Someon asked how SOS started, and why, and such.  So, grab a chair and a
cuppa coffee and someone fuzzy to cuddle, and listen to a little story ..
 
The year was 1997, and I had only been on the FML for about two or three
years at that point.  During that time, we'd had a lot of emergencies and
rescues, and every time we had done fundraisers to help out.
 
Then one day, a smart person mused on the FML about how nice it would
be if there was a rescue fund in place so we didn't have to start from
scratch every time there was an emergency.  And then a couple of other
people emailed back and said it would be nice, too.  But they didn't
volunteer.
 
Then a couple of days later, a lady named Judith posted, saying that she
thought it was a great idea, too...and she was willing to volunteer to
help organize it.  But she did not think she should do it alone, so that
people would know the organization had some accountability.  I read this
note, and I thought I could help too ... so I wrote to her, and so did
Georgia.  Well, actually Georgia wrote to correct two grammar errors, and
Judith liked that so much she asked her to help.
 
Judith emailed us back and said it was just the three of us, and she
was open to suggestions.  So, we talked and deliberated, and decided we
needed some more "consultants" to help us figure out how to run this
thing.  So, we enlisted the help of BIG, Alicia, Sukie, and some others
to formulate guidelines for running S.O.S.  This is when we came up with
some of the rules such as not giving cash to anyone - only supplies, gift
certificates for pet/vet products, or checks to a shelter's vet.
 
After we had rules, we needed actual money to try our rules out on!  So,
we started doing some fundraisers.  We did a little of everything ... I
made and sold soap, we sold coupon books, phone and Internet service,
took donations, etc.  Judith also started putting together a list of
needy shelters.
 
That very first Christmas that came along, we had a whopping $200 and
change burning a hole in our bank account, and shelters we wanted to
help!  So, we picked the ten we considered most needy and decided to send
them food.  As you guys know, $200 and change doesn't buy much food!  So,
we realized we needed a sponsor to help us.  Totally Ferret was known to
be a big supporter of ferret causes, so I called them.
 
They were in Illinois at the time and had a wonderful customer service
rep named Mary.  She was very enthusiastic when I told her about S.O.S.,
and I explained our current situation.  She talked to Dr. Willard, and
they helped us a LOT.  Ten shelters celebrated that Christmas with about
20 or 30 pounds of Totally Ferret food apiece, thanks to the kind
sponsorship of Totally Ferret.
 
The next year, we got more ambitious and ran more fundraisers.  Linda
Gaylord of the Stationery Ferret drew a coloring book for us, we printed
it at our own expense and sold it through The Ferret Store, at events,
and by mail order.  We took in more donations, came up with some more
fundraisers, and added more shelter to our list.
 
Over the years, each of us began to assume specific duties.  Judith was
our treasurer and received our mail.  She also continued to compile and
distribute our list of shelters, which was posted to the FML a couple
of times a year until we began to maintain the list on our web site.
Georgia and I ran fundraisers, made products, solicited donations, posted
to the FML, ran interference during rescues, and things of that nature.
I was usually the one who contacted sponsor companies.
 
In the year 2000, we filed for and received our 501c3 designation.  It
turned out to be just in time to give people tax deductions for their
contributions to the New Jersey Christmas Rescue.  Other large rescues of
abused and neglected ferrets -- like the Utah, Hagerstown and Titusville
rescues -- have used S.O.S. to give their donors tax deductions and be a
central point for distributing the donations to the right places.
 
We started running raffles in about 2000 or 2001 ... I ran the first few
myself, and we devised the system of having BIG run a random number
generator to pick the winner.  Since then, Kat Parsons has become the
SOSRaffleKat Queen.  In the past couple of years, we have been fortunate
enough to add several other wonderful new members.  This in turn allowed
us to expand the "projects" under the auspices of SOS.  Sharon Bearden
was asked to join because of her great work creating the Kouri Wood fan
club.  Georgia's hysterically funny posts to the FML about Kouri (who
since became one of the sad faces of ADV) had inspired quite a following.
Sharon also maintains our web site with graphics created by Kat.  Lisa
Roth began by soliciting donations from corporations, and she also sews
hammocks and sleep sacks for donors and shelters.  After Judy Cooke
became a member, she offered to bring her card exchanges and FML Ferret
Calendar into S.O.S.  Judy also runs our eBay auctions and the Memorial
Page for beloved ferrets who have left for the Rainbow Bridge.  Joanne
Ruffner began by creating and running the Buck-a-Month club in support
of SOS, so we gratefully asked her to join us, too.
 
And that is the story of how SOS got started.
Ela
[Posted in FML issue 4396]