Greetings!

It is starting to look like we are through the worst of what Covid could throw at us and we have come up swinging. Kern County has always had a steel backbone and we have proved it time and time again. Now it’s time to get back to work. And there is much to be done! Now that our community and it’s seniors have been vaccinated we can pick up where we left off. We and our volunteers have been quietly working behind the scenes getting ready for this time. Lots to tell you about!

Welcome our newest board member!

We are so excited to have our newest board member join us! She has graciously agreed to be our treasurer and brings a wealth of knowledge to our table.

She is the founder/CEO of the Christmas For Seniors non-profit organization that she began in 2009. The Christmas For Seniors organization tries to make sure as many low income seniors living in Kern County’s senior housing complexes receive something for Christmas and are not forgotten. With Sandy’s leadership and the support of our community behind her, not to mention her exceptional board and volunteers, the number of seniors that received Christmas gifts from Christmas For Seniors has reached over 2500 and is still growing! Sandy has also served on the board of the Alzheimer’s Disease Association of Kern County and has been a volunteer for Leaders In Life, a high school youth program and the Police Activities League, volunteering for the Girls Social for 5 years.

It is such a blessing to have her working with us now. With her strong leadership skills and knowledge of the senior facilities and staff she will be such a welcome addition to our team and we look forward to working closely with her and learning from her as well!

Sandy has been honored with many awards for her work. A few of these are:

• The Elder Abuse Prevention Council of Kern County Award
• California Crime Prevention Specialist of the Year Award
• Jim Burke Humanitarian Award
• Beautiful Bakersfield Camellia Award (twice!)

So to Sandy we say… Welcome Welcome Welcome!

Volunteers – We have an embarrassment of riches!!!

I cannot begin to tell you all how grateful I am for the response we have had received from our community asking how they can help. From perfect strangers to clients to old friends across the board folks have stepped up to offer their time and their talents. I would like to take a moment and recognize a couple of them here and let them know how very much we appreciate them!

Can you believe this? So every dog that goes to a senior will be sporting a brand spanking new collar, compliments of Evelyn! And they are so nice! Evelyn is truly talented as well as a kind and compassionate soul. She told me she had a soft spot for our seniors and was also a huge animal lover and advocate. Here she is the day she stopped by my grooming shop with her pup, Odin, to drop them off.

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So grateful she saw us on Facebook! I feel blessed to have met her! What a kind thing to do for us! She is also planning to be a hands-on dog and kitty wrangler when we start up our senior/pet meet and greets (stay tuned for photos of that, coming up soon!) So thank you much to Evelyn Jaramillo!

Aren’t these just the best!?! These will give you a giggle while you do that necessary chore. They come with a metal clip to hook to your keys or your leash or even belt loop. We will be offering these two styles, both of which are embroidered and have a ribbon at the top to hold your baggies neatly inside.

Karen is another example of the outpouring of love Bakersfield has shown us and we are thankful everyday! Thank you so much Karen for stepping up!

Many hands make light the work and we are still looking for that perfect someone with social media skill and pizazz!!! Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are calling your name and we would love to have you join our family. Send us an email and you will make our day! dorothy@forgetmenotrescue.org

If your passion is being more hands on with the animals we have room for you too. Just like all rescues we always need fosters families to care for our cats and dogs until they can be matched up with their senior. We will pay all of the foster dog or cat’s expenses, what you will bring to the table is love and caring. It is a tough job and not to be taken lightly as you will fall in love over and over. Your heart will crack a bit as you hand over your little charge to a lonely elderly person but I promise you it is well worth it. When you get that update photo and see the love that has blossomed between what was once a lonely, isolated senior and a dog or cat in need you will take a deep breathe and say, “Okay, I am ready to do it again.” If you think you are up for it contact me at the email address below and we can email you a foster application. We pay all the expenses and would love to have you! info@forgetmenotrescue.org

Huge thank you to you all!

With Covid coming to a close we are ready to go, because of you all we have our seed money in the coffers and can start our program! We will be starting off slowly and growing as we can afford to. I want to thank everyone who participated in our winter 2020 fundraiser, every ticket purchased, every donation given, went toward the rescue. No one here collects a check or gets paid in any way. That said, we would like to thank and publicly acknowledge the caring folks that lifted us up and got us on our financial feet.

Jim Allen
Cecilia Arango
John Ash
Julia Barnes
Connie Bensusen
Lesly Blanton
Kim Blesener
Colene Borgsdorf
Carl Bryan
Kim Chaney
Ava-Dyann Clark
Michelle Cummings
Lisa Darling
Renael Davis
Cassie Dera-Coker
Michelle Dingman
Debbie Duke
East Bksfld Lions Club
Susan Elgar
Tracy Fisher
Arlin Fletcher
Melissa Ford
Jewell Forrest
Sandra Goins
Susan Gonzales
Leeann Hagiwara
Terri Haupt
Mike H.
Rick Henderson
Cecilia Heredia
Diane Henry
Yvonne Hoeke
Laurie Howlett
Jennifer Ihde
Evelyn Jaramillo
Beth Logan
Charlene Lumsden
Terry Lundy
Robert Mahan
Theresa Marinas
Alicia Marquez
Karen Mathis
Alexandra Matic
Shaun McKeown
Sandra Millard
Sandy Morris
Michelle O’Connor
Julie Patterson
Robbie Penney
Victoria Pennington
Sarah Preslar
Cecilia Provensal
Keli Puckett
Anne Quinn
Mindy Reed
Billie Reynolds
Kathleen Rogers
Cat Shelby
Margot Shelby
Mindy Smith
Colleen Soltis-MGraw
Peggi Soltis-McGraw
Patricia Stewart
Rachell Stull
Lena Townley
Theresa Trigueiro
Deb Waxdahl
Adrienne Wiggins

Thank you so very much for all of your ticket purchases for our 2020 winter opportunity drawing!

Company Donation Match Programs:

For those of you that work at companies that have donation match programs and have added our non-profit’s name to the company’s list of charities and have begun donating to us regularly…we are soooo appreciative! All it takes is one very sick dog or kitty and our bank account will take a huge hit. Knowing we have donations coming in regularly make you the wind beneath our wings. Please check with your company and consider doing this…

Amazon Wish-List:

We have just started our wish-list on Amazon if anyone would like to check it out and buy a little something something for the critters. We will be having an awesome opportunity drawing here pretty quick and will be in need of a raffle ticket barrel. We have one on our list (hint hint) or if anyone has one we might borrow until we can buy our own we would so appreciate it! We also just added pup and kitty leashes, cat halters and travelling crates. Check out our wish-list on Amazon at-
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3772ND7JPP6QW?ref_=wl_share

Facebook Folk:

Also, those of you on Facebook please consider sharing our Facebook page-Forget Me Not Rescue of Kern. Spreading the word is such a HUGE help to us! So please let your friends know about us and that you support us. Every single like and every single share helps us get the word out. We are the new kids on the block and are just now getting our turn to bat. We would love a great big cheering section!

So stay tuned to watch us with the seniors soon and check us out on Facebook to watch us grow!

Thanks again!

Dorothy Line
Executive Director
www.forgetmenotrescue.org