Issue #2

Winter 2014

MPFL SPAY/NEUTER CLINICS ARE MAKING AN IMPACT In June of this year, Midwest Pets For Life held its first Spay/Neuter clinic in Clinton, Iowa. Because of limited funds, MPFL needed to find a place to hold the clinic and hit the jackpot when Gloria Evers, owner of Gloria’s Grooming offered her building as an option to hold the once-a-month clinic. After speaking with the building landlord and getting the okay, and after speaking with Dr. Jeanne Hedges, DVM of One Spay At A Time to make sure the facility met all of her requirements, it was decided that MPFL would hold a clinic on the third Thursday of every month as long as the space was available and until we can get a building of our own. Every clinic has been booked solid for cat spays and neuters, dog spays and neuters, vaccinations, ear mite treatment, nail trims, and anal gland expression. The low-cost clinic is open to everyone in the hopes of making a difference in the pet population explosion on both sides of the Mighty Mississippi. We are also hoping to start micro-chipping pets in 2015. We have had clients coming from over three hours away for our services and have had pets from Bettendorf, Bryant, Camanche, Davenport, DeWitt, Goose Lake, Low Moor, Maquoketa, Preston, Sabula and Princeton in Iowa and Dixon, Fulton, Kenney, Lanark, Sterling and Thomson in Illinois. We accept cash and checks as payment and have just recently begun taking credit cards with a small convenience fee to cover the processing fees. If anyone is interested in volunteering to help at our clinics you can e-mail us at the following e-mail address: [email protected] or private message us on our facebook page: Midwest Pets For Life. At this time, we have conducted a total of 5 clinics and the impact has already proven (cont’d on page 2) 1

SPAY/NEUTER (cont’d from page 1) to be dramatic. To date, we have performed a total of 40 cat spays, 43 cat neuters, 4 dog spays, 10 dog neuters, 65 rabies vaccinations, 57 FVRCP vaccinations, 15 DA2PP vaccinations, 1 hernia repair, 7 ear mite treatments, and 4 nail trims. To put what we have done into perspective, think about this...By spaying and neutering just one male and one female cat, more than 2,000 unwanted births can be prevented in just four years - and more than 2 million in 8 years. With our 40 cat spays and neuters, we are already preventing 80,000 unwanted births in just four years and more than 80 million in 8 years! This just goes to show...MIDWEST PETS FOR LIFE is making an impact!!

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CLEAN, WARM BLANKETS

55 GALLON TRASH BAGS

TOWELS

CANNED CAT FOOD

PAPER TOWELS

CAT LITTER

BLEACH

DRY CAT FOOD

POSTAGE STAMPS

DRY DOG FOOD

GAS CARDS FOR TRANSPORT

ALTERNATIVE PET FOOD

PET CRATES IN GOOD CONDITION

LEASHES AND COLLARS

DAWN DISH SOAP

DOG AND CAT TOYS

COTTON BALLS & Q-TIPS

DOG AND CAT FOOD BOWLS

3 X 5 INDEX CARDS

DOG AND CAT TREATS

8½ X 11 COPY PAPER

TUBE SOCKS

PAPER CLIPS

WHITE RICE (NOT MINUTE RICE)

HE LIQUID LAUNDRY DETERGENT

**INK CARTRIDGES FOR EPSON STYLUS PHOTO 1400 PRINTER**

TALL KITCHEN TRASH BAGS

GIFT CARDS TO TARGET, CLINTON PRINTING, FARM & FLEET, & WAL MART Monetary Donations are also extremely necessary in keeping our programs available. If you can find it in your heart to make a monetary donation, they can be mailed to: Midwest Pets For Life P.O. Box 3205 1854 410th Avenue Clinton, Iowa 52733-3205 ***All donations will receive a receipt for tax purposes.*** WE WILL BE HAPPY TO PICK UP ANY AND ALL DONATIONS! PLEASE CALL THE NUMBERS BELOW TO SCHEDULE A TIME FOR YOUR DONATIONS TO BE PICKED UP!

