Dear FixNation Friend,

Homeless cats need your help! You may be wondering why your support is so urgently needed at this time. It’s simple: You can help end the suffering.

Right now, there are more than a million homeless cats and kittens living in Los Angeles, and 40,000 cats are killed in our city and county shelters each year.

FixNation is a nonprofit organization that fixes homeless cats as part of a Trap-Neuter-Return program or “TNR” for short. TNR means cats are fixed so they cannot breed and are then returned to live out their lives on the streets. It’s not ideal, but it’s the best we can do. If we do nothing, their numbers will grow and the killing will continue.

Our mission is to end this cycle of suffering by providing free spay/neuter surgery and basic medical care for L.A.’s stray and feral cats. Our clinic is the first of its kind in the nation, operating full-time and providing free services for homeless cats. We fix more than 17,000 cats each year. It costs $1.5M annually to deliver these services to cats in need.

You’ve shown how much you care about homeless cats. You don’t like any more than we do that innocent cats die every day in L.A. shelters. So we’re reaching out to you. Your gift will help reduce the number of homeless cats in Los Angeles, and in turn save cats’ lives.

Please make a generous gift to FixNation today. Your donation, no matter the size, will help us maintain our full-time veterinary clinic to help homeless cats. Please donate today.

Thank you, we appreciate all you do for the animals.

Sincerely,

Every donation made until December, 31, will be matched by PetSmart Charities! If ever there was a time for you to help homeless cats of LA, it is now!

Your heartfelt donations to spay/neuter homeless cats in LA go twice as far when you donate now, thanks to PetSmart Charities who will match whatever you donate, dollar for dollar!

PetSmart Charities has challenged FixNation to raise $51k in new donations before the end of this year – December 31, 2011! For every dollar we raise from a new donor, PetSmart will match it!

Please help us meet this challenge by sharing this fundraiser with your friends and families! We’re asking everyone who cares about LA’s cats to support FixNation by making a donation today!

It’s so easy!

Your donation of $10, becomes $20!
Your donation of $25, becomes $50!
Your donation of $100, becomes $200!

Thank you for joining FixNation in helping LA’s homeless cats!

After you’ve made your donation, consider how you can inspire others!

But you can do more than double your donation with Petsmart’s Matching Gift!  You can help raise MORE funds by hosting your own fundraiser on Crowdrise.  Make this your challenge too!  

Start YOUR campaign to help homeless cat!

Do you need a new coffee mug or sweater?  Make gift-giving count this year by giving a gift to homeless cats.  Ask your friends and family to contribute to your campaign.

The best gift of all will be knowing that you helped save lives!

THANKS, EVERYONE, FOR HELPING MAKE COOL CATS FOR FIXNATION AT THE G2 GALLERY FEATURING THE CARL VERHEYEN BAND ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2011 SUCH A SUCCESSFUL AND MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE!

Community spirit, art, music, cats and charity all came together at the wonderful G2 Gallery Friday night August 19, where everyone joined hands to support FixNation, and “get down” with the Carl Verheyen Band, performing as the “Cool Cats”.

Our hosts, Susan and Dan Gottlieb, the founders and owners of the G2 Gallery, deserve special thanks for offering up their unique venue and all it embodies on a night like this. And, for leaving everyone in awe, we also thank our star attraction, Carl Verheyen and his band mates, Dave Marotta and Walfredo Reyes, Jr., the talented, merry troupe who simply dazzled those in attendance with their special brand of musical offerings.

Carl Verheyen Band on-stage at event: Carl Verheyen (Guitar), Walfredo Reyes, Jr. (Drums) and Dave Marotta (Bass)

We would also like to thank and acknowledge the contributions of all those who purchased tickets, the donors who purchased tickets for complimentary invitation purposes, everyone who contributed to what became a terrific array of auction items, the G2 staff who worked so hard on putting the event together, the FixNation volunteers and staff who did so much to make things easy and efficient at the event, and all of those who came after what, for most, was a busy work day.

The venue’s size limited attendance to 100 and was a sold out event. Downstairs, the room was elegantly laid out to accommodate a buffet table of catered food items, a wine and beverage bar, a display of all the silent auction items, the check-in and ticket distribution table, and a table offering Carl’s CDs and DVDs for sale. Upstairs, in the main Gallery room, a stage was set up before rows of chairs to accommodate all the guests.

Here are a few photos from the event:

Event Special Mention

Many of the guests that came to the event did so thanks to the generosity of two major donors, grateful for the opportunity to help and to accept our public thanks. These are:

The Dax Foundation, and its principal, Dave Weisman, a visionary entrepreneur and philanthropist, specifically wanted to enable supporters of ours to attend and support the valuable mission of FixNation, a cause near and dear to his heart. For more on Dax Foundation and its unique role in helping make our world a better place, please visit www.daxfoundation.org.

