And down the stretch they come!

So officially, we've crossed the $9,000 mark. But I have it on good authority that my employer's generous donation should be arriving any day, and should be enough actually put us over the top.

Yes, that's right. Any day now, our fundraising goal will be complete. It's hard to believe. We are in awe of all of you out there. We'll post an update when it's official.

With that in mind, we're shifting gears for a bit here.

If you were planning to donate but didn't get to it yet, we have a couple of suggestions:

1. You can donate for our upcoming expenses. When the time comes for us to go to training, we'll have to stay in a hotel near Xenia, Ohio for 10 days. We'll also need to acquire some gear, like a large dog crate. We're estimating that all told, our expenses will be about $2000. To do this, you can use the new "Donate" button on the right side of the page. These donations would not be tax deductible.

- or -

2. You can help another family in our area. Ryan's family is just starting their fundraising. You can learn more about Ryan's service dog needs here: http://adogfriendforryan.blogspot.com/2008/11/dog-friend-for-ryan.html

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Craft Fair SATURDAY

We'll be at the Craft Bazaar at Westfall Elementary from 9am to 3pm on Saturday, December 6th. We'll have dog treats, people treats, flyers, and an appearance by the amazing Joy - the mobility assitance dog trained by 4 Paws for Alexa, a ten-year-old girl with Spina Bifida.

Hope to see you there!

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Another Thank You

Our friend Casey of Fields of View Photography is donating all proceeds from the sale of the two photos below to 4 Paws for Ability on behalf of Amelia. You can purchase them here if you're interested. She's also inspired a fundraiser in the online group Big Damn Crafters.





THANK YOU!

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Family Secrets

...as in: We want yours.

........as in: Your favorite recipes.

We are hoping to put together a cookbook as a fundraiser. We thought this would be a good way to let people contribute in a way that didn't involve those ever-more-precious dollars and cents. Hopefully the cookbook itself would have lasting value too.

So if you've got something good you want to share (or even something mediocre if it comes with a good story attached) leave us a comment, drop us an email, send us a telepathic message, or whatever other method of communication you favor.

It can be traditional, modern, ethnic, offbeat, vegetarian, breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, midnight snack, something for company, something for holidays, something for just you, your grandma's secret, your own invention, something you stole, something blue, a canning recipe, dog treats, easy, hard, fast, slow, long, short, extremely healthy, or a heart attack drizzled with cheese sauce. Just no seafood. ;-)

Thanks!

Our first fundraising project!

First, we want to say THANK YOU for the incredible generosity. Donations are pouring in already, and we're looking forward to our end of the month report to get an official total. It's humbling to have people give so generously.

We've been trying to think of a variety of fun ways to raise money, and also to let people participate who maybe can't donate cash. So we've decided to compile and sell a cookbook!

(If you know Amelia, you may appreciate the irony of a cookbook, given her texture aversions and very limited dietary preferences. But we like irony.)

If you'd like to participate, all you have to do is rummage around in your kitchen and find your all-time favorite recipes, and email them to us: TheFreemans@freemanplace.com. They can be anything at all - dessert, breakfast, beverage, ethnic, vegetarian, simple, complex, conventional, or outlandish. In fact, if you have any dog food, or dog treat recipes, we might even have a section for those. If we got a lot of them, we could even do a separate book.

If you're sending a recipe, it would be great if you could give us a little background with it. Describe what it tastes like, or tell us why you love it. Where did it come from? What made you think of it for this project? Does it have an unparalleled complexity of flavor? Is it one you made entirely from your own garden? Maybe it's your grandmother's family secret. Maybe it came to you in a dream. Maybe you invented it one night when all you had left in the cupboard was ketchup, Busch Light, refried beans, and dried apricots. Maybe it reminds you of breakfast in bed after a wild night in Billings, Montana....

Hmm. You'd better let us know if you want us to use your real name, a nickname, or no name.

Okay, so it doesn't have to have a story. It just seems like it could make for a fun cookbook if it's more than just a list of ingredients and cooking instructions.

Feel free to send along illustrations or photos too if you want - but make sure they're fairly high resolution.

We can't promise we'll use everything. We'll have to see what and how much material we get, and try to find the right balance between content and production costs. We'll work out the exact details as we go, though we do have a pretty good idea how to make this work already.

Ultimately, we want something that people might buy to support our fundraising efforts, but that they can enjoy in multiple ways for a long time to come.

Thanks!

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How to Donate Online

Click on either of the Network for Good or PayPal "Donate" buttons below to make your donation today.

If you are using PayPal, we ask that you earmark your donation for AMELIA FREEMAN by including her name in the "Special Instructions" box during your donation process through PayPal's web site. The link to the Special Instructions appears on the last page of the process. This will insure that we get credit toward our fundraising requirement.

If you are using Network for Good, we ask that you earmark your donation for AMELIA FREEMAN by including her name in the "Dedication or Gift" box during your donation process through the Network for Good web site. This will insure that we get credit toward our fundraising requirement.



Thank you!

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How to Donate by Check

Please make checks payable to "4 Paws For Ability, Inc." We ask that you earmark your donation for AMELIA FREEMAN by putting in honor of Amelia Freeman on the memo line of your check. This will insure that we get credit toward our fundraising requirement.

Mail your donation to:
4 Paws For Ability, Inc.
253 Dayton Ave
Xenia OH 45385


Thank you!

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