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behalf
at Wachovia Bank. Make checks payable to Michael Slifcak, with "A Goal
for Nicole" in the memo line, and mail to: Wachovia Bank, 2025 Towne Lake
Parkway, Woodstock, GA 30189.
HSUS
2005 Animal Expo - The "Asilomar Accords" - Many
of you know that I am passionate about the plight of orphaned pets in
the United States. I find it appalling that our highly "civilized" society
finds it acceptable to kill millions of perfectly adoptable - young, healthy,
well-mannered - pets just because there aren't enough homes and responsible
owners for them all. In my opinion, this slaughter is unacceptable and
can be ended if the members of our society will work together. Fortunately,
many people around the country are starting to take action.
In
August of 2004, a group of animal welfare industry leaders from across
the nation - HSUS, PETA, ASPCA, American Humane Association, and others
- convened at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, California, for the purpose of
building bridges across varying philosophies, developing relationships
and creating goals focused on significantly reducing the euthanasia of
healthy and treatable companion animals in the United States. Through
hard work, lively discussion and brainstorming, a common vision for the
future was adopted. The resulting "Asilomar Accords" is a framework
within which all animal welfare groups agreed to abide for the greater
good. This is a very big step for the animals of our world.
The
Fur Ball - To celebrate the joy that pets bring to our lives, People4Pets
(an organization founded by myself and Felicia McAleer) is hosting the
Second Annual Fur Ball on June 11 at the historic Canton Theater. This
will be an awesome evening as the theater will be filled with fun animal
loving people, all sharing their wonderful animal stories. Where else
can you go and gloat over just how cute Fluffy is or how smart Rover is?
We've scheduled a genuine Southern Fried Chick, comedienne Karen Mills,
to provide us with a few laughs about ourselves and our preoccupation
with our furry friends. I hope that you can join us and open your wallets
wide to help our orphaned animals - our furry friends who are unable to
help themselves. (See details on pages 10 and 11).
The
Hope Center - Cherokee's only crisis pregnancy center, The HOPE Center,
is currently seeking medical professionals to serve on its Medical Advisory
Board. The Board will oversee the Center's conversion to a medical based
facility with a sonogram machine. If you are interested in learning more
about what you can do to help women with unplanned pregnancies, please
contact me.
Gina
Carr can be contacted at gina@ginacarr.com
or (770) 516-5700 ext. 700.
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People4Pets
co-founders Felicia McAleer and I recently attended Animal Expo 2005,
the world's largest educational conference for the animal care and control
field, presented by the Humane Society of the United States. We attended
classes on topics related to animal welfare.
One
of my favorite people in this community is cancer-survivor Janey Canai.
Many of you know "Miss Janey" from her days at Bascomb UMC Preschool,
the Hillside UMC Craft Show, Bascomb Elementary and (currently) Yong In
Martial Arts Academy. One day, as we were chatting about this and that,
she said something so profound, it stopped me in my tracks. Janey said,
"You know Gina, the best things in life aren't things." Wow!
Now maybe Miss Janey
was not the first to ever say this, but I will always attribute this quote
to her. (I have since learned there is a book by the same name.) My article
this month focuses on the best thing about life - life itself.
A
Goal for Nicole - The lovely and talented Nicole Slifcak happens to
be our next door neighbor and one of the most awesome young people on
the planet. As many of you know by now, Nicole's picture-perfect life
took a dramatic turn for the worse on the morning of February 5, when
she was in a serious car accident. The last few months have been a real
roller coaster ride for her family, who has been by her side helping her
to recover from her brain stem injury. Nicole still is facing months of
rehabilitation.
The
outpouring of support from the community has been tremendous. The Slifcaks
continue to be amazed at the generosity of friends and neighbors. As part
of that generosity, several friends have planned special events to help
with the enormous medical bills the family is facing. On Saturday, May
7, a festival and tennis tournament have been planned at Eagle Watch (see
pages 6 and 92). On May 19 and 20, the Towne Lake Arts Center is hosting
"An Evening of One Acts," a fundraising event featuring a handful of short
comic plays. Sponsors are needed for each of these events. For more information,
email agoalfornicole@bellsouth.net.
Also,
please consider making a direct donation to a fund that has been established
on Nicole's
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