~~~~~~ ANNOUNCEMENTS~~~~~~

Good Afternoon NYSTY volunteers and visitors – This weekend was the 1-year anniversary of our barn-raising
at Build An Ark Animal Rescue. I flew down there on Saturday to see what was going on with my own eyes and
it honestly felt like coming “home” in Georgia. The barn was more beautiful than I could imagine. Susan has decorated the inside of the barn to make you feel as if you are entering your grandmother’s living room! It is so warm and inviting and absolutely magical. It truly feels like a cross between Noah’s Ark and Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory! You sit on a bench reading a book about KINDNESS and a donkey wanders up from behind and tickles your neck! The art on the stalls from the kids is amazing. The animals looked great. Mitzpah the 4-horned lamb is the size of a Volkswagen! The three Vietnamese pot-belly pigs roll over when you rub their bellies. And Susan was caring for a number of new additions: a beautiful goat that had been attacked by a bear, a new born kitten that could fit in the palm of a small child’s hand that had been left on the side of a road, and 4 chickens that fell off the back of a chicken truck that Susan named Lucky 1, Lucky 2, Lucky 3 and Lucky 4. And what I also witnessed this weekend was the impact the barn continues to make on PEOPLE.

I spent time with a 24-year-old young man who recently completed rehab and a halfway-house program who finds structure in his life by helping out in the barn. I got hugged by a number of women who shared with me the personal struggles they silently deal with and how volunteering in the barn has given them meaning in their life and a purpose. And I heard about our special friend Len who deals with the crippling pain of MS but enjoys coming to the barn each month to cut out Stars of HOPE to send to kids around the country struggling with their own tragedies. Each Monday the barn hosts an AA meeting. Build An Ark is not just a refuge for animals. It is a refuge for people.

But here’s the deal. Susan is having a hard time financially. She wakes up every morning and works her hardest to feed the animals and she is still doing all the fundraising herself. NYSTY helped identify a wonderful new donor for Build An Ark that can help sustain her and lighten the load but that money is a few months behind pending her 501c3. That’s where we can help TODAY.

I AM ASKING EVERY VOLUNTEER WHO HELPED AT THE BUILD AN ARK BARN-RAISING ONE YEAR AGO TO DONATE $10 TODAY BY CLICKING HERE RIGHT NOW. THE POWER OF NYSTY IS ALSO IN OUR NUMBERS AND IF EVERYONE CAN DONATE $10 TODAY WE CAN BRING SUSAN CURRENT WITH HER BILLS. PLEASE MARK OFF “IN HONOR OF BUILD AN ARK” WHEN YOU DONATE AND FEEL FREE TO DONATE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. I AM ALSO GOING TO ASK EVERYONE TO CONSIDER HITTING THE “MONTHLY RECURRING DONATION” OPTION WHEN YOU DONATE. IF YOU CAN COMMIT $5/MONTH OR $10/MONTH TO BUILD AN ARK (OR WHATEVER AMOUNT), WE CAN ALSO HELP SUSAN TO DEVELOP A MORE PREDICATBLE REVENUE STREAM TO MEET HER EXPENSES (That’s what I just did before sending this note).

FINALLY, I AM GOING TO ASK EVERYONE OF OUR VOLUNTEERS WHO MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO JOIN US IN NORTH DAKOTA THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF THE DISTANCE OR EXPENSE TO CONSIDER DONATING A PORTION OF WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE SPENT GOING TO NORTH DAKOTA TO HELP SAVE BUILD AN ARK.

Again, donations can be made right now by clicking here, indicate “In honor of Build An Ark”, and please consider the monthly recurring option. Tax-deductible donations to support Build An Ark can also be mailed to: NEW YORK SAYS THANK YOU FOUNDATION, 2576 Broadway #174, New York, NY 10025 and put “Build An Ark” in the memo line.

NYSTY is going to continue to help Susan and the local folks at Coosawattee build a community of people around Susan to help sustain Build An Ark into the future. Through that magical barn and through Susan’s work, we are helping to care for God’s special creatures on a daily basis – those with four legs and those with two.

Please give with your heart.
 
Jeff
 
Jeff Parness / 917-806-8061
Founder and Chairman
New York Says Thank You Foundation
http://www.newyorksaysthankyou.org/
http://www.national911flag.org/
 
 
Jill Adkins
Director of Operations
New York Says Thank You Foundation
National 9/11 Flag
http://www.newyorksaysthankyou.org/
http://www.national911flag.org/
402.415.6109