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This information. and much more, can be found at The Animal Rescue Site.

To vote for Volunteers for Animals, please click HERE!

Hi!  I'm writing to tell you about The Animal Rescue Site $300,000 Shelter+ Challenge of 2012 - together with Petfinder.  The Animal Rescue Site is awarding $300,000 in grants to eligible Petfinder.com member rescue organizations to help animals.  The grand prize in each voting round is a $5,000 grant, and there are many other prizes!  Visit The Animal Rescue Site to vote every day and learn more.  You don't have to register, and voting is FREE!  Support your favorite shelter and vote today! 

How long is the Challenge, and how can we increase our chances?
This voting round begins on January 9, 2012, and ends at midnight (PT) on March 18, 2012. There will be other voting rounds throughout the year - more chances for your organization to win! The more friends you can rally to vote for your favorite rescue organization, the better its chances of winning. Every vote, every day counts - shelters can pull ahead even during the last few days with enough support. Get people involved! Your favorite rescue organization is counting on you!

What kind of grant could my shelter win?
Seventy (70) grants will be awarded for a total of $75,000 to eligible Petfinder.com members during the very first voting round of the 2012 Challenge. The grand prize will go to the eligible Petfinder.com organization with the highest accumulative votes for the duration of the Challenge as specified in the rules.

The Prizes Are:
Grand Prize:  One $5,000 grant!
Dark Horse Grand Prize:  One $2,000 grant!
Dark Horse Runners Up:  Five $1,000 grants.
State Winners:  Fifty-one $1,000 state grants
  (50 U.S. states and Washington D.C.)
Canadian Winners:  One $1,000 grant will be awarded.
International Winner:  One $1,000 grant will be awarded.
Weekly Winners:  Ten $1,000 grants will be awarded, one for each week of this voting round of the Shelter⁺ Challenge.

BROCKPORT…Fountain of Youth Organics, a new health food store in the village of Brockport will hold a grand opening celebration for Saturday, March 5 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Product samples, give-aways, and a basket raffle are planned for the day. SUNY Brockport’s radio station, WBSU will be broadcasting a live remote from the store at 46 Main Street, Brockport.

Visitors can also sign up to become a “FoYO Member” and receive $15.00 off the usual sign-up fee. Members can take advantage of members-only sales events, receive a quarterly newsletter, recipe-of-the-month, and will also get a free FoYO t-shirt and biodegradable jute FoYO shopping bag.

Fountain of Youth Organics focuses on unique gluten- and allergen-free products, organic dairy, and a full line of vitamins and supplements. Patty Hawley, co-owner of FoYO along with her husband Ted says, “We work hard to seek out small, independent labels. Many of our products come from local, organic sources with an eye toward originality. We carry a vegan, gluten free chocolate sauce that hails from Ithaca, 100% grass-fed yogurt from Maple Hill Creamery, and a brand new Kombucha from BAO Organics, born in Brooklyn and available - until recently - in greater metropolitan New York exclusively.”

Hawley continues, “Customers will have the opportunity to sample various local foods like Whole in the Wall Pesto (Ithaca, NY); BAO Kombucha; Lively Run goat cheese (Finger Lakes), and break-the-mold-delicious gluten-free cookies from WOW Baking Co. Organic, fair-trade coffee and cocoa will also be available to sample.”

While the Hawley’s have recently opened the Brockport store, they are no strangers to business. Together they owned and operated Personal Storage Systems, the Bank Street Road business was the first self-storage facility in Genesee County (which they later sold in 2006). Mr. Hawley currently owns Genesee Data Management, a record retention and shredding service in Batavia. “We’re passionate about health, wellness, and fitness; we knew that we wanted to open a health food store. The question was ‘where?’,” according to Ted.

A few months of research led the couple to Brockport where they purchased a building in the historic district on Main Street. After extensive exterior and interior restoration, the couple opened February 8. “We’re very pleased with the response so far and look forward to serving the community well into the future.” For more information about Fountain of Youth Organics contact 585.637.3696 or email patty@foyorganics.com.

This morning I had to run a few errands on the "big box" side of town. One of our aquarium's filters stopped working last night, and unfortunately Neptune's Gardens doesn't carry some of the products I prefer to use. So, I went to pet co, and then needed some first aid supplies from Target.

On my way to the stores I saw outside of Jerry Arena's Pizzeria there was a charcoal grill and few people. So, on my way back I got a nice, fresh, red hot. Boy was it tasty. I might have to run a few more errands on my days off just to get one!