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GPA Houston -
In the BLOG-O-SPHERE!
 Check out GPA Houston dogs on the Best Friends Blog!
A BIG thanks to the staff at Best Friends for including our wonderful hounds.
Check out the BLOG here
and see what's new!
GPA Houston - 2009 Volunteer Awards
On behalf of the entire GPA Houston Board of Directors we’d like to thank each and every
volunteer for all of their hard work and efforts needed to make this organization work. We could not do it without each and every one of our members. Each year we nominate and award two individuals that stand out within
the organization.
 The
Volunteer of the Year award this year is being given to Pat Freytag.
Pat has been a GPA member for many years and over the past few years has been a dedicated
volunteer and entegral part of the Barkanalia committee and also involved in the Woodlands/North Houston
events, storefronts, home visits, etc. Thank
you Pat for all of your hard work and service to the greyhounds!
The Greyt Heart award acknowledges long time members who have continually given of
themselves to GPA Houston. This year the Greyt
Heart award is being given to Laura Marshall.
Laura has been a GPA Houston member for many years and has been essential in many areas – some of which
include the Dog Show, Barnes & Noble-West Oaks gift wrapping, library talks, events, donations, etc. Many, many thanks to Laura and her husband, Mike, for all
that they do for GPA Houston!
 This year we added a third award to acknowledge another wonderful volunteer. We are awarding Rita Wulke the “Greyt Thanks” award to
thank her for her help with Barkanalia, fund-raising, events, etc.
Rita has been a true asset to GPA Houston for several years now and unfortunately she and her
husband, Chris, are moving out of state. Rita,
we will miss you both and want to express our thanks for everything you’ve done to help the greyhounds!
On behalf of everyone within the organization – humans and hounds alike – we thank
all three of these wonderful ladies for everything they’ve done.
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GPA Houston - 2010 Membership Renewal
Happy New Year! Please do not forget to renew your annual membership to
GPA Houston. Please click here to be directed to the membership renewal
page. Thank you and have a GREYT New Year!
GPA Houston - Board Meeting
 The next scheduled meeting will be at 6:30 pm on Thursday
February 18, 2010 at the home of Catherine Coulter. All current GPA Houston members are invited to
attend.
Please e-mail Julie for
directions to the meeting.
To view the meeting minutes from previous board
meetings, please click on one of the links below:
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Barkanalia 2009 -
FINAL FUNDRAISING TOTALS!
The 2009 Barkanalia Committee would like to extend a BIG THANK
you to all of our Sponsors and Volunteers who helped put together a
very fun day filled with exciting events and an all around GREYT time.
For more information and fundraising totals -
PLEASE VISIT THE BARKANALIA 2009 WEBPAGE (click here).
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GPA Houston &
GrowerFlowers.com Partner to Help Find Retired Racers
New Homes!
We are excited and pleased to announce our new partnership with
GrowerFlowers.com. With this new affiliation GPA Houston will
receive a donation of 20% on your floral order placed through the
GrowerFlowers.com
website! In order for us to be eligible to
receive the 20% donation you must use any of the links on our
website (or the one above) each time you order flowers. It's
that simple and what a GREYT way to help benefit the hounds just for
sending flowers to your friends & loved ones! Remember to visit the GPA
Houston website when you need to order flowers and click on any of
the links on our webpage. Thank you in advance for making this
partnership such a GREYT success!
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Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Program
IMPORTANT UPDATE!
Effective 05/01/2008 you no longer have to
scan your GPA Houston charity code each time you shop at Kroger.
Kroger has instituted the ability to have your KrogerPlus card
linked to the GPA Houston Charity number, so that you do not have to
remember to scan your card each time! Simply
click here, print out this form, and give it to your Kroger
cashier during check-out to have them link your card to GPA
Houston. That's it ... you're done! Each time you use
your Kroger Plus card during check-out, GPA Houston will
automatically receive a portion of your total sales as a donation!
You do not need to show this letter each time ... one time and
that's it!!
