AHS Walk Reminder

I ran into one of my regular donors today and she mentioned she had not gotten my e-mails begging for the dogs. I think I have a wrong e-mail for her and perhaps I do for others too, so here is the link to the Animal Humane Society donations page

Or you can always visit the AHS web site and search for Molly Schuster to make a donation towards our $1500 goal. With just 18 days left we are a little over $1000 so we are within reach, but we need all the help we can get! Thanks in advance to all of you who have already donated. I know it's a tough economy right now and we really do appreciate every $5 we can get!

AHS Adventure

Yesterday, Riley, Rowan and I met our friends Emme, Izze and Shannon for a very busy fun-day.

We started at Ridegedale for some play time at the indoor play park. After all the kids were good and tired, we headed up to the food court for lunch. And after that we headed out for what was the main plan of the day to start with...a trip to the Animal Humane Society to visit the cats, dogs and bunnies! I so wish that Riley was potty trained because Lucky REALLY wanted to come home with me:( But we can't have a puppy until we get the toddler trained! And it would be nice of the newborn was sleeping through the night too...UGH!

And since we had our little adventure to the AHS, now seems like a good time to mention that we are once again collecting for the AHS Walk for Animals, May 1st at the Golden Valley Shelter. We'd love for you to join us on the walk from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., or donate to a worthy cause. The Walk raises 10% of the annual budget for the organization and we have a personal goal to raise $1500 again this year! Click HERE to help us reach our goal!

Ok, I lied...

I was asked to post the pics of some other animals on my blog because Meg thinks my pictures of the pig and goats were better than what she got. So for REAL, this is the last of the AHS blog posts. I'm also adding a few misc. pictures that should have made it on the people page but I had so many posted already...so here's my sis and brother-in-law and Bennett the horse:)

If you're just checking the blog for the first time and you want to see the Wallaby and Monkey pictures, you have to click "older posts" at the bottom of the page or click AHS Info on the right under "Mo's Favorite Themes" :)

The Last of the AHS Posts for the Year, I Swear!

Here are the last of the pics from the walk...well ok, I took 45 so I won't bore you with ALL of them, but the last pics I'm going to post, anyway. These are the "Cooley kids" by way of the Bartsch, Tredinnick and Schuster families.

Other People's Kids

These were just some of the kids on the walk besides our own. Vieve's kids: Colin, Eva and Ally (in my car after the walk waiting for transportation), Nolan, Eli (and his mommy, Jen!), I didn't get any good pics of Gavin and Belle but that would round out our set. More of our kiddos tomorrow...then I swear it's almost done:) Don't forget if you want to see more AHS pics to check out Meg's blog.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

A Little Perspective

Here's a little idea of what the walk is like from an insider point of view...this is after checkpoint three on our way back through Theodore Wirth Park...so at about the 2.5 mile mark. The Magnolias were in beautiful bloom too...that was at checkpoint two/four, after about the 3.5 mile mark...It was a beautiful day for a walk!

Our AHS Group

These are just some of the people in our group. We kinda had a huge group to start but people had to come and go at separate times so we had paired down a bit by the end. It gets a little chaotic with all the dogs, kids and grownups, but it's still crazy fun...maybe an emphasis on crazy?

That's my cousin Luke in the blue sweatshirt...small world, he's dating a girl who is one of the families I went to grade school with and who's older sister, Sarah, was the girl I was racing to get to $500...And Missy was there with Riley's favorite dog, LUCY! Also pictured: My mom and the girls, Kelli and Marco Jo, Josh's co-worker Jilene and her kids, and Sarah's group (her sister's and significant others mostly?) More people pics tomorrow...

P Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney

Ok, for those of you who don't get that, it's a Finding Nemo reference. Today was the Walk for Animals...it's my Christmas in May! I love the walk almost as much as I love holidays:) I know, that makes me sick in some way, but look at the unusual animals there this year! There was a wallaby, a monkey, horses and ponies, and parrots, and that's not all... I'm letting Meg post pictures of the goats and the pig! (Check Trackin' The Treds on the right) I apologize in advance, but this whole week will probably be AHS pictures.

Thanks to all who came out with us, and I'm sorry for the somewhat chaotic start and the changes in AHS stuff like having to pay for lunch etc., but I really appreciate that you all came! Overall, I think we had over 30 people (big and small) and 12 pets including two guinea pigs and a hamster!

LAST AHS POST of 2009

If all goes well this week, this is the LAST time I will beg for the dogs! I will be pre-registering for the walk on Thursday, April 30 at about 5 p.m. so if you still want to get your pledges in, you have until 3:00 next Thursday. (That gives me time to organize and print stuff before I drive over there.)