KIM - 563-321-2247

SANDI - 563-243-3106 OR 563-249-2206

THANKS FOR SUPPORTING MIDWEST PETS FOR LIFE!! YOUR DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE, DESPERATELY NEEDED AND EXTREMELY APPRECIATED!! 3

MPFL PROVIDING THANKSGIVING BUCKETS AND CHRISTMAS BUCKETS TO NEEDY PETS MPFL is working with The Benevolent Society to find 10 needy pets who would benefit from a Thanksgiving bucket. We will also be working with additional agencies to find 10 needy pets at Christmas. The buckets, in addition to providing food and treats, will also have a little something extra to make this a holiday to remember!! If you know of anyone who might benefit from this act of kindness, please e-mail us at the following e-mail address: [email protected] If you would like to donate items for the buckets, it would be grrrreatly appreciated. Appropriate items would be food, treats, toys, beds and bowls for dogs and cats. Cash donations for the buckets will also be used to purchase items for this program. Please help us provide a helping hand for the holidays!! These pets deserve it!! OUR NEW SCALE HAS ARRIVED!! Thanks to everyone who donated to our Floor Model Dog Scale!! Because of your generosity, we were able to purchase the scale which enables us to now spay and neuter dogs weighing up to 80 pounds!! We will be doing this on a first-come, first-serve basis at our upcoming clinics. Please check our calendar for upcoming clinic dates to schedule your pet’s appointment. Clinics fill up fast so don’t wait !! Call us today!! Visit our website and keep up to date with Midwest Pets For Life

MPFL BOARD of DIRECTORS Board President - Paul Sparks Board Vice President - Open Position Board Secretary - Jessica Alvarez Board Treasurer - Dana Sparks

www.midwestpetsforlife.org And follow us on facebook!!

Board Directors: Sandi Bartels Kim Bielema

Midwest Pets For Life 4

LOOKING FOR A LAST MINUTE GIFT FOR THE PERSON ON YOUR LIST WHO HAS EVERYTHING?? Please consider purchasing an MPFL membership for that person who has everything on your holiday shopping list.

We would like to thank the Silver Dollar Saloon, who has collected donations for MPFL—both monetary and other items off of our Wish List. It is the unexpected donations such as these that mean so much to our organization. These donations have helped make it possible for us to provide the Thanksgiving and Christmas buckets to needy pets this holiday season. Many thanks to the Saloon and its patrons who made these donations possible. Their kindness and generosity is helping keep pets where they belong...with the family who loves them!!

Membership Prices are as follows: Annual Individual Membership…….. $35.00 Annual Family Membership…………… $60.00 Annual Senior Member (65+)……....$20.00 Lifetime Individual Membership…..$250.00 Lifetime Family Membership………..$360.00 Lifetime Senior Member (65+)….…$100.00

All sponsorship dollars benefit the programs provided by Midwest Pets For Life.

MARS COMPANY DONATES FOOD The MARS Company has donated cat and dog food to Midwest Pets For Life. This food will make it possible to help some of the needy pets in the area whose families may not be able to provide for their pet due to temporary, uncontrollable circumstances. We are pleased to have the MARS on board and look forward to working with them in the future. Once again, we are able to provide a helping hand… not a handout!! GRANT WRITER NEEDED

MPFL CONTACT INFORMATION

If anyone is interested in helping MPFL write grants in the animal welfare industry or if you know of someone who may have grant-writing experience and would be interested in helping us, pleasecontact us!! We are anxious to work with an ambitious person who loves animals and wants to help our organization!! We can be reached at 563.243.3106 or 563321.2247.

WE can be reached at the following: Midwest Pets For Life P.O. Box 3205 1854 410th Avenue Clinton, Iowa 52732 Phone: 563.243.3106 (Sandi– home) 563.249.2206 (Sandi– cell) 563.321.2247 (Kim– cell) E-mail: [email protected] Facebook: Midwest Pets For Life 5

MIDWEST RIVERFEST BEGINS TO TAKE SHAPE MPFL Fundraiser Expected to Draw Crowds From Near and Far Have you heard?? Prepare to be awestruck!! This is going to be huge!!! The creators of the original Award-winning Mutts On The Mississippi are at it again!! Mark your calendars!! Save the date!!! October 9th, 10th, and 11th of 2015!!! Okay...so it’s a year away, but we have a lot of work to do!! There will be a touch of Nashville, perhaps a touch of the Smokey Mountains, and just maybe a splash that includes the Mighty Mississippi River!! Midwest River Fest is set to be an exclusive one-of-a-kind fundraising event to be presented next fall at Riverfront Park and Band Shell!! There will be entertainment for all ages from two to ninety-two!!! We will be working with entertainment, celebrities, food vendors, craft vendors, other non-profits, carnivals, car and boat enthusiasts, and so on to get the best of the best for this 3-day extravaganza! We are hoping that, even though we’re doing this in October, we will be able to get some entertainment that will draw us to the riverbank!! Country music sensations Brooke Byam and Dustin Weiss are on board to perform and help us in the planning stages of the music entertainment. Dan Hager from D’s Smokin’ Bar-B-Q has signed on as a food vendor and graciously volunteered his time to sit on the planning committee. This is going to be a huge event and we will need a lot of sponsors and many, many volunteers!! If you would be interested in volunteering in any capacity at this unique Festival, please contact us!! We have a year of planning and the year is going to fly by so be prepared to be amazed!!! This event will put Clinton, Iowa on the map!! Entry fees to this extravaganza are still being determined and will be announced in the coming months. We want this to be an event that Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois will never forget and one that will make everyone want to return year after year. We look forward to presenting Midwest River Fest and in helping to promote tourism and “things to do with a river view”!!See ya there! 6

