Out of the box...

Saving animals requires constant and consistent thinking 'out of the box'... Expenses to save one dog can frequently exceed any adoption donation... 

And one of the ways TLC has been supplementing our enormous vet bills is a program we call "Recycle4Rescue"... We collect clean recyclables, our volunteers sort and about once a month, another volunteer takes them to the recycling center to cash in... Some months we have been able to actually save a dog's bailout fees, spay or neuter cost, etc. by simply what others throw away or pay a company to come and collect each week... 

Think about that concept... We are actually in the recycling mindset ourselves, refusing to 'throw away' a dog someone else does not want and paying part of it by the monies earned through recycling!... What a concept, huh?... The gift that just keeps on giving and renews itself!... 

As I volunteer at least 6 days a week at the rescue shop and I have a big white truck (otherwise known as 'The Beast'), I park it in front of the rescue shop backwards so those that recycle for a cause can drive by and easily drop off their clean recyclables... 

For some time we have been trying to figure out how to let more people know about this program... I've made up poster signs and have had the wind blow them over, away, etc... 

I've tethered down the signs with bungee cords and seen the signs twirling in the wind... The signs have fallen over and I've spent numerous trips out to The Beast to straighten them back up... (smile) 

My husband would absolutely slap me silly were I to do anything that would permanently mark up my ride, so after numerous failed attempts, we came upon the idea of getting magnetic signs made... And then started pricing them to see what we could afford... 

Some one who adopted us from long ago (dear Ducky!) and then Binky's sister, has stayed in touch with TLC and periodically has offered to help us in her capacity... She owns a printing company and offered to have our business cards printed for us --- an expense we seem to always be spending... those cards walk out the door like they have grown legs and vacated the premises overnight!... 

When the box arrived, it was like Christmas for us... All the volunteers at the shop that day gathered around to see what Santa had sent us... One by one, as they came on shift, everyone had to admire the cards, take a few and rave how well they were done, how extraordinarily nice it was for someone to donate this to us, etc...

This old brain moves slow but it dawned on me one day that if our alumni fairy godmother has a printing company, she might also be able to do magnetic signs!  Or if not, know someone who does and can give us a reasonable price on them...  (Yeah, I know... this old brain does misfire most days and few great ideas go from thinking to being rapidly!)... 

I contacted Ducky's mom and within two weeks, not only did TLC have 3 ABSOLUTELY gorgeous magnetic signs, she also had a huge box of manila folders printed up for us that we use for the dog files, complete with a specially printed form on top... 

OMG... It was like Christmas all over again when the box arrived on Friday!... The volunteers all gathered around when it arrived again, dying to know what was inside... 

And once again, Christmas came in March as we admired and felt so good inside to see others appreciating our efforts to save these dogs' lives!... Just goes to show you everyone can help save a dog's life in all kinds of ways, ya know?  

P.S.  Some one in an UPS uniform drove up on Saturday afternoon (in their personal truck) and FILLED the back of The Beast with bags and bags of recyclables!  Don't know who they were or where it all came from, but I see a dog's life being saved just by this one 'paying it forward' gesture from our anonymous recycler!