By leaving a gift for FixNation in your estate plan, you have the opportunity to ensure health and safety for generations of cats, and prevent millions of homeless cats from being born. Because of you, together we will someday realize, even if not within your lifetime, the day when there are no more homeless cats.

We are so grateful by those who have already made this commitment, so honored to be treated like family. As you know, the only way to motivate members of the community to engage in Trap-Neuter-Return on a meaningful scale is by offering our services for free. Because of your generosity, we will be able to continue to give these gifts to the public for years to come, and miracles of change will continue to happen. If you’ve already remembered FixNation in your estate plan, please contact us. We would love to thank you personally for your thoughtful support.

For those of you interested in considering a bequest directed to FixNation in your personal will or trust, we encourage you to consult with counsel and/or a financial planner expert in this area. If you would like more information to help you with this, or have already made a bequest to FixNation, please contact Mark Dodge at mark@fixnation.org.

The two groups are running this donation program for three lucky recipients in the Los Angeles area:  FixNation, Clinico and Spay4LA. Donations must be made before the end of February and they must be made through the Found Animals website only in order to count towards this matching donation challenge.

Here is the link where you can donate:

Click Here –   http://www.foundanimals.org/pet-spayneuter/donate

If you prefer to mail your donations instead:

PAY TO:  Found Animals
Include in the memo of the check the name of our clinic – FixNation
MAIL TO: Found Animals, PO Box 66370, LA, CA 90066

Thank you for your continued support of FixNation. And of course, a very special thanks to Found Animals and the Heigl Foundation for their most generous support!

If you’ve been to FixNation, it’s hard to miss the beautiful, night sky mural as soon as you walk into our lobby. Our “Starlight Wonder Wall” is a tribute of the special pets and special people that many have known in their lifetimes, as a wonderful celebration of love for them. Either in memory of a furry friend or as a lasting celebration of someone close, what better gift for that loved one in your life than a gift of a star in the FixNation sky! Proceeds go to providing free spay/neuter for the homeless cats within our community, so you can call this the gift that *doesn’t* keep on giving!

Orders for Holidays and Special Occasions

FixNation will send a card on your behalf to your special someone, informing them of your gift and including information so they can call us with the message they would like written on their star. If this is a gift for someone, please provide the recipient’s name and contact info when ordering, so we can follow up with them directly to ensure their order. We can also email them a photo of the star after it’s hung on the wall, in case they don’t often come into our clinic.

Click here to download the order form and order your star today!

You can fax your order in to 818.767.7791 or email to info@fixnation.org. Payments can be made by check, cash or credit card.

Stars In Memory Of:

In memory of a beloved pet or a passed loved one, what better way to honor their memory than to purchase a star where the proceeds will go to ease the suffering and improve the lives of homeless cats. You would be honoring your loved one’s memory with a gift of kindness.

Stars In Celebration Of:

Many people today are leading simpler, greener lives that have less impact on Mother Earth. Instead of gifts and material goods, consider purchasing a star in their name that goes towards making this world a better place. Perfect for the cat lovers in your life, to celebrate a wedding or special occasion…or just as a celebration of life!

Thank you for your thoughtful donation!

The lovely mural was complements of talented artists Amanda Flick and Michael D. Costello.

Annual enrollment expires every August 31st, so if you enrolled prior to August 31st, 2010, you will need to re-enroll to make sure FixNation is still receiving your Ralphs Reward Card charitable proceeds. If you are already a member and have an account, re-enrollment can be done quickly in just a couple of minutes online. If you’re not yet a member, what are you waiting for? It’s a quick and easy process to get set up, you save money on your grocery bill, and FixNation benefits every time you shop at Ralphs!

Enrollment Instructions for Existing Users:

Go to www.ralphs.com and sign in
Go to “My Account”
Go to the “Community Rewards Information” section and click on the link “Edit Community Contribution Program Information”
Search for FixNation in the search box
When FixNation comes up, select the radio button and click “Save Changes”
You are done! Log out.

Enrollment Instructions for New Users:

Go to www.ralphs.com
Look for the grey/yellow Ralphs card in the upper right hand side of the page and click on it
Under New Customer section, click on “Sign Up Today”
Follow the sign-up process — you’ll need to select a store, enter an email, select a password, enter the 12 digit number off the back of your Ralphs Rewards card, then enter your personal contact info
Next you’ll get an email sent to your inbox to verify your info, click on the link to verify and you’ll be taken to a screen to complete registration
Next sign in (if you’re not already signed in)
Go to “My Account”
Go to the “Community Rewards Information” section and click on the link “Edit Community Contribution Program Information”
Search for FixNation in the search box
When FixNation comes up, select the radio button and click “Save Changes”
You are done! Log out.

Download our Ralphs flyer here

FixNation has partnered with Cars 4 Causes as a way to raise money for our community cats. Now you can donate your old cars, trucks, boats, RV’s, motor homes, motorcycles… you name it! It doesn’t even need to run. If it’s a motorized vehicle and you have the title, you can donate it for a great cause. Cars 4 Causes is a non-profit 501(c)(3), so your donation is tax deductible.