I want to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who helped us reach, then expand and reach again, our goal for this year. Not only have we raised over $1500, but my friend Sarah who raised just $200 last year is also over $1000 this year and has agreed to keep her goal over the $1000 level for next year and compete with me for the first to $1000 instead of $500 which we did this year. I'm so proud of her efforts!

If you had planned to send a check, you still have time. Send it to my home address made out to Animal Humane Society.

We are also excited to have about 30 people, big and small, and several pets (guinea pigs included!) joining us on May 2nd for the walk. Please let me know if you want to join us! THANK YOU ALL for putting up with me again this year. I REALLY APPRECIATE the support!

AHS Walk Incentive Ends Soon

Don't forget, if you want to get in on the March incentive, a drawing for a 4-person picnic backpack, you have just two days left! Not sure what the incentive for April will be yet, but this is a good one!

Also, don't forget your donation is tax deductible and you can do it online or send me a check directly made out to Animal Humane Society. (Some of you have pledged, and you still have a month to get those checks in! I pre-register for the walk, so I'd like to have all donations collected by Monday, April 27th.)

We are at $850 towards our $1250 goal, please help us get there!

If you would like to donate, there is a link on the right hand column of this blog that will take you to the online giving site. Look me up under "Find a Participant" or send a check made out to the Animal Humane Society to my home address no later than Monday, April 27th.

Thanks again for those of you who have gotten us this far! Please help us reach our goal!

AHS Walk Breakfast

This morning was the Animal Humane Society kick-off breakfast for the Walk for Animals. They host this every year for top fundraisers as a way to motivate and thank people, but the biggest perk is that we get to see some of the incentives you might pick up along the way. With that being said, I have e-mailed most of you, but I will also post here my incentive for March fundraisers.

Anyone donating ANY dollar amount in March will be entered in a drawing for the top prize I think I will get this year, a very nice 4-person picnic backpack. This is the $1000 incentive so I need your help to get there so I can give it away. I haven't missed that mark in over 8 years so I hope this year will be no different! Anyone who has donated $50 or more at any time this year will be entered in ALL drawings that I do, so if you donated that much in February, you will be included on this too.

The words "Walk for Animals" above should show up as a clickable link. If they don't there is a link to my donor page on the right about 1/2 way down the page. Look me up under "Find a Participant". Thanks in advance and good luck!

Accepting Defeat!

As mentioned earlier, I was racing a friend in our Animal Humane Society fundraising - The first to $500. Well, I'm both happy and sad to announce that she beat the pants off of me! I'll be honest, I never thought for one minute that she would beat me. She only raised $200 last year so this was a huge increase for her and in a bad economy. But to her credit, she not only beat me in just 5 days, she has now raised her goal to $750 and has agreed to double her original goal next year to $1000!!! So while I lost the race, I am happy that the animals benefit in a big way for her efforts. Thanks Sarah, that was fun!

My goal is still $1250 and I hope, like Sarah, that I can increase that number in the coming weeks. You have lots of time to donate. I don't need to collect until the Wed. before the walk, so around April 29th I think. If you want to donate online and save some paperwork for the Humane Society (and environmentally friendly!) click the link below.

http://events.animalhumanesociety.org/site/TR?fr_id=1080&pg=entry

Look for me under "Find a Participant"

If you prefer to write a check, make it out to Animal Humane Society, and send to my home address. If you need that address, please e-mail me...I don't like to publish it online.

Thank you so much to the people who already donated, we are at about $400 so far! A long way from our goal, but I think we can do it!

Oh, the shame!

Help, I'm already losing in the race to $500 for the Animal Walk. She is at $370 and I'm only at $170. On the right hand side of the page is a long to Animal Humane Society Donations For Walk, click there and it will bring you to my donations page. If you plan to send a check, please let me know the amount so I can include it in the race and put it on my pledge form. I assume this race will be over by Monday so we will be back to our regularly scheduled begging:)

Let the Games Begin!

Ok, today I officially begin my fundraising for the Animal Humane Society Walk. Click the link (there is a link, apparently it doesn't appear visible - Animal Humane Society Walk is clickable, I will also add to the right had list below on my page.)and when you get to the Walk page, click on "Find a Participant" and look for Molly Schuster. I am racing a friend this year to see who can get to $500 the fastest. This is an increase in her goal so I actually hope she does really well, but I need a little friendly competition to get her there;) If you guys plan to donate anyway and don't want to be included in any future incentive stuff, please donate early to help me get to $500 fast!

