With all the cutbacks in jobs, in people's income, and in 'goods' being produced and marketed, wouldn't it be wonderful if Marshall Farms (and other ferret farms) shipped/sold fewer ferrets this Christmas? We are living in uncertain times, with losses in incomes among our own community, but the needs of ferrets currently in shelters goes on. I believe we are all willing to do our part to provide help for the dedicated people operating shelters and caring for the homeless ferrets. If ever there was an FML Issue to save, the one just prior to this one is it. Issue 3615 contains a wealth of information. I plan to store it for future reference. SOS has two different requests going on. We are offering raffle tickets on Kat Parson's beautiful hand knit afghan, with a genuine ferret design, plus we are asking for donations to aid the Utah ferret rescue. You can make one donation to SOS, using Pay Pal and split your money between raffle tickets and helping the Utah ferrets. To use Pay Pal, log onto <www.PayPal.com> and put in the special SOS e-mail addy for donations <[log in to unmask]> indicating in your message where you want your donation to go. If you prefer to write a check, please make it out to Support Our Shelters and mail it to Judith White, 1236 Belfield Ave, Drexel Hill PA 19026. Another message that warmed my heart was seeing April Armstrong's post about selling Avon to aid shelter ferrets. We (SOS) are about to do the same thing. Well, not sell Avon, our product will be rubber stamps. Stamping for Shelters will soon be offering a line of high quality stamps, with the percentage that normally is kept by the distributor going to SOS instead. If anyone would like advance information about this, please write to me, Georgia Wood, at my home addy <[log in to unmask]> and I'll give you more details and show you the product line. I'd also like to welcome all the new people who have joined us lately. Really, in between big rescues (like the Utah one) we have a lot of fun. We also try to find room in our homes for some of the homeless little ones, and room in our hearts for those we can't take in. Hugs to everyone, Georgia [Posted in FML issue 3616]