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March 2009 - Current News
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Puffy Paws Kitty Haven " A Loving Home For Unwanted Kitties " Welcome to Puffy Paws Kitty Haven News
Update For March 30th, 2009
TWO UPCOMING BENEFITS
FOR THE KITTIES Puffy Paws Kitty Haven would like to announce two upcoming benefits. On Fri April 3, there will be the 1st annual Spring
Fling to benefit Puffy Paws Kitty Haven.
It will be from 10am - 3pm at Bealls Outlet Plaza in Englewood, located north of Beach Road on 776. The individual stores
will have a unique event or offer. There will be a bake sale, goody bags, and much more. There will be plenty of kitties to adopt, and all are welcome to attend this
event for fun and to benefit the kitties. Also,
on April 4 and 5 from 10am -4 pm, there will be the Island Art Days. This event consists of two days of classic art and fine
craft exhibits on Boca Grande, and proceeds will help the Puffy Paws Kitty Haven. The event will be located at Special Effects,
431 Park Ave, on Boca Grande. There will be
plenty of kitties to adopt. For more information on these events, call 473 - 5406.
Even the IRS like kitties !
The IRS must love kitties. The reason being the kitties lawyers sent out their
application for 501(c)(3) tax exempt statues with the IRS on Feb 20th.
On
Monday March 23rd,we received the official designation letter from the IRS.
It
only took 31 days for the IRS to approve our application ! That is a record amount of time ! Over here at Puffy Paws we never
heard of an application getting approved in that short of time.
Now
we can take Puffy Paws Kitty Haven to the next level of operation. Thanks to the wonderful grant we receive from the Ralph
and Virginia Mullen Foundation for the
501(c)(3) application process.
FPL Inspected The Haven
The FPL team finally came
out and did an energy inspection. The news was what we excepted it to be.
Inefficient AC units with duct work that
needs to be upgraded.
We will be looking for grant money
to replace the two AC units in the very near future. So cross your fingers.
A New Roof On The May Lynch Kitten Rescue Center
The Kitties who live in
the May Lynch Kitten Rescue Center are enjoying a new roof put on by Leonard’s Roofing, Inc . They are located in Nokomis not the one in Englewood .The roof was funded
by my mother, Audrey Kingston. So a great big meow goes out to Mom, once again.
It was time to put a new roof on since raining season is just around the corner. Its better to be safe than
sorry. We are really happy with the work that Leonard’s Roofing did and will recommend their work to anyone.
If you like to see the new roof and the kitties just stop in to our Open
House every Saturday between the hours of 1pm and 5pm.
A side
note - Mr Leonard house caught fire over the Weekend break
from putting the new roof on and the Venice fire department saved their kitty kat life.
Click on the link below to read the story in the Sarasota Herald Tribune
CLICK HERE TO READ HOW THE KITTY SURVIVED THE FIRE
A Helping Hand From Suncoast Humane Society
Here at Puffy Paws Kitty Haven we do not put down any animals for behavior
problems, space or adopt-ability issues. Yet Puffy Paws Kitty Haven never has and never will let any kitty suffer with any
medical condition that only allows pain & suffering and no chance of survival.
One of our members of the Kitty Angle Club was losing her battle with Feline Leukemia. We had an appointment
with Loving Care Animal Hospital to have her go over the Rainbow bridge this
week.
But On Sunday morning she fell and flip backwards on the
couch and broke her leg. Chrissy and I knew what we had to do, sooner than we
excepted.
An average euthanize at
any Emergency Vet clinic could run into the
hundreds
of dollar on Sunday. Luckily for us and the Community
Suncoast Humane Society will perform an euthanasia for a fee
of $25.
I called Suncoast and they were closing in 45 minutes
but they did tell me they will tell the person in charge we were coming in.
When
we got their the staff was nothing but professional and sympathetic to our needs.
I’m very grateful for this service and the
their way the
staff treated us.
Even
tho sometimes Suncoast and Puffy Paws does not see eye to eye on some issues , I’m glad that they offer such a service
and treated us with respect and dignity at such a sad time in our life’s.
Welcome to Puffy Paws Kitty Haven News
Update For March 8th, 2009.
We have been busy as beavers over here and it seems we are moving in
the right direction but sometimes its like one paw forward and two paws back over here for the kitties. So in this
issue we are going to let you folks know the good, the bad and the funny that has happened here at Puffy Paws lately. Rick & Chris Kingston Founders - Puffy Paws Kitty Haven Where
Is Your Money Going?It seems nationally hundred of thousands of dollars of donations are getting chewed
up in administration cost and winding up in pockets of staff and high ranking Administers. Over here at Puffy
Paws, we still go day by day in putting kitty food on the table. Sometimes it just does not to seem fair. But you
have to ask yourself “Why does this happen “. The reason being is that because folks are not
educating themselves how their chartable dollars are being spent. If you want to know how your dollar is being
spent check out the Gift Givers' Guide - A Guide to Charitable Giving in Florida put out by the Florida Department
Of Agriculture & Consumer Services . Just copy and paste their address in your address bar and do not forget
to put in the charity you want to check out. http://app1.800helpfla.com/giftgiversguide/Here is our record from last year! Our total revenue in 2008 that we raised for the kitties
was - $36,317.03
We spent $35,425.64 (98% of Total Expenses) on the kitties direct needs
Our
Administrative Cost $543.14 (2% of Total Expenses)
Our Fund-Raising Cost was $0.00 (0% of Total Expenses)
Our Payment to Affiliates was $0.00 (0% of Total Expenses) Our Total Expenses was $35,968.78 -
We had a of Surplus of $348.25
Are numbers are solid! Only 2% on Administrative Cost. That is because we
do not pay ourselves like most animal welfare organizations do.