Here are a few important points to remember:
 Can
a household “link” their Kroger Plus Card to more than one
organization at a time?
No, the system allows for one organization per household. To
change organizations, you must present your KrogerPlus Card and the
new organization’s barcode to the cashier.
Do I have to enroll each program year?
Yes, all organization’s and participants must re-enroll
for each new enrollment period. The current Neighbor to
Neighbor Program is effective May 1, 2008 to April 30, 2009.
How much can my organization earn?
The Kroger Neighbor to Neighbor Donation Program will donate $1
million annually. Each organization will earn a percentage of the $1
million equal to the percentage of total earned contributions
attributable to that organization.
Do I have to scan the organization letter each time I shop?
No, once the barcode is scanned with your plus card, you
are enrolled for the remainder of the program year, dates
May 1, 08-April 30, 09
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Randalls Good Neighbor Program
Link your Randalls "Remarkable" card to GPA Houston
(Charity Number 941) and we will receive a donation of 1% of your total purchases each
quarter. Simply fill out the
Good
Neighbor form and turn it in at any Randalls Courtesy booth and
you're done! Each time you use your Remarkable card, your purchases will automatically be added to our quarterly total. |
NEW STOREFRONT ADDED!
We are excited to announce that we have added a new storefront to
showcase our wonderful hounds! Our newest location is in the
PETCO at Westheimer & Wilcrest on the 3rd Sunday of each
month from 1:00 - 3:00 pm.
Click Here for a list of all storefronts and clickable links
with directions & maps.
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What is the
perfect
Anytime Gift?
What gift would make someone so very happy anytime of the year, and for years to
come? What is it that will please yourself, and make our hounds
forever grateful? Charitable gifting is always a wonderful way to
express yourself and what a better time than now? Why not make a
donation to GPA Houston in honor of someone
special and help the kennel hounds?
We will send you a card you can present to your friend or family
member that shows the generous donation made in their honor. In
lieu of that birthday gift that you scratch your head trying to figure
out just what is appropriate....let it be a note telling of your
desire to give help, hope and promise of a better life to the retired
racing greyhounds in our care. Use your imagination!
- You could insert a note in that holiday or special occasion card
to family and friends... that says you have given a donation in
their honor...
- When you send out a plant or floral arrangement from your
florist...have them place a note that states you haven given a
gift of support to GPA/Houston in their honor!
- Make
your Anytime Gift on our Donation form.
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Foster Homes needed
Every time we have a Holiday (i.e. Thanksgiving, Christmas,
July4th,etc.) we need the help of our members. The Pet Hotel
needs additional space for their paying customers. Therefore we need
to place our pups into foster homes. Usually we need families to take
our pups into their homes for 1-2 weeks. By volunteering to
become a foster home you get to help these retired racers learn more
about home life.
Important:
We will provide the necessary supplies - crate, food, muzzle, coat
(if needed), meds (if needed), vet care, etc. What we ask of you is
to open your heart, home and family for a greyhound guest during
a holiday period if you are available. Can you help??
If this sounds like something you are interested in doing or if you
would like more information please contact Julie who will be
glad to assist you. Otherwise if you're interested in fostering
please send Julie an
email or call her and we'll put your name on the list.
On behalf of the entire board and
all of the greyhounds in our care we express our sincere thanks!
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Doggie Bed Source
We wanted to put notice here about one of our member's donation to our
group. 10% of the profits from her dog bed sales is donated to
GPA/Houston! Visit
her website
and see if this is the bed for your pup.
~ Thank you Courtney! |
LOST or MISSING
GREYHOUND?
Or do you want to help plaster
an area with signage---here's
a very simple sign you can print and/or modify for your
purposes.....
(This is a new sign to coincide with the newly formed Search & Rescue
Team.)
Here is a short article by Michael McCann on
Finding Your Lost Greyhound.
This has just been added to your on-line version of The Owners
Manual. |
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Shopping On Line...
