeping pace. They moved up from .64 on Monday to .66 today!
So we are further from the guy in front of us than the two guys behind us! That is not a good place to be in.
And The $43 Million Dollar Man just keeps increasing their lead. Today they are posting 1.96%, up another .01 from Monday.
We have about 45 Days to close the gap and pick up 1.22%! That is what it takes to win $10,000. And the guys in second place are at 1.53% today, up from 1.51 on Oct 28. Second place only pays $5000, but we need to pick up .79% to make that!
We have to bring in more votes than we have been getting.
We need to pick up .03% every single day above and beyond what we have been getting to overtake first place. In practical terms, that means we need four times as many votes as we normally get in a day.
I have spoken about Sutherlands in El Campo where we buy building materials for dog housing. They are voting for us every day from all six computers in their store. Do any of you have relationships with businesses that have multiple computers who might do the same?
If you have ideas for increasing our daily vote... If you have tried something that has worked... please email me so that I can share it in our daily Contest Update for others to try as well!
If you are not receiving these daily emails directly from me and would like to be added to my mailing list, please contact me at hellerich@aol.com.
Let's Shoot for .79% of the vote tomorrow!
Please vote every day from every computer you have access to! And please help us get NEW voters every day! Not just to vote, but to find NEW voters themselves! To vote, click on:
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?
On the good news side, we have shored up our position with Basenji Rescue in Texas. For the first time in a week and a half, we are slightly more ahead of them. Monday, the spread between us had shrunk to just 2.15%. Today that distance is 2.18%. It is a gain of .03% since Monday, so that is very good news.
And we have moved up .01% nationally and are back to .75%, after having slipped to .74% for several days.
Unfortnately, that is the only good news I have to report!
The guys in 7th place keep opening up the distance between us and them. Today, they are at .88%. On Monday, they were .86%. It will now take us a gain of .14% to overtake them. That number has been steadily growing for two weeks!
There is now a scarier prospect than even that. Number 9 has moved up to .67 from .65 on Monday! Even though we are up by .01, they are up by .02... so they have closed the gap a little bit! They just need .09 to move ahead of us!
And 10th place is keeping pace. They moved up from .64 on Monday to .66 today!
So we are further from the guy in front of us than the two guys behind us! That is not a good place to be in.
And The $43 Million Dollar Man just keeps increasing their lead. Today they are posting 1.96%, up another .01 from Monday.
We have about 45 Days to close the gap and pick up 1.22%! That is what it takes to win $10,000. And the guys in second place are at 1.53% today, up from 1.51 on Oct 28. Second place only pays $5000, but we need to pick up .79% to make that!
We have to bring in more votes than we have been getting.
We need to pick up .03% every single day above and beyond what we have been getting to overtake first place. In practical terms, that means we need four times as many votes as we normally get in a day.
I have spoken about Sutherlands in El Campo where we buy building materials for dog housing. They are voting for us every day from all six computers in their store. Do any of you have relationships with businesses that have multiple computers who might do the same?
If you have ideas for increasing our daily vote... If you have tried something that has worked... please email me so that I can share it in our daily Contest Update for others to try as well!
If you are not receiving these daily emails directly from me and would like to be added to my mailing list, please contact me at hellerich@aol.com.
Let's Shoot for .79% of the vote tomorrow!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Tragedy Strikes the Farm
Our Beautiful Eor
Ila Mae with Ricky
Ila Mae with Jay (Eor hidden in background)
Eor and Ila Mae, the two gentlest, sweetest donkeys to ever grace this world, are dead this morning.
They were victims of the savage electrical storm that swept through our part of the state overnight. Both babies were laying on the ground, nose to nose, beneath a huge tree that was split down the middle by lightning.
They died beneath the deceiving shelter of that massive tree, as they sought refuge during the storm. Both are victims of the lightning strike that severed the tree.
There are no words to describe the loss of these two special animals.
We will never again hear the playful hee-haw of our precious Eor as he gallps across the pasture. Never again will we kiss Ila Mae or Eor on their soft, velvety lips or put our arms around their necks and rub our faces against theirs.
Ila Mae has gone to join her precious baby, Aiden, whom we lost this past August. I hope that Eor and Ila Mae and Aiden are galloping happily over grassy fields in a place that is safe, where they are free from the pain and suffering of this life.
So many of you who have visited the farm know Eor and Ila Mae, the loving donkeys who would visit our guests and happily munch on treats of raisin bread or cinnamon rolls.
It is hard to imagine life on the farm without them. It will never, can never be the same.
We are devastated.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Jane Goes to Austin in Search of a Family!
Meet Jane. She came to the farm as a stray from a local family in Wharton. On Friday, Doug drove her up to Houston to meet Deana, one of Smiling Dog Farms' Board Members who does many transports for us, as well.
Jane was Deana's house guest overnight, and on Saturday, Deana loaded her into the car and headed toward Austin.
Jane is now with Jennie, our Austin Adoption Partner. Jennie reports that Jane gets along well with the other dogs in her home. She also reports that Jane knows how to jump over the baby gate and scale the coffee table! lol
That said, Jane has been a good girl and has not had any accidents in the house!