0% spent on fundraising. Why is that? Because it
does not cost us anything to open up our mouth and ask for financial help for the kitties.
Here is a fun fact -
We can take care of the kitties yearly daily needs on the salary of an Executive Director at any Humane Society in the Untied
States.
Over here at Puffy Paws Kitty Haven we chose to use your donation dollar for the direct benefit of the
kitties not for the direct benefit of the people who are taking care of the kitties.
Community
Service Personal
Many Rescues and Humane Societies have a paid staff and an army of volunteers. Over here
at Puffy Paws we are not as fortunate as other rescues in the area to be afforded such a talent pool.
So we have
tapped into a free talent pool. Folks who need to fullfill their debt to society by doing community service hours. Bu utilizing
this resource and their skills, the kitties will have a pool of skilled and unskilled labor at their beckon meow
It’s win /win situation for the kitties. In February we have had the Purr…fect fence System put up, the
deck was painted and the inside of the Haven was prepped for painting. Wow! All done by Community Service Personal.
The possibilities are endless in using this vast talent pool and the kitties can’t be happier!
501(c) (3) Tax Exempt Status Pending
Puffy Paws Kitty Haven has completed the necessary paperwork and filed with the U.S. government for 501(c) (3)
tax exempt status. Thanks to the Ralph and Virginia Mullen Foundation. This was a long time coming and now we can apply for
grant money. In a few months we can enjoy the great benefits that come along with being tax exempt once we get the nod from
the IRS.
We'll keep you all informed and up to date as our pending application is processed with the IRS.
Just to let you know that one of the primary benefits of being considered tax-exempt under IRS Section 501(c) (3)
is the ability to accept contributions and donations that are tax-deductible to the donor.
Puffy Paws Kitty Haven
would like to inform you that any and all contributions are tax deductible which are made prior to and after PPKH
receives there 501(c) status from the IRS. PPKH has been informed that all contributions will be retroactive from 27 months
once PPKH obtains 501(c) (3) status from the IRS.
WE NEED HELP THIS WEEKEND
Running Puffy Paws Kitty Haven is an up hill battle. With the cost of the 170 kitties, daily needs reaching over a
hundred dollar a day and the other associated bills that come with running the Haven; it is always a major task in fund raising
those dollars on a daily basis.
This weekend we are running a little short on funds. We have enough to get by until
Sunday morning March 8th,2009. So if you would like to help please do. If you can not help today, we thank you for your support
in the past from the bottom of our hearts.
In addition to these daily and monthly bills the hot water heater took
a turn for the worst this week, we have someone who is willing to put in the new one once we get the funds for it. So if you
would like to donate a hot water heater or like to donate funds so we may purchase one, please do.
Once again we
can not thank you folks enough for all the support in the past because without you their will be no Puffy Paws Kitty Haven
and for that we will be forever grateful for your kind deeds.
KITTY ANGEL PARK
We are almost done with the Kitty Angel Park, for those of you who do not know that we take care of kitties with Feline
Leukemia which are housed in a portion (400 sq feet) in our second building which is 800 sq foot and is refereed to as the
“Kitty Angel Club”.
We call it the “Kitty Angel Club” because these kitties
are living Angels because they would have been euthanized at other highly publicize traditional shelters and or rescues because
of their medical condition.
Now these guys would love to be outside enjoying the fresh air and now they will be
enjoying an out-door, free-standing, backyard fence system thanks to the folks from Purr...fact fence.
We have
been working really hard in getting the grounds ready, in clearing a ton of stones, laying stones, pressure washing,
Now thanks to Markus who had to do Community service hours the Purr…fect fence is up and almost ready to go.
We need to raise about $400 dollars for a pallet of sod, a new door with a big doggie door installed and material for a
kitty tunnel so they may go back and forth from the Kitty Angle club to their own park. How cool is that. So if you would
like to help, you may donate if you wish.
KITTY BOX WASHING STATION
What do you do when you go through 3,000 pounds of kitty litter a week and you have to wash out over 30 kitty boxes,
twice daily and your wife tells you better pitch in or else ?
You create an outside kitty box washing station.
With an investment of $100
Mostly for the drainage stones, washing bins and brushes, We created an area outside which
has literally help take off 2 hours a day from Chrissy schedule, just by me pitching in and helping her with the boxes.
And who said men were good for nothing.
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