If
you are like many folks, you buy gifts (and necessities for yourself
or hounds) online. By all
means you should then consider checking to see if any of
these sites below, will have what you are looking for! IF
they do, and more than likely they will, and you enter their site from
our links, all of your purchases will result in
donations from these companies!! We all win.
HAPPY SHOPPING-- Be sure to enter from these links...found
in several places on our website!
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*A Bonus Donation is given by iGive IF you 'join' up and make a purchase within 45 days.
They will
add a $5 bonus contribution to GPA/Houston!
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Foster
Families are always needed....
--Please
email us if you are interested
in fostering. Let us know if you have a cat or cats
at your house.
If you would like to be considered for an emergency foster
situation--email
here.
Foster family reports can be found on many of our hounds by
checking the Discussion Board, Greyhounds
Available for Adoption. |
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Natural
Balance refunds!
Though
we haven't been pushing this project all that much....this project is
"Alive and Well"---- So please continue to save your UPC codes and sales receipts if you use
any Natural Balance Food products, Cat or Dog. Please
staple the UPC code to the receipt and mail to Catherine Coulter's
Refund Project at 1225 Heights Blvd., Houston, TX 77008 [
This is good for treats, cat food, dog food, any size canned or dry.]
Catherine is collecting these receipts and will mail them into the
appropriate address when we have at least 50 receipts. A refund check
will then be mailed to GPA/Houston. |
Volunteer
Program!
Janny
set up our kennel volunteer program. If you want to help out at the
shelter, please sign up for the program by filling out
the on-line application
or at the Kennel. Our pups can sure use your support!
Orientation is held each Saturday.
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Nail clipping:
Are you one of many people that are not comfortable clipping your
greys nails? OK, we understand.
You can now come to the kennel on any Saturday from 11 am till 2
pm and we will clip your greyhound (s) nails for you. All we ask is a
minimum of $6.00 per hound as a donation. You decide where you want
the
money to go--to the Building Fund, to the Special Needs Hound Fund, or
perhaps to help with the regular
expenses for our kennel hounds. The more often your dog(s) nails are clipped, the
shorter the quick will stay. Questions? you can email
Janny.
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A percentage of all sales accessed through these links will
result in donations to GPA/HOUSTON!
Pooper
Scooper Law in effect for Houston
It's the law folks, we need
to pickup after our pups. Whenever you walk your pup be sure to
have a plastic bag to pickup the 'deposit' they leave on the lawn.
(It's okay for your dog to leave their mark on your
property, but any place else you will need to pick up.)
 
Also
please remember it's the law that
all dog owners
carry with them proof of their pets' rabies vaccination. A
rabies tag alone is not enough proof of vaccination. Carry a
copy of all current rabies certificates any time you are out with
your dogs.
~It's the law!~
Did you know..?.
Did you realize that an easy, painless way that
GPA/Houston raises money towards our operation is for you to show
your Kroger card or be registered with Randalls so that when you
shop....money is donated by the supermarket chains directly to
GPA / Houston!
Local Kroger and Randalls grocery stores have programs
by which
they donate 1% of your purchases to GPA/Houston. If you
don't have a Kroger and/or Randalls card, contact us and we'll help
you get them right away. ALSO, please tell your friends and
neighbors about this program, as it doesn't cost the shopper a cent.
Here is a link to the form that will activate your Kroger Plus card
to the GPA Houston charity number.
Click here and print out a copy!
Here is a Randalls application in PDF file format. Click
here
and print out a copy!
HELP! -
We need folks that are willing to transport a
greyhound from a vet to the shelter, or from the shelter to the vet.
If you would like to help us with this, please
email
here, or phone the shelter! ~Thank you very much
Updated Vet
List
Please check out our list
of vets, clinics and vet hospitals for the Greater Houston area!
**updated
Emergency Hospital list!
Online
Vet Med Reference Manual
We received word of an online
reference manual that can answer most any question. Over 12,000
indexed topics and 1200 illustrations, The Merck Veterinary Manual
claims to be the most comprehensive electronic
reference.
Here is the
site link. (You might want to bookmark this for future
reference.) There is no charge to use this reference.
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