Rescue Journal

building of dreams

Carol  ·  Nov. 24, 2011

when i took the very first steps in the beginning of SAINTS...for a few moments in time, i was alone. but it was just for a couple of thundering in the silence heartbeats before support for SAINTS started to grow. the first to hold out a hand that held our future hope were a few who knew me and had helped me in rescuing animals before...and then new people stepped in and joined us on the senior and special needs road.

together we have gotten this far...seven years into the journey that holds the end of the lives of the animals in our arms.

when maggie first proposed the 1000 saints idea..i thought it was an utter brain storm. it is the first sustainable long term plan that we would have to see us not only into the future but help us to deal with each day that we now have.
i think maggie secretly hoped that the 1000 saints army would grow in a blink of an eye..well it is not. it is growing slowly..first 1 1000 saint and then 2, next there were 5 and 12 and today there are 24.

it might look somewhat disappointing to some but to me it not only brings $600 per month of peace of mind but the well lived knowledge that the numbers of 1000 saints will continue to grow.

we are a long way away from our goal of a fully self sufficient and self sustaining fundraising program to cover the monthly costs of senior and special needs animal sanctuary care. and so what? rome was not built in a day and neither was saints. we are just finishing our 7th year of saintsrescue.ca.

and when i looked back at the animals who have benefitted..i mean really benefitted from the work we have done...to have found compassion, respect, dignity, medical care and love at the end of their days when all hope was supposedly gone...i know that we have done well.

my favorite saying is...hope floats til it sinks. i only partially believe this because i don't believe in standing by and passively watching homeless and unwanted, senior and special needs animals sink.

i am ok with the 24 1000 saints because tomorrow or the next day, it will be 25 and then one day it will be 50 and 100 and 642.

but to help us all out here i would like to suggest that becoming a 1000 saints might make someone...(like esther or tess or morgan or the rock or ellie or percy or pops or gideon or crosby or floyd....) a really great christmas present that will sustain and enrich many senior and special needs animal's lives!

so when someone asks you, what would you like for christmas? maybe it is one more person in the compassionate army of 1000 saints to help sustain and build farther into the dream?

Comments

Maggie

Hi Doreen
It is your choice re PayPal or post-dated cheques.
We are going to post a note on www.1000saints.ca re where to send the post-dated cheques if that is a choice.
We are quite content with PayPal as we are able, among other things, to download a spreadsheet from them listing every donor and when they started. Great for issuing tax receipts.

Doreen

I have to say, when I read about 1000 saints I truly thought there were alot more than just 23,24. I feel real good knowing I am part of the 1000 saints (Emily). As an animal loving being I was so greatful to learn that there is a place like Saints to care for so many animals in need. I am sure if more people would just stumble across your website (like I did)they too would be supporters!! I believe the amount of 1000 saints will grow, so hang in there! I support through Paypal only because it was the quickest way at the time. If you would like , I can send chq's for next year?

Lori Paul

I think 1000 Saints is a brilliant idea and it will work in the long run :)

Bunny Horne

Hi, Maggie, I didn't mean to dis PayPal - it is great and I don't really know how we functioned before it existed, but I personally have limited funds and I want to make sure whatever money I can give goes to the critters.

Deb

Is there any difference between sponsoring a specific Saint for $25/month and donating through 1000 Saints? I started out sponsoring Larry but continued my donations after he died... It doesn't make any difference to me--just curious!

Maggie

If you donate through Canadahelps you will not be listed as a 1000 Saint because we don't have a way of knowing who did donated.
But, everything helps the bottom line.

Maggie

Carol is right...I did think people would sign up in droves! We have had a few bumps along the way. The first website just didn't work for us and putting together the new one took a long time.
But, now we have a great website, we are on Facebook and things are starting to move. Next comes a promotion campaign.
If you would like to send post dated cheques, made out to 1000 Saints, that is great and no problem with us depositing every month.
Please don't discourage people from signing up with PayPal as, for many people who don't live locally, it is the safest way to join. We don't want to put impediments in peoples way.
Bunny, we are going to post the Santa event on our site today.

Bunny Horne

I too did NOT want to waste a single penny of fees to contribute via PayPal and even worse, to submit via a program that would cost SAINTS RESCUE fees. The animals need every penny - PayPal in my mind did not. SOOO I just sat my fat ass down on the weekend and wrote out post dated cheques. I know that next December I will have to issue 12 more cheques and so on and so on. I left the cheques with Carol for Maggie, who retrieve my contributions promptly.

Just a reminder Maggie and Carol, that December 3rd Brent and I will be focusing on the 1000 Saints program and AVIVA Competition when we represent Saints at the Christmas Photos with the Grinch in Pitt Meadows.

Janet

I am proud to say I am one of Gideon's sponsors, and I just took on Carl Elliot this month. (He looked like he needed someone to sponsor him - not the prettiest boy on the farm) My grand-daughter has chosen to sponsor Floyd as her Christmas gift - hope more people step up and realize this is a gift which keeps on giving - truly "food for the soul". Way to go, Carol, you and the people of S.A.I.N.T.S. give the rest of us a chance to do something good.

Carol

it is whatever works best for folks...paypal, canadahelps, postdated cheques..it is just personal choice...i like canadahelps cuz they send out the tax receipts which is one less thing for us to screw up on but the downside is you don't make it on to the mailing list cuz i don't know who is donating what (i am sure there is a way to know this, i just don't know how) so no xmas thank you letter gets mailed cuz i wouldn't know who or where to send it to!!

Dayle

If you donate through CanadaHelps, the fee is much lower than through Paypal (which I loath and refer to it as Paydemon). Here's the link: http://www.canadahelps.org/

I have donated to SAINTS through CanadaHelps on previous occasions and find it quite easy.

Ann

good question... i use CanadaHelps - but if that's costing SAINTS fees, I can happily switch to sending postdated cheques!

colleen b

Funny you should post this today - I wanted to talk to someone about it this weekend...what is the best way to give our money? I know paypal has high fees but is that the best and easiest for you? Or would you prefer post dated cheques, or does that just make more monthly hassle of organizing and getting to the bank?