If you are having trouble viewing this email please click here >> *** You are receiving this email because you either adopted from or donated to Fancy Cats Rescue Team. Click here to unsubscribe from our newsletter. *** November 2008 Greetings Friends of Fancy Cats! As we enter this year's Holiday Season and start contemplating everything we have to be thankful for, we at Fancy Cats Rescue Team would like to express our appreciation to you, our adopters and donors. This year has been a difficult one for us all, but we feel especially blessed to have such dedicated supporters. We wish you and your family and friends a very happy Thanksgiving. UPCOMING EVENT: Order Your Holiday Gift Cards Here! We’re pleased to share some exciting news about a new fundraising program. It’s called “scrip”, and it’s the fundraising program that works while you shop. Scrip is not only the perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for person in your life, but a great way to support a charity while taking care of your everyday shopping needs! Scrip is simply a word that means “substitute money” – in other words, scrip is gift certificates from national and local retailers. They’re the same gift certificates that you buy at the store. Many popular retailers participate in the scrip program including Giant Foods, Safeway, Kmart, Wal-Mart, CVS, Staples, Kohl's, Macy's, Petsmart, Dick's Sporting Goods, Shell, Sunoco, Exxon and Sam's Club. So how do these stores help us raise money. It’s simple -- scrip participating retailers agree to sell gift certificates to Fancy Cats at a discount. Families like yours buy the certificates for full face value, they redeem them for full face value, and Fancy Cats keeps the difference as revenue. And scrip is exciting, because everybody wins: The beauty of scrip is that you put your regular household shopping dollars to work. You earn money for Fancy Cats without spending a single additional penny. Just spend your regular shopping dollars with scrip at the stores that participate in the scrip program! And scrip can be used for just about any household purchase including food, clothing, entertainment, gasoline and even dining out. Check out the list of participating retailers. (PDF) The Fancy Cats scrip program promises to be a simple and effective fundraising program. We will collect payment (cash or check only) for any orders on Sunday, November 30th at the Fair Lakes Petsmart between noon and 1:00pm. Scrip purchases must be picked up from the Fair Lakes Petsmart on Sunday, December 14th between noon and 4:00pm. Special arrangements may be accommodated. Please contact Danielle for more information. UPCOMING EVENT: Santa Paws Pet Photo Extravaganza! Fancy Cats will take a photo of your pet with Santa. Just bring your furry, four-legged family member to see us at Petsmart. Photos cost $9.95 each and $5 of that is donated to Fancy Cats. We'll be available from 11 am to 5 pm according to this schedule: Chantilly Petsmart on Saturday, December 6th and Saturday, December 20th; Fair Lakes Petsmart on Sunday, December 14th and Sunday, December 21st; and Springfield Petsmart on Saturday, December 13th and Sunday, December 14th. Need more details about the store locations? Check out our website FEATURED KITTY: November is Adopt a Senior Pet Month! Katie is a happy, healthy, and playful 12-year-old, who loves to chase toy mice or guard the window for any birds that come too close. Since she's not a kitten anymore, she's already got great litter box and scratching post manners. She’s polite with guests and kids, although she never lets you forget to feed her canned food! Katie is a sweet, people-oriented kitty who has been overlooked many times simply because of her age. She loves to sit next to you on the couch to be petted or brushed, and she’s always waiting by the door for you when you come home. She’s a striking dilute calico, with wonderfully soft fur and a beautiful head reminiscent of a Siamese. Being an older, wiser kitty, Katie was so appreciative to come to her foster home and be out of a cage that she grew more and more affectionate as time went by. She even learned to tolerate the dog next door (though he knows who’s boss!) and her fellow foster kitty, even though everyone always said she hated other cats. She can’t wait to get into a forever home and have her own family to love. Maddie was found in a park last winter, lonely, hungry and scared. She took time to adjust to her foster home but soon became a friendly and very talkative lap cat. Maddie will need someone with time and patience who can help her adjust to her new home. She is a sweet and loving cat, a wonderful companion who curls up every night with her foster mom! Maddie has a lush coat and declawed front paws. (Imagine that she was abandoned outside without any means to defend herself!) She has perfect litterbox manners. Maddie would be best as an only pet in a quiet home. Winifred (lovingly called Winnie) was rescued from a local high kill shelter. She thought she had it made at her original home and goodness knows what circumstances led to her being brought to the shelter. Winnie is thriving in her foster home but misses having the one-on-one attention she would have in a real home. She just had a visit to the dentist and her teeth are sparkling clean! She has waited a very long time and continually gets overlooked. Everyone wants a younger cat but Winnie is so soulful and sweet. Please consider this wonderful gal! There is no sweeter, more gentle cat than April. With her big green eyes and soft orange and white coat, she was rescued from a kill shelter where she was left when her owners moved. She would love to find a quiet home where she can curl up on your lap and greet you daily when you get home from work. She enjoys your company while she eats. She wants to be your very best friend. Smoke is a big, sweet boy who is still looking for his forever home. He has been in shelters or rescue situations for most of his life so it may take him some time to adjust and trust that someone will really love him forever. When Smoke first came to his foster home he was timid and unaware of his place among the other cats. Now, going on 2 years, he readily settles himself with the other cats and he has found his joy in rough-housing with another male cat. He will greet you at the door when you come home as well as see you off, not only is this love but its also a way for him to get chance to play with your shoestrings! Because of his size, Smoke does not like to be held for long, but he will cuddle with you once he's comfortable in his new home. Homer is 14 years old and was rescued from the Fairfax County shelter after being dumped there by his caregivers. He came to us cranky and intolerant but with love and care has become an attention-seeking, sweet boy. Over the past few months at his foster home, Homer has learned to be tolerant of the kittens who shared his home. Don't tell him, but his foster mom even caught him grooming one of them! Homer came to Fancy Cats with his front paws declawed. He had his thyroid removed and he spits up on occasion but otherwise is healthy. We have a bunch of other great, older kitties who do not do well at adoption fairs. If you are interested in meeting one of our featured kitties, or any of those other wonderful adults, please email us to set up an appointment. NEW ADOPTION LOCATION: Reston Petsmart We are happy to announce that we will be holding adoption fairs at the newly opened Petsmart store in Reston on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month. You can view out calendar of events on FancyCats.org. VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: We need your help! We are in need of volunteers to foster cats, clean cages and care for cats at the Petsmart adoptions centers, plan fund raisers and other events, and coordinate our foster homes. Please consider volunteering! There is more information available on the Volunteer page of our website. SEND YOUR LOVE TO FANCY CATS: Volunteer Tell a friend about Fancy Cats Rescue Team Fancy Cats Rescue Team P O Box 182 Herndon, VA 20172-0182 Phone: 703-961-1056 Fax: 703-961-1091 Web site: www.fancycats.org