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Happy 2021, Farm Friends! We hope you all had a safe and lovely holiday season and that you’re ready to read all about what we’ve been up to at Filomena Farms since our last newsletter. Get ready, because we’ve been busy and there’s a lot to tell! Treasurer's reportLet’s get right down to business because we’ve got some exciting news to share: our 2021 fundraising efforts are off to a great start! Our Grow our Grants: Carrying us into 2021 campaign ran from November 20, 2020 to January 31, 2021. Thanks to your support, this campaign raised $1,050! Overall, the Filomena Farms coffers are at just over $2,000 total toward our 2021 fundraising goal of $10,000. What a wonderful start to the new year! As you know, the more funds we drum up, the more grant money goes to help rescue organizations who save animals in need. So thank you, from the bottoms of our hearts, for helping us get a jump on beefing up our grant program this year. Let’s keep up the momentum - we can’t wait to spend another year helping the rescue world make a difference! FROM THE FARMSTANDThere’s some new swag available in the Farmstand! If you didn't snag a limited edition Farm Tote during our Grow our Grants: Carrying us into 2021 fundraising campaign, now's your chance while leftover supplies last! For a $30 donation, you can help increase visibility for Filomena Farms and proudly share our cause everywhere you go, all while bolstering our grant program with your donation. It's a win-win-win for you, for Filomena Farms, and most importantly for the animals! Donate HERE and request a Farm Tote by entering "TOTE" in the comment section. Head on over to the Farmstand for more details! FILOMENA’S WISH Heading Home Animal Rescue found Buhita living as part of a feral colony behind a pizza place in Watsonville. They immediately knew something wasn't right by her drooling, trembling, lethargy, and jaundiced eyes. She needed a highly specialized surgery to correct something called a portosystemic shunt: a vascular defect that rendered her liver unable to filter toxins from her bloodstream. Living with this condition untreated causes severe health problems; this would have been a life-saving surgery for Buhita with an excellent prognosis. Shortly after naming sweet little Buhita as the recipient of our 2021 Filomena's Wish holiday grant, we learned some heartbreaking news. After taking a turn for the worse around Christmastime, poor Buhita passed away before getting her surgery. While we are so terribly sorry that it’s too late for Buhita, we know that Heading Home will use this grant to continue their efforts. Thank you, Heading Home, for championing this kitty and so many others like her. Although this isn’t the happy outcome we expected to share with you, it is an honor to extend the 2021 Filomena’s Wish grant to Heading Home Animal Rescue in memory of Buhita. BOARD MERIT AWARD Oh, Farm Friends, there are SO many animals who need help and so many rescue organizations who need a hand helping them! We always wish we could do more, but we are proud to say that we managed to go a little above and beyond for a very special cutie this year: meet Niko! This little guy instantly captured our hearts when we learned of his story and laid eyes on his photo. What can we say? We’re softies!  Niko is a six year old Chihuahua / Jack Russell mix under the loving care of Hope for Animals International (HFAI), a wonderful rescue organization that is determined to give Niko the life he deserves regardless of the hard knocks he’s been dealt. You see, Niko has been a “resident” foster at HFAI since 2017. Found in a rural area with an old chain injury to his neck and a whole host of fleas and ticks, Niko made his way to HFAI where he was neutered and placed into foster care. He was all geared up to find his forever home, but then one day he just couldn’t get out of bed. Specialists discovered that Niko has a degenerative spinal condition. HFAI jumped into action and saw Niko through surgery even though the odds were tough. Despite their heroic commitment and countless volunteer hours of physical therapy, Niko will never regain the use of his hind legs. Lucky for him, the amazing folks at HFAI have his back! They made us aware of Niko’s need for an orthopedic bed and a special harness that helps his caretakers gently assist his mobility. We had to help! So we came up with a brand new way to do just that: we decided to “grant” Niko these special items in the form of a discretionary Board Merit Award.  Our Board Merit Award is a discretionary grant given when we have excess funds at the end of our fiscal year. During our grant cycles, we encounter so many deserving rescues and pets and sometimes we have just enough to be able to help a little bit more when we feel an extra special tug of the heartstrings. We exist solely to give in support of those in need, so we reserve this exciting award as a sort of "honorable mention" of the applications we've received throughout the year. Congratulations, Niko and HFAI! It is such a great joy to know Niko can spend his days a little more comfortably thanks to his special bed and lift harness. Know what else would be even greater? If maybe Niko could find his forever home, just as he is! Check out Hope for Animals International’s Facebook page and learn how to inquire about Niko...because he’s still on the market for that special someone and you never know, it might just be YOU! SPECIAL RECOGNITION We'd like to give a shout out to Suszi McFadden of Fuzzy Beastie Photography! Suz has done some amazing work behind the camera for Filomena Farms, managing to capture the beauty and joy of the Farm in the most unique way. We are proud to feature her photos on our website and social media pages. Thank you, Suz, for sharing your talent with the animal world and for being a Friend of the Farm! Bonus: she also does gorgeous human-centric photog, too! ISO board membersIf you’d like to join the Filomena Farms team, you’re in luck! We’re looking to add a few more board members. Whether you have a desire to become more involved in a general capacity or you have a specific skill set you’d like to share, send us your resume and let us know your interest! We’d love to hear from you and discuss how you can help us grow the cause.
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