This is a basic year for Oxford Ferret Rescue owned by Claudia Johnson. It helps to understand why rescues are always doing fund raisers and asking for donations. In 2013, the vet bill alone was $26,000 prior to my discount - which TRULY helps alot. On average our big fundraiser at the Cecil County Fairgrounds will clear $4000-5000. So, we need to fill in the gaps. In addition to the vet bills, there are other costs with running the rescue which consists of over 70 ferrets, 80% of those over the age of 5 and many of those on daily meds etc. Heres a listing of some of the daily/weekly/yearly costs of running the rescue: Wood stove pellets: about $10 per day = over $3000 a year. Ferret Food: about $7000 a year. Compounding Pharmacy (Pet Health): about $200/month = $2400 a year (higher when alot are on Diazoxide). Paper Towels: about $15/week = $780 a year. Laundry Detergent/Clorox ( I do 3-4 loads of ferret laundry daily): about $400. A HUGE thank you to Bonita, Scott and Angie as I've only bought detergent a couple times this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pee Pee pads: messy, messy ferrets: $15/week = over $700 a year. ADV tests: in 2013 the cost at $10 per test (excluding postage which is $7 now) was $600. And last but not least we pay $1200 to rent and insure the Ed Walls Bldg for our annual fund raiser each year. I hope this gives some insight as to some of the expenses of running the Oxford Ferret Rescue!!! For the last several years, I haven't had the time to do the annual letter and I apologize. Dee has the expenses, fundraisers, etc on a Quicken File and I hope to get those out again in the future. If you are following the rescue on Facebook, you can see what's new. If not, "like" our page to find out what's going on day to day at the rescue. We know that we plan alot of things throughout the year to help with not only the vet bills but the daily expenses for the rescue. We hope that you all find some or all of the fund raisers fun and easy to sell. We certainly don't expect everyone to participate in every fundraiser!!!! But we do hope that you find something that is appealing to you and we always welcome any new fund raising ideas. THANK YOU all for your continued support and friendship because I could not do this without each and everyone of your support! Claudia [Posted in FML 8165]