THANK YOU! F.O.C.A.S. would like to thank the following individuals, organizations, and businesses for their donations and support! Thank you Southbridge Savings Bank (Charlton branch)! BIG thank you to everyone who volunteered and participated in the Pet Pics with Santa event held on Dec. 10, 2011! $486 was raised for FOCAS! Mark W. did a great job today - HOHOHO! And a VERY sincere thank you to Sheri and Sabrina from the Charlton branch of Southbridge Savings Bank for sponsoring us again this year and for supplying the great food and photos! FOCAS would like to thank Girl Scout Rebecca Nash for choosing us for her Silver Award Project! Rebecca spent many hours planning the project, collecting supplies, and painting the cat room. The stray cats that come into the shelter will have colorful paintings, cat trees, cat condos, cat beds, and toys to enjoy during their stay. A shelter environment can be very stressful for cats, but Rebecca's project will make their stay more enjoyable in this home-like room! Great job Rebecca! April 2011 Woofs and Meows! Anastasi Insurance Agency, Inc. of Charlton chose FOCAS as their 2010 charity! Each year, they pick a non-profit group and a donation is made for every referral they receive. Anastasi Insurance raised a whopping $770 for Friends of Charlton Animal Shelter and presented us with a check at their April 12, 2011 Customer Appreciation Night at Zorbas! We would also like to acknowledge a generous donation from Gregory Passler and Heidi LaFleche in memory of their brother and friend, Matthew Passler. Thanks also to Linda Hart who made a heartfelt donation to FOCAS in memory of her horse. FOCAS is sincerely grateful for everyone's support. Thank You Mark Lumbra! Big thank you to Mark Lumbra for his donation of labor and materials at the shelter. Mark ran his own electrical business for 26 years before heading to Iraq as an electrical contractor. After 30 months, he returned to Southbridge and reopened his business. Mark made the animal shelter his first project and generously completed all the finish electrical work, including installation of all fixtures and switches/outlets for the shelter. And there's more! Thanks to a generous and skilled anonymous donor, the flooring has been laid and looks fantastic. In addition, the doors and trim have been installed and the kennels have been ordered. There is still a fair amount of interior finish work that needs to be done, the biggest being the epoxy on the concrete floors and the wax on the tile floors. Please call Brent at 508-294-5800 if you are willing to volunteer! A Birthday Party for FOCAS - March 27, 2011 Once again the animal loving youth of Charlton came through big for FOCAS! Allison Bolton accepted gifts on behalf of FOCAS for her 11th birthday party! Allison and her 9 fantastic friends raised over $150 plus supplies for the homeless dogs/cats in Charlton! FOCAS thanks Allison and her birthday guests: Caroline Lawson, Maia Romanelli, Jessica Rousakos, Chloe Ryder, Kathleen Landry, Isabel Fererra, Reese Maple, Jordan Maple, and Angie Kapparonis!! Pictured showing off their FOCAS hats... Bottom Row (left to right): Caroline L., Allison B., Jessica R., and Chloe R. Top Row (left to right): Isabel F., Kathleen L., and Maia R. F.O.C.A.S. extends ginormous thanks to Hannah Mason and Brittany Como! They recently celebrated their birthdays and instead of asking for gifts for themselves, they asked all of their guests to bring donations for FOCAS! 50 7th graders from Charlton Middle School attended the Feb. 19th party at Skylite Roller Skating in Worcester. Their generosity was astounding - they raised almost $850 AND donated another $200 worth of dog collars, leash, treats, bowls, food, and blankets for the animals! They are pictured with Assistant ACO Brent Sellew and his adopted dog, Joe Schmo from I Don't Know. We can't thank them enough for all of their support! FOCAS Thank Yous! Paul and the employees at RPM Heating & Air Conditioning and Keith of Keith Heating and Cooling really came through big for the animals! They donated all of the labor needed to install the HVAC system in the new shelter! Keith Heating and Cooling also donated the air conditioning unit! Thanks to the generosity of these two Charlton companies, the animals will be comfortable year round! We would also like to thank Kyle and Curt Meskus for volunteering their time and skills to install the Tell/data wiring! Next step is insulation and sheetrock/plastering. If you can lend a hand, please call Brent Sellew at 508-294-5800. Thanks to Southbridge Savings Bank in Charlton! Thanks to Santa and his "elves" from Southbridge Savings Bank who organized and held Pet Pictures with Santa on December 11, 2010! Over 30 dogs and their owners came in for festive photos. FOCAS board members and volunteers were on hand to meet and greet visitors. Sales of new FOCAS T-Shirts and hats were brisk and we were thrilled to gain several new members! $755 was raised at this event! Thank you to all who