| 7:04p |
my heartfelt gratitude
I truly am very appreciative to everyone who has donated to Animal Friends (and is currently suffering through Storm Warnings - gah, looked at a chapter a bit ago and found more tiny little mistakes on my part that I missed, I apologize). It seems that they contacted a few of you because of a lack of an address to send a memorial card for Ban-chan.... oops. My bad, I forgot about that little part when I said to do the donations 'in memory of'. Someone thoughtfully gave them my email address, and here's what they sent me:
Hello, My name is Jessica DiVito and I am the development coordinator with Animal Friends in Pittsburgh. Over the last 24 hours, we have received numerous donations in honor on Ban-Chan. Since so many of the donations that have poured in have come from all over the world, we found it to be highly unusual and attempted to contact one of the donors to understand who Ban-Chan was. One donor was kind enough to give us your address. I am very sorry that I am contacting you via email, but I just wanted to let you know how remarkable your work must be, and that your supporters care very much. As of three o'clock we have received over $250 from about a dozen donors. Thank you. This is truly amazing and I just want you to know how much we really do appreciate you spreading the word about our work and being a great ambassador for our organization. Thank you again for your support. If you have time, we would love to hear more about Ban--Chan, who must have been a truly inspiring pet. Sincerely, Jessica DiVito
.... yeah, I get teary-eyed each time I see it. *massive huggles to all who donated, no matter the amount*
I was hoping when I came up w/ this idea that I'd raise at least a hundred dollars and do a little good. Over $250 means a lot to a regional organization like this, especially in a time when people are strapped for money and pets are getting abandoned left and right. Not to ignore my fellow humans, but I happen to think that this is a time of the year when our faithful and loving companions get overlooked, and I know AF always does their 'Christmas/New Year's' round-up of as many poor animals they can take on who probably won't live into the new year without a bit of help and loving attention. Perhaps with this donation they'll be able to take on an extra animal or two.
I have a monthly donation sent to them automatically because I know just how much Ban-chan, and now Ume-chan and Hoshi, means to me. AF was so understanding and helpful when it came time to find another cat to share my life with, and they're constantly striving to help all pets and pet owners, not just the ones who adopted/were adopted from them. Heck, I technically got Ume-chan for 'free' as someone saw a lovely cat with small health issues and paid her adoption fee in advance. I 'paid it forward' on a handsome gentleman who reminded me too much of Ban-chan for me to take him home even though AF put me under no pressure to do so. It's an organization that I'm very proud of and respect.
Anyway, rambling aside, thank you very much. As I said in a previous post, I'll keep the offer of the whole fic up until about chapter ten or so in return for any donation of $5 or more. Some of you seemed to feel bad that you couldn't give more, but really, the saying that 'every little bit helps' is more than true. At the very least, you've made me feel very happy and humbled. And I can't think of a much better tribute for Ban-chan than this after all the years of him being curled up at my side while I wrote.
(pardon the use of the 'meh' icon, but I just had to have Ban-chan's picture up there)
Current Mood: indescribable
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