Jennie is one of our valued Adoption Partners who take our dogs into their homes (or one of their fosters' homes) and just like My Fair Lady, teach our dogs the social graces -- like not to poop on the carpet or chew up the TV remote. This is an important step for our babies who live at the farm in their play yards on "dog rules". They need to learn how to behave with a family so that they will succeed in their adoptive placements.
Julie from Annie's Angels in Missouri City has been our Houston Adoption Partner since we began our adoption program in 2008. She is responsible for countless adoptable dogs from the farm finding loving families. Julie did the homestudy for Ella (see below).
And we are excited to have Elizabeth in Waller County coming on board as our newest Adoption Partner.
Our Adoption Partners are the backbone of our adoption program. They find good homes for our babies, and give adoptable dogs the opportunity to have families of their own. Our adoption partners ensure that our dogs find quality homes with families who will care for them and love them -- so they won't end up back at a shelter somewhere! My favorite part is when we get pictures and stories from the adopting families telling us how they are doing in their new homes!
We would like to have more Adoption Partners to help us place our adoptable dogs. If your rescue would consider partnering with us to help us find homes for our adoptable dogs, please contact me at hellerich@aol.com or call me at 979-559-1062. You don't have to be in or near Houston, or even Texas. We can arrange transports for dogs to travel back and forth between us. We would like to have an Adoption Partner in every major American city!
More News from the Farm...
Ella's transport is set for her to arrive at her new home with Tammy in New Hampshire on the 20th of November, just in time for Thanksgiving! Ella will have a lot to be thankful for this year! She will have her new family and will spend Thanksgiving Day in a cozy, warm New England home, enjoying her own turkey dinner! Thank you Tammy! And thank you Julie and Annie's Angels and Ed and Shauna and Pets In Need in Dracut, Massachusetts for making this adoption possible!
Animal Rescue Site Holiday Shelter Challenge Daily Update for Monday, Nov 1
Wish I Had Better News to Report!
Please vote today and every day from every computer you have access to! And please sign up ONE NEW VOTER ... who can then sign up one new voter... who will sign up a new voter... etc.
If there is any chance for us to win, that is how it will happen. Just click on this link to vote:
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?
We are stuck. We are still sitting at .74% of the vote. Our high water mark was .76% a week ago. We have dropped .02% in a week!
While we are dropping, the $43 Million Dollar Man is still gaining. Up to 1.95% of the vote today. They have gained .02% in this past week, as we have lost .02% so the space between us is .04% more today than it was a week ago!
If you are not depressed enough yet, there is even worse news. Basenji Rescue of Texas is coming back strong and gaining on us every day for a week now! Just a week ago, the difference between them and us was 2.43%. The difference is now just 2.15%. We slipped another .07% just since Saturday! They have closed the gap between us by .28% in a single week!
That is the kind of stuff WE used to do!
We are still in 8th Place Nationally, but we cannot maintain that -- much less move forward -- without a whole lot of new votes and voters coming on board!
Our existing voter base is still voting daily. If they weren't we could not keep our total at .74%
But we need to add new votes daily to match Basenji Rescue... or they will soon overtake us and we may even fall out of the Top 10!
We need your vote... and we need you to go looking for new voters to add daily!
If you are not currently receiving these daily reminders directly from me and would like to be added to my database, please email me directly at hellerich@aol.com.
Sutherlands Home and Garden where we buy materials for building housing is voting daily from their six computers. Maybe you have vendors you deal with who would not mind taking a moment to vote from their business computers every day!
Please vote today and every day from every computer you have access to! And please sign up ONE NEW VOTER ... who can then sign up one new voter... who will sign up a new voter... etc.
If there is any chance for us to win, that is how it will happen. Just click on this link to vote:
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?
We are stuck. We are still sitting at .74% of the vote. Our high water mark was .76% a week ago. We have dropped .02% in a week!
While we are dropping, the $43 Million Dollar Man is still gaining. Up to 1.95% of the vote today. They have gained .02% in this past week, as we have lost .02% so the space between us is .04% more today than it was a week ago!
If you are not depressed enough yet, there is even worse news. Basenji Rescue of Texas is coming back strong and gaining on us every day for a week now! Just a week ago, the difference between them and us was 2.43%. The difference is now just 2.15%. We slipped another .07% just since Saturday! They have closed the gap between us by .28% in a single week!
That is the kind of stuff WE used to do!
We are still in 8th Place Nationally, but we cannot maintain that -- much less move forward -- without a whole lot of new votes and voters coming on board!
Our existing voter base is still voting daily. If they weren't we could not keep our total at .74%
But we need to add new votes daily to match Basenji Rescue... or they will soon overtake us and we may even fall out of the Top 10!
We need your vote... and we need you to go looking for new voters to add daily!
If you are not currently receiving these daily reminders directly from me and would like to be added to my database, please email me directly at hellerich@aol.com.
Sutherlands Home and Garden where we buy materials for building housing is voting daily from their six computers. Maybe you have vendors you deal with who would not mind taking a moment to vote from their business computers every day!
Let's Get Fired Up,
Team Smiling Dog!
Let's make our goal for tomorrow to be at .75% and moving UP!
Let's make our goal for tomorrow to be at .75% and moving UP!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)