This is Georgia, and I want to thank everyone who jumped up and spoke on our behalf, we really all appreciate receiving so many kind words and offers of testimony. The question of 'overhead' keeps coming up, so I'm going to take this opportunity to express my version of how things are. Not that my 'facts' are different than Ela's or Judith's, it is only that I express myself with my own little 'off the wall' vocabulary. We paid the fee to become a 501c-3 corporation out of SOS funds. We pay the monthly checking account fee out of SOS funds. We receive enough money from TFS, which sells our coloring book for us, that both the items mentioned were/are covered out of this income. This means that none of the donations from individual people are used to SOS operating expenses. When one of us mails something, be it a package or an envelope, whoever does the mailing absorbs the cost. It's not like we are running a van full of packages to the post office daily. Judith has always said we could be reimbursed for mailing expenses, and we have always declined. It's our way of helping. Before we became a 501c-3 corporation, anything we sold we encourged the purchaser to make their check payable to a shelter on our list or that shelter's vet. We would then mail the check to the shelter, and they would take it to their vet. We didn't cash the checks and turn around an write another one. Until we became a 501c-3 corporation we didn't have a checking account, if someone wanted to not select a shelter, they had to make their check out to Judith. We would still be very happy to receive a check payable to a shelter or a vet, we don't 'require' that checks be payable to SOS. I think one of the critical facts here is we are not a 'fund raising organization'. We are 3 women who do the best we can to help shelters who care for the homeless ferrets. As for the NJ Xmas Rescue, it was requested by Anne that all donations of money go through SOS. Anne was up to her eyebrows in ferrets needing baths, trims, vet attention, and food. She didn't have time to open envelopes and prepare deposits. We were only doing what had been asked of us, to handle the financial details. The response to the NJ Rescue was wonderful, and we received adequate funds to cover all the surgeries needed. When we have enough money to help the shelters, we do the best we can and it is never enough to go around. We check the last shelter list, we contact the shelters with large numbers of ferrets shown and high vet bills to see if their situation has changed. Then we take the new stats and try to work out an equitable distribution. We always feel woeful that we couldn't pay the vet bill for every shelter on the list. Please, if anyone has a specific question you'd like answered, ask one of us. Or ask it on the list. Well, don't ask Judith, she's on crutches and can barely move, using the computer is agony for her! And she's not supposed to go near it! I think I'm done now. Georgia [Posted in FML issue 3483]