participated! More FOCAS Donors and Supporters! FOCAS sends out a BIG thank you to Ken Pecore Plumbing & Heating of Charlton for volunteering his professional plumbing skills at the new shelter! Ken not only took care of ordering all the materials, but he donated all of his labor for the work. We are very grateful for his support! Ken Pecore is pictured with his son, Nick. And there’s more! FOCAS was again chosen as the recipient of the November 2010 Cinderella Project event fundraiser! The discounted dress and gown sale raised $140 for FOCAS! Thanks to everyone who donated/purchased dresses and volunteered their time and energy the day of the event! Special recognition to the Cinderella Project planners Diane Doherty, Lisa St. Cyr, Heather Gablaski, Fritzi Foster, and Lisa Westwell. Tall Pine Farm and Kennel of Charlton recently donated $100 to FOCAS from pony rides at their Open House! Many thanks to Tall Pine’s Kelly and Dave for their continued support! FOCAS Receives Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Grant! Thanks to Marie Smith, FOCAS is the proud recipient of a $500 Harvard Pilgrim Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grant! Marie is an employee at Health Plans Inc., a subsidiary of Harvard Pilgram, and she nominated FOCAS for the grant. Marie and her husband Bryon were treated to a tour of the new facility where Marie presented a certificate to FOCAS board members Ernie and Gail Stokes. The Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grants Program was created by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care to commemorate the first anniversary of September 11, 2001. The grant program is administered through the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation. Sincere thanks to Marie Smith and Harvard Pilgrim for supporting our organization! Special thanks to some outstanding guys! FOCAS and the Charlton Animal Control Officers would like to send out very special thank yous to Ron LeBlanc (Quality Contracting) and Jon Foskett (JF Concrete) for their recent HUGE contributions to the shelter construction! Jon did an excellent job pouring the floors! Ron took advantage of the rainy weather and the interior is close to being completely framed! Pictured Left: Ron LeBlanc (center), and assistants Steve Fortin (left) and Mike Mongeau (right). Don't forget to check out the construction slide show! We are SOOOOO excited to see such amazing progress! FOCAS is sending out a round of "aPaws" to all of the incredible people who have been such super supporters! First shout out to Mark Waron (blue shirt in pic) of Charlton. He recently contacted FOCAS interested in seeing how the new shelter was coming along. After the tour, he was so impressed that he donated $1,000! We greatly appreciate his generosity! Second big thanks to Victoria Rulnick and Alexis Walsh. These young women are passionate about animals and wanted to do something to help dogs and cats in need so they volunteered at our Old Home Day booth! Victoria and Alexis raised funds for the new shelter by selling catnip mice and goodie bags filled with dog snacks. FOCAS was more than happy to have both girls help out that day - they were wonderful volunteers! Also at Old Home Day, Crystal Fairbanks, the sweet Salcata Tortoise who roamed around the Charlton common and raised over $140 for FOCAS! Noah's Ark Pet Shop of Sturbridge donated a terrific doggie gift basket full of toys and treats for our raffle. Congratulations to raffle winner Chris Hall of Charlton! Many fellow animals lovers stopped by the booth and made donations as well and together we raised over $300 to be used for construction and operation of the new municipal animal shelter! Woofs and Meows to all! Friends of Charlton Animal Shelter thanks all who participated in this past Saturday's giant yard sale in Charlton! $692 was raised for FOCAS! Construction continues and we can still use help. We are also seeking a membership coordinator - computer skills necessary. Please email us if you are interested - info@focascharlton.org. Maia celebrated her 10th birthday recently and instead of asking for gifts for herself, she asked her friends to bring presents for the Charlton dogs and cats! WOW did they do a great job! Dog and cat food, treats, bowls, and toys were donated! The kids also made a monetary donation! FOCAS President Ernie Stokes and Assistant ACO Lisa Westwell came by to personally thank her and accept these awesome goodies. Even Maia's dog Rosie jumped in for a picture. FOCAS and Charlton Animal Control would like to send meows and howls of thanks to Maia R., Diana and Marci G., Briana J., Dana F., and Julia D.!! Trivial Pursuit Night raises over $500 for Friends of Charlton Animal Shelter! The senior center was bursting with 6 teams of 45 brainiacs working together to come up with the correct answers to 100 tough trivia questions. "The Monarchs" took first place in a tight race for the win! A BIG thank you goes out to everyone who came out to play and especially