First of all, I wish to thank everyone who has participated in any way with The Giving Tree - whether you set up the website, helped people with their posts or became Santas to any of the MANY shelter ferrets on the tree. Special thanks too to the people who continue to push for Santas for ferrets how have not yet been selected! This is such an enjoyment and blessing at the end of what has been a difficult year for most shelters while surrenders are up and adoptions & donations are down due to "the economy". Our shelter recently received a wonderful package from Foster & Smith which contained a bag of Superior Choice Food and SIX packages of N-Bone Chicken Chew Sticks. I would love to acknowledge the gift directly to the Santa who ordered the gift, but the enclosed paperwork made it appear that it was ordered by and shipped to The Ferret Haven. I have no way of knowing who the sender was or which ferret(s) it was meant for. I've addressed this with Foster & Smith as to the need to be able to put a notation on orders - but I wonder if it might be possible to add a page to the Giving Tree (or elsewhere) that might allow recipients to post gift acknowledgements and Thank You's for this kind of situations? Someone sent me an e-mail today giving me a heads up that a package was coming (form Foster & Smith again). As I was telling her -- there's nothing that kills the spirit of giving like failure to even acknowledge of a gift of any type or size. Our Santa gifts are acknowledged by a ferret - we try to make them cute and personal - we recently received a F&S Gift Certificate and the senders ferrets told the shelter ferrets to really put their paw down and make me let them order what THEY want.....not just stuff they need. So Our Dumbledore ferret, who is in charge of "shipping and weceiving" responded to the sender wiht a transcript of their shopping adventure: Hmmm, wets see.......dook, dook, dook......ya, we weally puts our paws down wiff mom, didn't we?! oooh, wook at dis Annie, 100,000,000 N-Bone Chickey Chew Tweats (yuz can neber habs too many of dese!!) 5 Tunnels one hundred-seventy-eleven Octoplays thirty dig boxes OK, OK....I guess is IS your pwesent.........ONE pink elephant (sigh) 790,500 pounds of Turkey/Wamb and Bambi (I know it's a wittle conservtive, but I wanted to save some for da udder fewwets who might be ordering) You wants da dwess too? Sigh.......Pink I suppose?? ooh-ooh.......wets get da Gator.......ya, 30 of dem, one for ebery cage!! No weally, I tink da girls will wike dem better dan da pink elephant (paws crossed behind his back) OK, dat should do it for our 1st shipment......lets click da Buy Now Button....... HUH??? $10,472.93??? You gots to be kidding?! ............... THUMP....... Dumble........Dumble, you O-tay?? Get some water........ SPLASH........."What da???" Well, I didn't know, dey do it on da TV awe da time and it works... sorry Dumble Um, Dumble, maybe you should just let me pick out some tings for awe of us? You berry handsome Dumble......but I tinks maybe I gots a better sense of numbers dan you doos. Dumble just can't bewieve his wet little ears as he walks away, mumbling......"no pweciation.......nots knows what WE want....... awe about her and da giwls.........pink dis, pink dat.........." and he slithers into the warmth of his dry hammock. We just like to make it fun. As a shelter mom, it's SO important that I continually thank my volunteers for the hours that they dedicate to the fuzzies and the shelter - that I let them know that their ideas are welcome and often implemented because this shelter is partially theirs as long as they put time in here as it could not run without volunteers. The same holds true for gifts of any kind - whether it's food, bedding, money or someone's used ferret items donated after the loss of their prescious ferret - it's critical to say "Thank You" for every gesture!! Merry Christmas Everyone!! And please, select a Giving Tree Ferret if you're able!! Jerri Carel The Ferret Haven Louisville, KY [log in to unmask] www.theferrethaven.org [Posted in FML 6544]