This year was a fantastic sucess yet again.  Dr. Van Duin took photos of over 100 animals of all types.  Of course, we saw primarily dogs and cats, but we also enjoyed seeing the hamster and guinea pig, Fluffy and Gus.  Quincy, the rabbit also came for a photo op, for the second… or was it the third year, in a row.  It was wonderful to see how generous people were and how well the pets all cooperated with Santa and the photographer.  We raised about $1300 for our local animal shelters.  Half of the money collected was donated to the Richmond Animal Protection Society (RAPS) and the other half was donated to our local branch of the SPCA.

Yet again, one of these lovely souls will have their photo chosen for the front of our IVH Christmas card.  It’s so hard to decide because we have so many beautiful photos!

We would like to thank ALL who participated in this event and EVERYONE for their generosity.  A big thanks goes out to Steve Van Duin, who kindly donated many, many hours of his time.  We couldn’t have done it without him.

Have a wonderful 2010!

We had our first annual RAPS (Richmond Animal Protection Society) fund-raiser yard sale today and it was a fantastic success!  We had 19 tables of lightly used stuff for sale, and most of us sold the majority of our treasures.  The place was literally crawling with people for 3 hours in the morning and steady all afternoon.  The weather was perfect, which of course always helps.  Collectively, we raised $460 for RAPS, which can always use a helping hand…or funds.  Almost all of the left-over goods, went to the RAPS Thrift Store benefiting the shelter even more.  We want to thank everyone who was involved in this event.  We’ve already had many requests for the same event next year and it’s a promise; we’ll be having another yard sale next year.  In the mean time; don’t forget to help your local shelter whenever possible.  They do a lot of good with very little.

the hub of it all

This was our 3rd Annual Photos with Santa Fundraiser and it’s rapidly becoming an IVH tradition.  We raised $1100 this year and collected about $100 worth of food for the Richmond Food Bank.  The monies raised were split evenly between the Richmond Animal Protection Society and our local branch of the SPCA here in Richmond.

One of the photos we took this year will become our IVH Christmas card for 2009.  You’ll have to wait and see who it will be.

We would like to thank everyone who brought out  their furry companions and children to pose with Santa!  We even had some great contributions from people who couldn’t make it out with their pets.  We’d also like to thank Bob Elliot, Charles Whittaker, Neil Williscroft and Ian Wardley for donating their time and excellent humour.

Here’s to a Wonderful 2009 from all of the team at IVH!