NEW Postcard Deadline: June 30th, 2013. (postmark)
JUNE 19th, 2013, card update: Kitty Cottage is in the lead!
The Pet Postcard Project's Spring campaign is here! April & May 2013 will bring showers and flowers, but will also bring thousands of meals of Halo Pets dog and cat food from Freekibble.com to the dogs at Rescue Ink and the cats at Kitty Cottage.
The rescue that brings in the most homemade and handmade pet postcards wins even more food!
That's right: Dogs vs Cats!
Halo and Freekibble.com are generously donating 30,000 meals to two shelters for this campaign: Rescue Ink and Kitty Cottage. Each rescue will get 10,000 meals, and the rescue that brings in the most homemade, handmade postcards during the campaign will get an additional 10,000 meals!
The goal for each rescue is a mere 1000 postcards in order to trigger the 10,000 meal donation, so grab your paper, photos, tape and scissors -- add a little creativity, and a pet postcard is born! The shelter that "wins" the additional 10,000 meals is up to you! Here's how to make and send in postcards of your own pet.
You can send dog postcards to help the kitties, and kitty postcards to help the doggies -- all that matters is that you indicate in some way (a note, or write on the envelope or cards themselved) which shelter you want your cards to help.
Rescue Ink in Ozone Park, NY, backs up animal rescue groups, such as the ASPCA, SPCA, The Humane Society, and many smaller rescue groups all over the world. They are comprised of street guys, military personnel, police officers, private investigators and lawyers, not to mention an amazing network and core group of volunteers that is second to none. Rescue Ink does whatever necessary within the means of the law — that's what their lawyers tell them to say — to fight abuse and neglect of all kinds.
Most of the animals Rescue Ink rescues will spend the rest of their lives at the Rescue Ink Facility. As a true non-profit, they rely on donations and support from friends, fans and communities worldwide to keep the shelter alive and provide a safe haven for the animals.
Kitty Cottage in East Norriton PA, provides a cozy, cottage setting as a cage-free adoption center for homeless cats. The cats enjoy lounging on comfy chairs, cat trees and condos, waiting for the next visitor to give them the love they crave. Their cats come from other shelters, municipal animal control facilities, rescue groups, and from the public. People ready to adopt and curious visitors can cuddle and play with the freewheeling cats, and learn more about the cats than they would in a traditional shelter setting. This helps to promote a greater number of adoptions into good homes for the cats, and allows for better matches of human and cat personalities.
To give the kitties an extra boost in this competition, Cat Style Expert, Kate Benjamin, is spearheading the campaign for Kitty Cottage! Kate is the founder and editor of Hauspanther, the premiere online magazine for design-conscious cat people. In addition to helping people live stylishly with cats, Kate's mission is to help find loving forever homes for cats in shelters across the country, and to support organizations like Kitty Cottage who are doing their part to make that happen. You can find Kate's feline design finds, along with lots of other information about living with cats, at Hauspanther.com.
Freekibble.com was launched in 2008 as the vision of then 11 year-old, Mimi Ausland. Mimi wanted to feed the hungry dogs and cats at her local shelter. "There are 10's of thousands of dogs and cats in animal shelters across the country, all needing to be fed a good meal." With this goal in mind, Freekibble was created.Today, the Freekibble Network reaches over 500,000 passionate pet-lovers. This loyal community has helped us feed over 9 million meals to homeless dogs and cats in shelters, rescues and food-banks across the country (see map). Find Freekibble on Facebook here.
Halo's Mission: To provide people and their pets with honest information and wholesome products to better the lives of animals and the people who love them. Halo, Purely for Pets evolved from three guiding principles: balance, nature and love. We believe that when these are the basis of pet product development, optimum health, vitality and wellness follow. Our pet products yield amazing results. For the past two decades, we’ve seen the emergence of thousands of radiant, healthy pets whose owners have chosen Halo. Find Halo on Facebook here.
The Pet Postcard Project is a grassroots arts-and-crafts project aimed at raising food for shelter pets and awareness about the plight of homeless animals. "Pet Postcards" for this project are homemade and handmade postcards featuring your own pets that you make and then snail mail into The Pet Postcard Project. Each card you send earns food for shelter dogs and cats.
So far, this project has received many thousands of funny, weird, sad, cute, and profound cards, all filled with love for a beloved pet. Please include a PHOTO of the animal on each card, or else we won't know who's "talking!" The words are not just captions, they are creative confessions, wishes, advice, and "you know you love your dog/cat when" ideas.
This site does NOT make money on this project. It's all to raise food and awareness for shelter animals.
ADDRESS TO SEND THE POSTCARDS:
The Pet Postcard Project
676A Ninth Ave., #321
New York, NY 10036
PLEASE SEND MULTIPLE POSTCARDS IN AN ENVELOPE OR BOX TO PROTECT THEM
When you send in your cards indicate whether they are for Rescue Ink or Kitty Cottage. You can write it on the back of your cards or include a note in the envelope with your cards. Postcards that come in without a desginated shelter will be split between the two.
REMEMBER:
- Use your own pet in the cards (a friend or neighbor's pet is OK too).
- Images from magazines are copyrighted, so use your own images.
- The words on the postcards are not just captions! They fall into 4 categories: CONFESSIONS, ADVICE, WISHES, and "YOU KNOW YOU LOVE YOUR DOG/CAT WHEN . . ."
- The words should be funny, heartwarming, instructive, or profound.
- Random captions are ineligible. See the 4 categories above.
- Postcards must be unique. Do not send multiples of the same card or store bought cards.
- Postcards can be made by hand (craftsy) or on the computer.
- Postcards are all snail mailed in to The Pet Postcard Project.
- Send as many postcards as you like.
- Put the postcards into an envelope or box to protect them.
- Be liberal with stickers, glitter, and pretty paper. Life is short, live it up!
- Find a Pet Postcard Project tutorial here.
- Throw the above out the window for teachers and kids doing this project in their classes. :)
The Pet Postcard Project was founded and is run by Nikki Moustaki, along with several volunteers who help to scan and post your amazing postcards!
