See what our cats have to say and what they want you to know. Our August newsletter is devoted to what is happening on the farm from the cats’ perspective.There is lots going on here and lots to share with you.
TattleTails & Tidbits is a free bi-monthly journal. Your July/August Issue is available now.
To all our visitors and supporters. We are undergoing major renovations to our entire small animal facility that will start Monday and last through at least October. We ask for your patience as we try to schedule and accommodate tours. For those of you visiting for our Purrfect Readers Program, there may be some limitations of what rooms you can visit on certain days.
To do these renovations, all of the cats will need to be removed from their rooms for several weeks. The job will be done in phases which will involve 4 cat rooms at a time. To accomplish this, we have had large temporary cat rooms built in the middle of our hall. Cats from the first bank of rooms have now moved in this weekend. They have settled in very well and seem to love their temporary digs. We think they will be even more excited when they see their new rooms when they are finished.
These renovations include a complete remodel of both their rooms and enclosed porches. New roof, new floors, new walls, whole new porches, new heating/cooling system, new lighting, and some structural fixes that have to be made to a 30 year old pole barn structure. It is a mammoth project that will take the entire summer and then some. We will keep you posted as we move along.
All work is being done centered around what causes the least amount of stress for the animals. So please be patient if we have restrictions on which animals can be visited on a tour etc.
Here are some photos of the temporary cat rooms in the middle of the hall.
You are saving lives and we are so grateful to you!
Your April Newsletter is now available.
Our next uplifting story is about another donor who arrived the day after Christmas with a whole load of donations from items off of our wish list. There were donations for every species of animal that we have in the sanctuary. This donation came with a beautiful card and a most touching story.
This person bought all of the items being donated and she carefully wrapped them all with tags for her various family members. Imagine opening up a gift of a horse water bucket or a case of paper towels and wondering …. Huh, what is this for? But each gift for each family member came with a letter. This is what the letter said:
“You may all be wondering what on earth these gifts are for!
As I sat one night enjoying the Christmas lights and decorations I had put up, I began to think about Christmas growing up. I remembered the big family dinners, the Christmas trees, lights, cookies, and of course getting ready for Santa and presents. It seemed like it was weeks long of parties with family and friends.
As I got a little older, the parties became smaller as family had passed on, friends came and friends went, Santa was no longer, family had changed. The miracle of Christmas I became to see in a different light, as a child it is about gifts and presents and Santa. Now, I truly realize it is about spending time with family and friends, a time to enjoy each moment with those that are current in your life and realize people come into your life and leave your life. There is no knowing or time frame of when any of that will happen. It is a time to reflect on how thankful I am for all of you, and how much I appreciate who I am as a person. The true miracle and meaning of Christmas cannot be wrapped, it is truly something you feel.
Each of us have been blessed with health, happiness, family, friends, and the ability to provide for our families
This year I decided that for Christmas I wanted to give everyone the gift of giving. In a donation in each and everyone’s name (Pets too!) all these items will be brought to the Spring Farm CARES Animal Sanctuary in Clinton. They are a refuge for animals that have not been as lucky as I have been to have a loving, caring family that is always there by my side supporting me. With these gifts we will be giving these animals a Christmas miracle, love, care, happiness and support for them as you all have and will continue to do for me.
Merry Christmas! With love always and forever….”
This donor writes in her card to us – “The true meaning of Christmas was felt throughout our home.”
We thank this family for sharing that true meaning of Christmas throughout our sanctuary too. It was felt by animals and humans alike. Kindness truly makes a difference.
Every single donation that we get here is important to us for so many reasons. Often we get donations with notes that read, “I so wish I could do more. I hope this small donation helps a little.” The truth is there is no such thing as a donation that is small. Your support isn’t just about money. It is also the giving that is behind the donation. It is your love and thoughts and prayers. It is in short, what you give from your heart. All of that matters – greatly.
We would like to share with you two donors who truly epitomize the ideal of giving. We will do them in two separate posts. We are keeping these donors anonymous because neither of them gave what they did for recognition. They gave selflessly for the sake of giving to another. And we would like to honor that ideal.
The first story is about a donor who is just 13 years old. She has never even been to Spring Farm as she lives in Michigan. She first started sponsoring animals on our website about two years ago. She saved up her allowance from work she does at home, and she would sponsor an animal for each $100 she saved up. She is a remarkable young lady. She has asked to remain anonymous because she has learned that true giving is not asking for recognition in return. Over the years, the sponsorships just keep coming. We have been deeply touched by her love and generosity.
