ICS Newsletter Summer 2015

For the friends of the Independent Cat Society, a no-kill cat shelter

Summer 2015 #146

The ICS Book Sale : A don’t-miss event!

That’s right, our Annual Book Sale is coming up fast, and this year, you definitely don’t want to miss out! With our new venue at the National Guard Armory in Valparaiso (1502 Linwood Ave.), we will have plenty of space to spread out and make finding those perfect books that much more enjoyable. So, get ready to bring all of those textbooks, novels, biographies, reference books, music CDs, video games, and anything else you’d like to donate – we’ll even help you bring them inside! Donations can be dropped off on Thursday, July 16 at the National Guard Armory from 11am - 4pm. You may also make arrangements with us to drop them off at our shelter prior to the event, if needed. Just contact us at shelter@ catsociety.org or 219-785-4936. During the sale on July 17 and 18 (9am - 4pm both days), we’ll have plenty of things going on besides books, of course. You can enjoy a host of baked goods, live musical entertainment from our own Kimmy Ebert, and our wonderful gourmet “lunch boxes” made by our star volunteer chefs while you shop. Many of our shelter cats will be showing off their stuff as well on both days. You might just want to “sit a spell” and read with one of them! Nothing beats the joy of a Before you go, don’t forget to grab some of your cat’s favorite homemade catnip toys, and maybe something sparkly for yourself. This year’s raffles will include a host of great baskets and prizes, including a beautiful necklace good book and a good cat! donated by longtime ICS sponsor, Pyrrha Jewelry. This special charm, handmade in sterling silver, is intended to inspire creativity and higher thought – learn more about it at http://pyrrha.com/products/creativity.

Finally, this year’s book sale will also feature some great opportunities to learn from local authors. That’s right, the ICS community has lots of hardworking and bright people, in many ways, and several will be on hand to promote their works and perform book signings. In addition, we will have a limited number of signed books from Dr. Linda Harper, author of The Power of Joy in Giving to Animals, an excellent book for anyone who works with animals (or people) in need. Dr. Harper will be offering a special workshop at Purdue University North Central on Tuesday, August 4, in room LSF-02 from 1pm - 4pm, and you will be able to pick up your copy of the book and register for this terrific opportunity during our Book Sale. If you register before the Book Sale ends on July 18, you’ll save $5 and pay only $20 for this special 3-hour educational event! Want to register early? Visit our website at http://www.catsociety.org and sign up online.

Thanks to Purdue North Central

Recently two Independent Cat Society volunteers, Dr. Staci Trekles, ICS Board President, and Roberta Jocius, ICS Grants Chair, offered a ten-week Grant Writing Workshop for community members through the Graduate and Extended Learning (GEL) Office at Purdue University North Central (PNC). This class went through the many different aspects of the grant writing process, incuding everything from finding available grants to writing proposals and budgets, to using technology to tell a story.

Generously, PNC offered to give half of the profits from the class tuition fees to the Independent Cat Society for the work of these dedicated volunteers, which equaled $850. The Independent Cat Society is grateful to have had a chance to work with Cassandra Boehlke and Rebecca Vogelpohl in the PNC Graduate and Extended Learning Office, and looks forward to more chances to partner with PNC in the future. For example, look for PNC’s own Chancellor Dworkin and his wonderful children’s book, The ICS kitties Roly and Cookie get educated Dog and the Dolphin, at this year’s Book Sale! at PNC with (from left) Staci Trekles, Rebecca Vogelpohl, and PNC student Karen Bjonback

Keep an eye on http://www.pnc.edu/gel for repeat offerings and other great community courses, and join us on campus again on August 4 to learn from the author of The Power of Joy of Giving to Animals. ICS would like to thank its terrific Westville neighbor for extending its campus resources, time, and talents to our shelter community!

Adoptable cats, great articles, dates to remember, and more inside!