Ashley,
 
Thank you for having the guts that I didn't have.  Back in the spring, I
sent a $25 donation to a shelter in Texas.  Along with my check, I included
a note containing my name, address, and several e-mail addresses.  All I
wanted was an acknowledgement that the check had been received, but that was
obviously too much to expect.  I never received so much as a "thank you",
"drop dead", or "go to hell", from the shelter director, although I was left
feeling as if the latter two were at least implied.  It did not inspire me
to send any more of my hard-earned money her way, and in fact I felt like
such a sucker, that I wasn't inclined to contribute to any other shelters
either.  Perhaps $25 is too small an amount to be acknowledged.
 
However, not too long ago, a shelter in Florida appeared to be in such dire
straits that I couldn't live with myself if I didn't contribute to them.  I
sent them a check for $25.  This time I didn't even bother with a note.  I
just stuck the naked check in an envelope and mailed it off, not expecting
anything in return.  A member of this shelter posted a request on the FML
that all contributors please e-mail him so that he could thank us.  I did
and he did.
 
I guess that I don't really regret sending money to the Texas shelter.  I'm
sure that it was put to good use.  It would have been nice however just to
have been told, "we've received your check, and plan to use it to help pay
our very large vet bill" or whatever.  I don't really need a thank you note,
my four fuzzies thank me everyday (or at least 3 of them do--the 4th one is
Cujo in ferret's clothing).
 
Diane
[Posted in FML issue 1780]