Roatan Renegade Rescue's first Fundraiser on Sunday was a huge success. We
made $276.00 with book, drink, wristband sales and cash donations.Our only
advertising was on the Roatan yahoo groups and signs in the store windows.
It was a great opportunity to meet many animal lovers and hear lots of
heartwarming stories. Quetip, Rescue Bunny was a huge hit & enjoyed having
his photo taken. Q was found in a Michigan Farmer's Market being sold for
meat. Once I saw his photo, one thing led to another and he soon was driven
by a volunteer from Michigan to Georgia and then flew first class to Roatan.
He is a free roaming house bunny with perfect litter box habits and is a
real character. This was his first Public Appearance.
Donations
Tamara, who recently lost her cockatiel, donated her birdcage and play
station and bought a wristband.
Princessa and husband, soon to build on Roatan, are animal activists and
want to be very involved in RRR. They bought books and lots of wristbands to
give away.
East End Divers, Larry & Karen Coon from Oakridge bought a boatload of books
and solved our biggest stumbling block to date. They live in a house that
has built in kennels with concrete slab and bathing area and are willing to
do temporary foster care for us. Finding a safe, quiet environment for After
Care and Recovery has been the most difficult challenge. What a generous
gift.
John & Lin Coyle, Parrot Tree, donated Lps 500 in memory of Sonoma Kintner
as well as a box of towels and toys.
Kent Burnes & Lizette, Blue Bahia, Sandy Bay donated $60.00
Serena Evans, AKR dolphin trainer donated and has been added to our list of
volunteers.
Rick Mayeux has pledged to bring supplies down in September
Gene Demarco & Leslie, West Bay donated $10.00 on Day One. Come get your
wristbands!!
Ron La Barre & Patricia, West Bay Road donated dog medications
Beau Hicks & his wife have returned temporarily to Canada and sent their
large dog carrier back on the ferry for us to use the next 5 months.
Joseph & Laura Edge, new residents, Lighthouse, bought wristbands,donated
cash & two animal carriers.
James Wilson, Infinity Bay donated a bunch of high quality dog treats.
Joanne Clement, Canada, has wired funds to help with Franky's ongoing cancer
treatment in La Ceiba.
RH & Patty Franklin, Keyhole Bay have made another generous contribution,
plus have given us several excellent sources and contact groups to whom they
also donate. Their 17 lb. rescue kitty, BC, even came to our RRR Fundraiser.
Another anonymous donor (I will refer to all of these kind people as A.D.
henceforth) came up with a great idea of crocheting fabric into doggie mats
for a soft spot to rest those scrawny bones. She is bringing back two
monster crochet hooks from Canada. My partner Waldina & I are saving scrap
fabric at That Fabric Place for the beds. Anybody out there have scrap
fabric to cut into strips? Anybody like to crochet in front of the TV??
One recent morning, I came to work to find a garbage bag full of large empty
ice cream containers hanging on the door. We now can custom make Elizabethan
collars. Thanx to Ralph Shotwell, Punta Blanca and the mysterious
deliveryman (Mitch?)
Long time animal rescuer and good friend, Francine Dupree has agreed to help
us handle our Paypal donations from the states (More details below.)
Veteran Roatan rescuer, Olivia Munteanu , West Bay, a passionate cat
lover,has offered us the use of her feral cat traps, most appreciated. We
hope to be able to help Olivia with her personal rescues as well. Olivia has
shared many contacts and resouces with us....lots of good outreach
information out there. Another huge contribution is that an animal lover
attorney friend of hers, will help us set up a non-profit charity ONG
Foundation for a very reasonable fee. Even though the lion's share of our
modest funds will continue to go directly to rescuing our animals, this is
something well worth striving towards as we become more established.
Genny Barons, Sandy Bay, has been plugging RRR on her Roatan Vortex Radio
Show & has invited us to do a show with her, with call in participation.
Should be fun.
Benjamin Roberts, Bay Island Voice Magazine came by and interviewed me for
an upcoming article he is writing on the problem of stray animals on Roatan.
Should be an interesting piece.
John Morris of Roatan Radio has invited me to host a Roatan Renegade Rescue
Show once a week, sharing animal stories worldwide. At this point, time
wise, I could only host the midnight to 3 am slot, but would love to do
this, once RRR is fully operational.
We have opened an HSBC bank account for RRR with a double signature for
withdrawals.
An Excel Database has been established showing all donations, by name where
possible and all expenses detailed. Our accounting is open to all who have
donated. We want you to know what we are doing with your contributions.
Every 50 cent book sale does add up.
Our email address is: Roatan_Renegade_Rescue at yahoo.com
I am having a terrible time trying to set up the website donation page. I
finally talked to a "human" at Paypal who told me they will not send funds
to Honduras as it is a "blacklisted country." Paypal will accept donations
and deposit them in a US bank account. I then have to pay anywhere from $50
to $90 for each wire transfer and they usually turn into a nighmare and
frequently are lost at the intermediary bank. We want to make it as easy as
possible for our supporters to send in donations, but with the added fees we
will soon be in the red! When Joanne wired funds from Canada to cover
Franky's chemo, she had to pay an additional $32 in transfer fees and we got
hit for $15.00 on our end in the US.
A design client, turned good friend suggested we use www.xoom.com. They will
directly send money from the US to Honduras, right into our HSBC account for
reasonable fees. The only catch with that is you must only check the box
that says it is a "gift" for family or friends. If you check "Goods or
Services" it will be denied. We are setting up the website both ways, so
everyone feels comfortable. We will offer Francine's Paypal account
(mentioned above) & then she will xoom it off to our Honduran bank account.
Snail mail takes 2 weeks and then a US check or traveler's check takes 22
business days to clear. We obviously need funds immediately available for
all our emergency rescues.So many people have asked what our Paypal account
is to send donations, I wanted to make it clear why we are having these
difficulties.
We are continuing to sell books at Penelope's Island Emporium, so please
stop by anytime to pick up a book and buy a $5.00 wristband.
This Saturday, we will be at the Taste of Roatan, Maypole Event being held
at the Bay Islands Beach Resort. Please stop by & purchase a wristband and
meet Cassidy, our rare Leonberger Rescue.
I think that is it for now.
Thank you everyone,
Penny, Friends and the Animals
R....R....R....
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