A great big THANK YOU to all the organizers, volunteers and donors! So many of our animals here at Rikki’s Refuge LOVE to eat pumpkins!

*** LAST DAY TO VOTE IN THE SHELTER CHALLENGE ***

Please VOTE & SHARE for RIKKI’S REFUGE in the Animal Rescue Site SHELTER CHALLENGE today! Thank you!

Vote here: http://www.shelterchallenge.com/web/charityusa/nomineehome?userId=53331&nomineeId=17448

Again this holiday season, Rikki’s Refuge will have Angel Trees located at several stores throught Central Virginia ~ Orange, Fredericksburg, Culpeper, and Charlottesville.  All trees should be in stores by Thanksgiving!

These trees will be decorated with ornaments that feature pictures of some of our animal ambassadors, along with some background information about each individual.  By way of these ornaments, each animal will be requesting what he or she most wants to get from Santa this Christmas for themselves and their friends at Rikki’s.  Not surprisingly, it’s usually something edible!  We hope that if you are able, you will stop by one of the stores listed below and choose an ornament from one of our  Angel Trees and grant the wish of one of our animal residents.  You can purchase the requested items at that store, and leave it beneath the tree for one of our elves to pick up.  During the colder months, all of the animals at Rikki’s consume more food, because it takes a lot more of their energy to keep themselves warm.  This means that your donations of food at this time will be especially welcome!  Please know that everyone at Rikki’s Refuge ~ residents, staff, and volunteers alike ~ wish you a bright and beautiful holiday season!  

*List of Angel Tree locations (Thank you to all participating stores!)

Orange
    Tractor Supply
    Dollar General 
    Orange-Madison Co-op
Culpeper
    Tractor Supply
    Culpeper Animal Hospital
    Culpeper Co-op (Farm & Home Center)
Fredericksburg
    Roxbury Farm & Garden
    Giant at Hilltop
    360 Feed Supply
    PetCo
    Tractor Supply
    Harvest Market
    Confederate Ridge Animal Hospital
    Re-Tail Thrift Store
Charlottesville
    Pet Supplies Plus

Can you help in Fredericksburg, VA in December? Contact Nora at nelmg@aol.com if you can work one of the shifts listed above. THANKS!

All donations received go directly to Rikki’s Refuge and it’s lots of fun.

If you can help for an evening or just a couple of hours please contact Ron Herfurth (Rikki’s Refuge Director of Serving Cats) at:

topcat@cstone.net

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!! Santa is coming! Santa is coming! Santa is coming to Re-Tail in December! He’ll be there so that you can get your pet’s (or child, or entire family!) picture taken with him! For a $10 donation, you will get a 4″x6″ print in a photo card! And since there may be some adorable blooper shots taken (that you like, but not to put on your Christmas card) we’ll be happy to e-mail all of the pictures of your pets to you!
Photos will be taken on Saturday, Dec. 6, 13, and 20 from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., and Sunday Dec. 7 and 14 from 1:00 until 4:00, and Friday, Dec. 12 from 11:00 until 3:00
Call for an appointment (but walk-ins are welcome, too) 540-891-5300.
Re-Tail is located at 3503 Lafayette Blvd., Fredericksburg, Va., 22408.

YOU ARE INVITED! We are so THANKFUL for our amazing volunteers and generous friends that we would like to invite you to our Annual ThanksLiving Cruelty-Free Feast, where we dine WITH our friends and not ON our friends. We will gather on Saturday, November 22 starting at 3:00pm at our Life Center, located next to the Refuge. We would ask for a donation of $25 and/or a VEGETARIAN potluck dish to share. For more information and to RSVP, please contact Lolly at: lollyb65@gmail.com

WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THANKSLIVING DAY??? Rikki’s Refuge ThanksLIVING Day Tour and Reception, Thursday, November 27. Tour starts at Noon and Reception at 2:00pm. This year, if you PROMISE to NOT eat any of my friends during the holiday season, your tickets are FREE. But you must have a reservation and tickets so contact us at: mail@rikkisrefuge.org

URGENT ~ Northern Virginia PUMPKIN PEOPLE! We only have 3 wonderful volunteers committed to dates and churches so far. We already have FIVE churches signed up to give us their pumpkins, so already the volunteer to pumpkin pickup ratio is off. Are you in the Northern Virginia area? CAN YOU HELP?

Churches count on us to clear our their pumpkin patches and we count on those pumpkins each year as a HUGE part of our animal feed for the fall. This could also affect the churches willingness to give us their pumpkins next year if we can’t clear their lots.

This Saturday and Sunday, NOV 1 & 2 (and in some cases maybe the days following) we have a HUGE NEED for volunteers to help us get the pumpkins from the churches. Trucks, vans, SUVs and even a big car will work if you want to help! EMAIL FRED ASAP at fred@z9a.com or Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org..

Did you know that all our animals and birds, with the exception of our cats and dogs, eat pumpkins? Donated pumpkins help off-set the cost of grain and hay!

CLASS AT RIKKI’S REFUGE!
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2014 AT 7:00 PM EST.
We are beginning a new discussion on a new book:
“Anatomy of the Spirit” by Caroline Myss Ph.D.
Bring a vegan or vegetarion dish to share for the after-class pot-luck!