Notes From the Shelter
Desiree Stinson, Executive Director
June 23 2009
Congratulations to our Volunteer Rummage Sale Team! This weekend our rummage sale produced over $1300.00 for the animals at Pets Lifeline!
This was just another terrific example how being a volunteer makes a difference for the homeless dogs and cats of our community. - Chances are that if you are visiting our website you are an animal person and you care about our mission - it is also possible you, like so many people today, may be struggling to make ends meet.
So today I'm offering up some simple ways you can help Sonoma Valley's only animal shelter on the cheap. As it so often happens the best ideas come from our volunteers. For example:
1) Donations instead of Birthday Gifts.
Roxanne Ridgway, a dedicated volunteer, had a birthday recently and
asked her guests to make donations to her favorite charity, Pets
Lifeline, in lieu of gifts. She raised an impressive $450. This
terrific idea would work well for any special occasion including
weddings, anniversaries and retirement. You could even use the PLL Wish
List published on our Web site to request specific items the animals
need most.
2) Garage Sales. Another PLL devotee and board member, Ann Jones, recently
held a garage sale and sent all the proceeds to the shelter. Summer is
the season of garage sales so consider making yours a fundraiser. You
could donate all your proceeds, a portion of your proceeds or designate
specific items as benefiting PLL.
3)
Company Matching Program. Remember to take advantage of your company's charitable match program
if your company has one. If you're not sure you can check with your
human resources department. This is a wonderful way to stretch your
dollars and literally double your support to nonprofits like PLL.
4)
Shop! with eScript. Get on board with the community give-back program called eScrip in
which a portion of your spending can be funneled back to PLL. Imagine,
just by doing your regular grocery and other shopping you can help the
animals. All you need to do is complete a simple sign up and they take
care of the rest.
5)
Volunteer. All this costs is time, and we are hungry for volunteers
to do everything from providing care for the animals to doing office
and handy work. We love it even more if you have special skills you can
share. Graphic artist? Carpenter? Painter? We need you.
6)
Family fundraisers from Home. Ever thought about putting on your own fundraiser? Kids on vacation can
have a lemonade stand, artists can sell handmade jewelry or scout
troops can organize a bake sale to benefit Pets Lifeline. Businesses
like Mary's Pizza Shack have even created their own fundraiser by
designating a day on which they donate a percentage of their sales to
the shelter. You can really get creative here.
The fact is, it's fun and
rewarding to get the whole family involved in creative fundraising for
a worthy cause. It makes everyone feel great and you may be surprised
at how easy it is to raise money for your favorite charity - even in an
economic climate like this one.
Thank you for caring - we wish you a wonderful summer! Look for us in the July 4th Parade or come by and visit our booth!
Cheers,

Desiree Stinson
Executive Director
Pets Lifeline