MPFL UPDATE MPFL has been busy these past months!! Since May, we have held 2 garage sales to help raise much needed funds for our non-profit. We have held 5 spay/neuter clinics and will hold our 6th on November 20th. We joined the Lyons Business and Professionals Association (LBPA) and Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce. We are continuing to work on our business plan which we will need in order to reach out to our donors. We are hoping to build a boarding kennel which will help sustain the non-profit programs. In the near future, we will be looking for a piece of land to build on, or a building that would suffice until we can afford to build the kennel. We are hoping to have the business plan complete by January 2015 so we can push forward with our dreams of helping keep pets with the families who love them!! 7

MAKING A DIFFERENCE The following story is a testament to how Midwest Pets For Life is making a difference. DeeAnna H. is a 46 year old mother of three children, ages 24, 17, and 15, the oldest of whom attends the University of Wisconsin at Platteville. She also has a dog and 2 cats who are members of the family. She has no vehicle and no license due to medical conditions. And she had reached a point in her life where she thought the only option left was to surrender the animals to a local shelter. Enter Midwest Pets For Life. In 2002, DeeAnna was involved in a horrific vehicle accident. She broke her L4 and L5 vertebrae in her back and C2vertebrae in her neck. Her right shoulder was dislocated and her right ankle and right hip were shattered. She sustained multiple broken ribs, severe head trauma, and a collapsed right lung. She was hospitalized for over a month and to this day does continuing therapy. When she was able to return home, her children and pets were what kept her going. It was the children and the pets that gave her a reason to get out of bed each morning. And then...more devastating news - in 2008, DeeAnna was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer that had metastasized to the right lung, saliva glands, and breast. She is still undergoing treatment. Today her SSI disability check provides $687. per month and she was excited to tell us that she had just gotten an increase in her food stamps from $86 to now $90. a month. Of the $800 in court ordered child support, she receives less than $200 a month. She was reluctant to ask for services, but we are glad she approached us. The MARS company was instrumental in helping MPFL assist DeeAnna with dog and cat food for her animals. She was beside herself when we told her we would be able to help. Tears of joy streamed down her face as she held a cat and hugged us. The animals will remain where they belong...with the family who loves them!! We all understand that part of being a responsible pet owner is being able to provide such needs as vet care, food and shelter, but in tough economic times, people need a helping hand, not a handout. Midwest Pets For Life is making a difference in the animal welfare field, not by becoming a shelter where hundreds of perfectly good pets die each year right in our own backyards, but by helping those animals in need before they become just another shelter statistic. If you can help in any way, don’t hesitate. Send your monetary donation today. Help us provide that helping hand that is needed by other families who have also fallen on hard times and will otherwise have to surrender their beloved pets. Their pets just may be the reason for getting out of bed in the morning. Let’s keep it that way! 8

PET TRIVIA 

It has been established that people who own pets live longer, have less stress, and have fewer heart attacks.

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Scientists have discovered that dogs can smell the presence of cancer in humans.

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Most pet owners (96 percent) say their pet makes them smile more than once a day.

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33 percent of dog owners admit that they talk to their dogs on the phone or leave messages on an answering machine while away. 9

Midwest Pets For Life P.O. Box 3205 1854 410th Avenue Clinton, IA. 52733-3205

MIDWEST PETS FOR LIFE A HELPING HAND...NOT A HANDOUT!! MPFL CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS Thursday 20 November 2014 - MPFL LOW-COST SPAY/NEUTER CLINIC -This is a wonderful opportunity to support Midwest Pets For Life and get your pet spayed or neutered at the same time!! This clinic is booked solid!! We will not hold a clinic in December due to the holidays!! Thursday 15 January 2015 - MPFL LOW-COST SPAY/NEUTER CLINIC Thursday 19 February 2015 - MPFL LOW-COST SPAY/NEUTER CLINIC Thursday 19 March 2015 - MPFL LOW-COST SPAY/NEUTER CLINIC Thursday 16 April 2015 - MPFL LOW-COST SPAY/NEUTER CLINIC Thursday 21 May 2015 - MPFL LOW-COST SPAY/NEUTER CLINIC Friday, Saturday, Sunday 9, 10, 11 October 2015 - MIDWEST RIVERFEST!!!!

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