This year, she sponsored animals continuously all year. And then we got an email from her that she was going to be sending us sponsorships/donations for what she called the 10 days of Christmas. You see, she had saved up $1,000. She was trying for the 12 days of Christmas and ten is what she had. We were stunned. Her mother let us know that this young lady had worked incredibly hard all year, not just at home, but also with a job that she obtained earlier this year. Every penny of her earnings were dedicated to Spring Farm CARES. Not only that, she also asked that all her birthday and Christmas gifts were given to her to donate to the animals as well. Each day for 10 days she sponsored an animal or donated towards a specific project here. And then, just before Christmas, she contacted us that she had an eleventh and twelfth day of Christmas. Her mother later told us that she was given an unexpected bonus from her job and she was then able to fulfill her 12 days of Christmas donations.
Her goal is to sponsor every one of the SFC animals at least once. She is well on her way. What an amazing person. What a caring and giving heart. We are beyond grateful for all that she does. She is an example of what giving and compassion and kindness are all about.
Our latest newsletter is now available for download in pdf format.
On Sunday, November 14, someone callously and cruelty abandoned a dog in our parking lot. The person has since been found, and the case has been turned over to law enforcement for investigation. The dog is safe. But before we knew all of that, Dawn posted an open letter on behalf of the dog on our Facebook Page. That letter has circulated around the world having been shared nearly 16,000 times as of this writing. We have been asked to share the letter on our blog as well.
Thank you to all who care!
I’m asking for a few minutes of your time for a deeply personal message from me (Dawn Hayman, Co-founder).
Halloween always has a deep emotional charge for us here at Spring Farm CARES. October 31, 1993 was a day like any other day here on the farm. Except it was a day that changed the course of our lives and altered our path forever. There was a freak snow storm that night that dumped over 14 inches of wet heavy snow. We tucked our 30 small animals in for the night and prepared ourselves for a morning of contending with shoveling snow and getting to the barn to care for our 35 horses. But at 11:45pm, a car hit a telephone pole a few miles down the road from us and sent a power spike up the line. It stopped at the end of the line which was our old dairy barn that was renovated into offices, small animal quarters, and our living quarters. We lost everything in a mere 20 minutes. The fire was so intense that it melted our refrigerator into oblivion. We lost 27 dear animal souls that night. Thank God the firefighters were able to save our horse barn. We evacuated the 35 horses into the snowy night and they all survived. Bonnie and I got out with the clothes on our backs and nothing else. All but three of our beloved dogs, cats, and parakeets were gone. I cannot possibly express the devastating loss this was.
But the sun rose again the next morning and Bonnie and I were suddenly faced with a major decision. We could call it quits. Or we could start all over. Both of us knew the answer from deep within our hearts and souls. We would move forward and start again. Only, this time, we were wiser. We had an opportunity to grow from our mistakes. We would build again but we would do so from a strength we didn’t even understand we had at the time.
None of this could have happened without the enormous outpouring of support from our supporters and our community. To this day, we hold that deep gratitude in all that we do. There is amazing generosity and kindness in this world. I know because I see it all the time. People began to show up the next day with donations of clothing and daily items that you don’t even think about until you suddenly don’t have them. And people began to send donations. But as importantly, people started sending us letters and messages to not give up. Sometimes it is hard to find hope. But hope is always there underneath the ash. And we began digging through that ash with all our might. And hope was there. At first it was just a little spark, but it began to grow. We have nurtured that hope over the years and it has made us so much stronger.
I felt it was time to honor the memory of those we lost 28 years ago today, and to take a moment and remember the depth of gratitude we have for all of you. Spring Farm CARES would not be the place we are today without having gone through that very difficult tragedy. But out of the flames, we rose like the Phoenix.
Please do not lose heart in this world. We are going through tough times… all of us. But we can come together and rise together. We can come together out of kindness and compassion and love. We can join together in peace and forgiveness. And we can transform this Earth into the deep healing that is needed. We all have the power and ability to do this. All of us have a choice all the time…. Give up and call it quits…. Or move on, stronger and better. Please don’t give up.
I hope you will join us in moving forward, just as we know we can do. Because life is precious. Every single moment is a blessing. And it is up to each of us to make that moment the kindest and most loving that we can.
Please don’t give up on hope.
Thank you for listening. And thank you for being here with us. We are beyond grateful.
Dawn