Also, this year, understanding that the economy is a mess, I am reducing my goal to $1250, but I hope that I can shatter that goal. We'll have to see. If you have lost your job or might sometime soon, please don't feel like I'm trying to push you into donating! If you wanted to pass along the information to other people I would really appreciate it! I'm not taking people off the list this year because I don't want to forget anyone next year, but I know it's not going to be possible for some of my "regulars" to contribute this year, so I'm hoping to find some new "regulars" who can help! Here's a list of what your money can do:

$10,000 Funds an extraordinary rescue such as AHS’s efforts with Hurricane Ike and the Iowa floods in 2008.
$5,000 Helps fund a cruelty investigation and animal seizure.
$2,500 Allows us to purchase medical supplies and medications for 83 surgeries.
$1,000 Provides resources for AHS mobile services unit to provide needed surgeries at other rescue organizations in Minnesota.
$500 Helps 3 dogs through the Adoption Preparation program which readies shy or fearful dogs for adoption.
$300 Supports an AHS educational program in a Twin Cities school.
$250 Provides x-rays for two injured animals.
$100 Pays for a puppy or kitten to be spayed or neutered.
$50 Pays for full vaccinations for two homeless cat.

If we make our goal, we can help them accomplish a lot! Thank you so much for your help and as always I apologize in advance the the mass quantity of requests. I love animals, what can I say??

HUGE Thanks for My Final AHS BLOG of the Year

With one last minute donation we raised $2212.06 for this year's walk and we had a great day for it. Ok, a little windy and cooler than we'd like, but all bundled up, we did survive just fine! See below for pictures and any of you who walked with us, feel free to leave comments about why you LOVE the walk as much as I do:) Josh did a lot of "breed shopping" while we were there and has decided he likes the schit-tsu (no idea how you really spell that) or lhaso mixes. Guess he really did like our Nala-Bean as my friend Jenny called her. He's also stuck on schnauzers and beagles, but I refuse to have a beagle! This is significant because Josh gets to pick our next dog, since Nala was technically my puppy. It was a bitter-sweet year because there were lots of "Nala" looking dogs there and we really do miss our fur-ball. But we raised more money than we ever have in her honor!

This blog is really meant to say a HUGE THANK YOU To all of you for putting up with the blogs and the e-mails for the last few months. I promise I won't bug you for another whole year for the AHS! And we really do appreciate so much all of the support for our fund-raising. Every year someone new comes to the walk and I am always excited to hear how they liked it. Most of the time, they come back every year, so I'm glad I can spread the puppy love:) Or, should I say animal love! Next year we'll have some of our other fund-raisers back and we hope to see more of you there! Ok, I'm done, that's it...Thanks Again!!!!

AHS Registration Day!

Today is the day! After nap time I'm off to register our donations for the Walk and collect the incentives that we accumulate by raising certain dollar amounts (Ie. $100 = T-shirt, etc.). The winner of the incentive drawing for April is Reid Rabon!!! After maybe 10 years of doing this I like to give away some of the incentives because I have a lot of AHS stuff laying around and I really don't do it for the prizes, so this year I thought I'd draw names from my donors as a thank you! Reid will get to pick from the "prizes" and since he and his wife Jenny just had a baby boy YESTERDAY, they won't be able to join us on the walk this year, we will miss them but we're super excited to meet Baby Nolan!

Oh, in case you're interested, we raised $2192.06!!! (yup, every penny counts!) Thank you all soooo much for your donations again and we hope some of you will be joining us despite the cold, wet weather forecasted for this weekend! Bundle up! I'll update with pictures on Monday after the walk for the final in this year's Walk Blogs.

Quick AHS Update

Riley wants breakfast so this has to be fast. We're less than two weeks to go and we're at $1835...I think we're gonna make it!!! Click here to donate online.

AHS Update, 2.5 weeks to go!

With just under 3 weeks to go, we're at $1530...still a long way from $2000. We have sent letters to the neighborhood and lots of e-mails, as you all know, so we're down to the wire. We'll see how it goes! If we don't quite make it, I'm still proud of that number. I think it's the most we've ever raised! Here's the link if you need it again. Thanks to all of you for putting up with us, it's almost over!

AHS Walk Update

We're at $1445 and off the ticker again. We have a long way to go in 3 weeks, but I still think we can do it! Click here to donate online. Oh, I should also say CONGRATS to Jenny (Gariano) Bauer for winning the Country Jam tix for the March incentive! Thanks to all who participated!

For the month of April, it's your choice if you win the incentive. Every year when we collect donations we get incentives from the AHS for certain levels. This year if you pledge in the month of April or you're one of my top donors in March, I'll put your name in a drawing and you can choose your prize from anything $750 or lower (sorry, I already promised the watch to someone before I decided to do this!) If you go to the link you can scroll over the dollar amount to see pictures of the prizes. (That's new this year, it's kinda cool!)

Monday Morning Update -AHS

We're up to $1365 and as of last night at 16th on the ticker. (Oops, 18th now) We're almost there. We are sending out letters to the neighbors this week and Josh is working on his co-workers now that "conversion" is over. I know I'm getting obnoxious, but in one month it will all be over, I promise! Thanks for putting up with us!