Message from the President - Sharing Your Holidays with the Animals - by Jane Hoffman, President, Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals - December 2004 - Out of the Cage!, the E-Newsletter of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

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Message from the President

Sharing Your Holidays with the Animals

by Jane Hoffman, President, Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

With the holidays fast approaching, it's likely that your calendar is quickly filling up with seasonal activities and social commitments. As a concerned animal supporter, you might be wondering what you can do during the holiday season to support the homeless dogs and cats in our community.

This month there are plenty of activities designed to benefit NYC's homeless animals. If you attended Rational Animal's Gingerbread Homes for Animals event in Central Park or P.L.U.T.O. Rescue's Third Annual "Pictures with Santa" Day in Staten Island earlier this month, that was a good start.

A big "thank you" to everyone who attended the Mayor's Alliance Cat Adoption Festival on Saturday, December 11, at St. Paul the Apostle Church on Manhattan's Upper West Side…and congratulations to all those who met their newest feline family member there!

Other activities this month from Alliance Participating Organizations (APOs) include opportunities to support their holiday fundraising efforts. For example, The Husky House's Holiday Auction on eBay provides you with a great way to shop for breed merchandise for holiday giving and support the group's special needs animals. Also on the December calendar are:

•	Staten Island Council for Animal Welfare's Photos with Santa at PetSmart, 1520 Forest Avenue, Staten Island, on Saturday, December 11 and Sunday, December 12, 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
•	CSM Stray Foundation's Holiday Gift Wrapping Extravaganza at Barnes & Noble, 176-60 Union Turnpike, Queens, on Sunday, December 12, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
•	Animals Can't Talk (ACT)'s Holiday Brunch & Boutique at the Douglaston Club, 600 West Drive, Douglaston, Queens, on Sunday, December 12, Noon–4:00 p.m.

If you volunteer for a shelter or rescue group — or if you've been thinking about volunteering — consider that your efforts during the hectic holidays will be needed more than ever. Typically, shelters and rescue groups are swamped during the holidays because of increased demand on their resources and reduced staff and volunteer availability. So get out and walk dogs, cuddle cats, run errands — be an extra set of useful hands for an organization. And help make the holidays a little brighter for the animals. Click here to submit a Volunteer Application to find the perfect volunteer match for your skills, interests, and availability.

To find out more about upcoming events and volunteer opportunities during the holidays, please contact the Mayor's Alliance at info@AnimalAllianceNYC.org.

Thank you for your support of the animals, and our best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season.

Jane