Cars 4 Causes will generally arrange for your car to be picked up within 24 hours. The way it works is that Cars 4 Causes has their own mechanics evaluate the vehicle. When it is cost-effective, they make major or minor mechanical repairs, and then they detail the cars and advertise them for sale. They don’t use auction houses or third parties to sell the majority of our vehicles, and because of this Cars 4 Causes receives the highest average return rates on their sales!

Cars 4 Causes allow people to choose the charity they want to benefit from their car donation. If you donate a car and select FixNation as your charity of choice, 70% of the net sales go to FixNation and the rest goes to Cars 4 Causes charity supported programs. And don’t forget you get the tax break on your donation too. It’s a win-win all around!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TODAY!

Click here for more information on Cars 4 Causes

That’s when thousands of people from Southern California, of all ages and all backgrounds, work together to lend a hand to nonprofits, schools and other agencies that need their help. Last year on Big Sunday Weekend, 50,000 volunteers turned out at more than 500 different projects from San Diego to Solvang, making Big Sunday Weekend one of the largest regional community service events in America.

Big Sunday takes place at hundreds of different sites throughout the Southland, from downtown L.A. to the Westside, from the San Fernando Valley to the San Gabriel Valley, from Orange County to the Inland Empire to Ventura County. There are opportunities for every passion, talent, skill and age. Projects are scheduled throughout the weekend, and can last anywhere from one hour to two full days. Big Sunday Weekend also includes special events such as art shows, sports days, yard sales and blood drives.

This year, one of the special activities will be benefitting FixNation!

Volunteers can sign up to host a dog biscuit booth to sell dog biscuits to benefit one of five local animal non profit organization: FixNation, Clinico, Bark Avenue Foundation, Seal Beach Animal Care Center and the Southern California Labrador Retriever Rescue.

As a host, you run your own booth and staff it with your friends, family, co-workers… whoever you want as volunteers. Big Sunday will provide some supplies, including very cute and delicious (so we’ve heard!) dog biscuits, signage and more.

You can choose ANY location and time to hold your booth. The only requirement is that the booth be open for a minimum of two hours on either May 1st or May 2nd.

The original deadline for signing up was April 22nd, but that has been extended, so if you’re interested in participating SIGN UP TODAY! Complete and submit the volunteer registration at:

http://my.bigsunday.org/index.cfm?x_x_=1&Fuseaction=DIYDogBiscuit

For any questions or further information, email Lori, our Dog Booth Coordinator at lori@bigsunday.org.

For more information on Big Sunday, including a calendar of events, check out their website at:

http://my.bigsunday.org/

http://www.bigsunday.org/

Since Cats first opened on the West End stage in 1981, it has become one of the world’s best known and best loved musicals. With a plot based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and award-winning music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber; CATS, originally directed by Trevor Nunn, has since been presented in over 20 countries and in about 250 cities. The production ran for 18 years on Broadway, a record-setting 21 years in London, won seven Tony Awards and is the longest running tour in American theatre history.

CATS has come back to Los Angeles! The production is visiting the Pantages Theatre for two weeks in March. Graciously, the Pantages Theatre and the production of CATS offered to partner with FixNation for a special, one-time fundraising and “friendraising” event on Wednesday, March 10th. FixNation was granted a block of well-situated tickets to CATS to sell, with the proceeds going to help the non-profit clinic.

The evening started with a VIP cocktail reception held at the elegant Katsuya restaurant in Hollywood, with food, wine and drinks. The hit of the party was a visit from some of the costumed cast members from CATS, and guest attendees could get their photo taken with the Cats on the red carpet. An exclusive video on FixNation clinic was also premiered, giving guests a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes of the clinic and how the mission got started.

The highlight of the evening was the award-winning Broadway production of CATS at the Pantages Theatre. Our celebrity guest, Corey Feldman, took the stage before the start of the performance to say a few words about the plight of homeless cats, how TNR can make such a huge difference in their lives, and about FixNation’s free spay/neuter services for homeless, stray and feral cats. Corey and his son Zen stayed to watch the performance, as well as take a few photos with the cast members from CATS. We appreciate his coming out to help our charitable event, and his passion and commitment to bettering the lives of animals.

We would like to thank our three very generous sponsors who made this magical evening possible: The Angela Collier Foundation, The Rascal & Chloe Fund, and Found Animals Foundation.

Thanks also goes out to a very special donor and friend, the Dax Foundation, who purchased some CATS tickets that we awarded to some “unsung heroes” who are out in the field night after night trapping, caring for colonies, and making an overall difference in the lives of homeless cats. This special gift allowed people who might not otherwise be attending a chance to take an evening off from their hard work and join us in some fun.

We extend our grateful and sincere thanks to everyone who came out to support this event, and in the words of the beautiful Grizabella, we cherish the special Memories that we made!

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