to Jamie Kordack for organizing the event and Elaine Kingston for the use of the Senior Center! The Quinebaug Masonic Lodge coordinated a pet food drive for the Charlton Animal Shelter through F.O.C.A.S. and for other local animal shelters in conjunction with their rededication ceremony on March 27, 2010. The dogs and cats appreciate all the donations of dog and cat food, and cat litter from the Masons and the local community. Friends of Charlton Animal Shelter (FOCAS) was thrilled to be chosen as the recipient of two recent Cinderella Project event fundraisers! The discounted dress and gown sales were a big hit in the local communities! Huge thank you to the Cinderella Project coordinator, Diane Doherty, and her team of volunteers: Fritzi Foster, Lisa St. Cyr, Chris Mitchell, Karen Sawyer, JoAnn and Amy Kady, Amy's friend Jen, Lisa and Julia Westwell, Haley Chamberlain, and Heidi Weber! FOCAS would also like to thank the following Cinderella Project sponsors: Bonardi's (Sturbridge, MA), Excape Salon (Worcester, MA), Gander Limo and Transport Service (Charlton, MA), and Kathy's Garden Treasurers (Charlton, MA). Finally, we'd like to extend our sincere appreciation to Leicester High School who invited the Cinderella Project to set up at their Prom Fashion Show! All combined, this unique fundraiser was a lot of fun and raised $540 for FOCAS! F.O.C.A.S. would like to thank John and Ruth of Wild Brook Farm, Jessica Chickering, and Amanda Shelby for supporting us through their Feb. 28th Natural Horsemanship Clinic! Enjoy the slide show of some of the booths, and the horses and their riders that came to learn Jessica's natural training techniques! The following individuals volunteered their time and energy to put on this excellent clinic: Jessica Chickering, Amanda Shelby, John DeRose, Ruth Oconnell, Kate Zepp, Pat Zepp, Jim Laliberte, Andy Bowes, Frank Magiera, Kayla MacCarthy, McCarthy family, and Nichole Santon. Thank you to all of you! F.O.C.A.S. sends sincerest thanks to Sheri Bibinski, Sabrina Webb, and the other great employees at Southbridge Savings Bank! They organized and held a colorful and fun Valentine's Day Pet Photo event for us on Feb. 6th that raised a whopping $390!! We appreciate their thoughtfulness, enthusiasm and support!! Enjoy the slide show of some of the pets that came to have their photos taken! BIG THANKS to Jill Spillane who recently had her birthday party and asked all her friends to bring gifts to donate to F.O.C.A.S. for the dogs and cats under the care of Charlton Animal Control! They brought dog food, cat food, kitten food, dog and cat toys and treats, towels, beds, and bowls! BOW WOW and MEOW to this generous group of kids!! And the Winner Is...Trudy Torbicz of Charlton! Congratulations to Trudy, the winner of the Friends of Charlton Animal Shelter Raffle. Trudy won a pet themed basket filled with dog and cat toys, supplies, and treats valued at $100. The basket was generously donated by Country Bank. BIG thanks to the Fabric Stash in Charlton (fabricstashinc.com) for selling raffle tickets on behalf of F.O.C.A.S. We hope that in addition to buying raffle tickets, visitors found lots of beautiful fabrics for their sewing and quilting needs! The raffle brought in $135 in much needs funds for F.O.C.A.S. Friends of Charlton Animal Shelter (F.O.C.A.S.) would like to thank the children at Cat & Fiddle Family Childcare of Charlton for their recent donation of blankets for the animals! This was the third year that they collected items for animals in local shelters. They decided to gather their old blankets to donate and their cozy receiving blankets proved to be the perfect size, especially for the cats! With the cold weather upon us, it is great that the children, and their thoughtful provider Michelle Leufstedt, remembered the comfort of the animals. Ruffs and purrs to Cat & Fiddle Family Childcare! Thanks to Quinebaug Masonic Lodge for their October 17th pet food drive! Thanks to Kelsey T., Julia W., and Haley C. for helping out with the F.O.C.A.S. booth at Charlton's Old Home Day on September 7, 2009! Thanks to David LeBlanc and Madison Prunier! They set up the Happy Time Hot Dog Stand on August 18, 2009 and all proceeds were donated to F.O.C.A.S.! Tall Pine Farm and Kennel Their raffle raised $280 for FOCAS! Many blankets also donated! Donna Savoie Pack of Paws Dog Training for hosting a Family Dog Class. Ken Gaudette Gaudette Building Exteriors, Inc. for donating the space for our dog training classes! The Quinebaug Masonic Lodge coordinated a pet food drive for the Charlton Animal Shelter through F.O.C.A.S. and for other local animal shelters. The dogs and cats appreciate the generous donations of dry and canned dog food, dog treats and cookies, dry and canned cat food, and litter, from the Masons and the local community. Lodge Ambassador, Christopher M. St. Cyr, helped distribute the donations and is pictured left with the pile of goodies for the animals!

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