If you would like to donate directly to the shelters, *please* read the
monthly shelter update (Oct 12-13 issue 1720) and give directly to the
shelters which have a deficit.  I post that update so all of you can see who
is spending lots more than they are taking in.  Some of the shelters are in
*great* need right now ... really very great need ... but are not willing to
ask more directly than to let me post their stats on the FML
 
None of the shelter folks have high-powered, high-paying jobs that I know
of.  They would not be able to give the ferrets the love and care they need
if they did.  So they are in a hard place.  If they worked more, they could
support more ferrets, but if they worked more, they would have time for
fewer ferrets.  Some of the shelters have built a wonderful base of support
through their local clubs and making items to sell (and that is the main
reason not all the shelters send me their info).  Others are not able to do
this for various reasons, some simply because local support is not available
and they may not have the time to make things.
 
If you like, you could e-mail them to get to know the shelter moms better.
You'll be glad you did, by the way; they are a wonderful bunch.  You could
also e-mail me for a second opinion on the shelter or a recommendation for
who is in desperate need at the moment.
 
At the moment, it is not possible to donate directly to the FML Support Our
Shelters Fund.  We (the group that worked to find a way to have an emergency
fund) were partly afraid that it would not be possible to set up a fund
which the FML would be willing to trust, since most of us really don't know
each other.  We were also unwilling to spend the several hundred dollars and
do the paper work to become a non-profit organization and then maintain that
status.  No individual was willing to take on the tax liability (and fear of
being suspected of dishonesty) to use a personal account.  So we researched
an organization that would offer something most people (at least those in
the U.S.) could use while creating a fund.  It is possible someone will hold
their breath and take the risk in the future.  We are still discussing it.
Lots of checks and balances would have to be put in place.
[Posted in FML issue 1724]