Visit our Events web page for more information about our events. Stay tuned as more events are being planned for 2022!

All human and furry friends are welcome to come to Montague Lake this Saturday, July 23rd, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for our Summer Splash.

If you have any questions you can reach out to Kerry or Scott at: calendarcontest@nrgrr.org. 

If you have any questions or anything you would like to donate, feel free to reach out to Kerry Ahrend at kerry@nrgrr.org. Come play, sponsor, or volunteer. Guaranteed to be one of the most FUN events you will attend all year. Hey, we even get to bring our Goldens along!

This month, Nell Barnes and Kerry Ahrend had the privilege of attending the Best Friends National Conference at the Raleigh Convention Center. The conference was designed to share the newest, most advanced lifesaving tips and techniques from animal welfare experts.

Best Friends Animal Society is a national non-profit founded over 35 years ago by a group of people whose vision it was to create a sanctuary for abandoned and abused animals. In 1984, the founders of Best Friends made a promise to one another, and to the animals already in their care, that they would build an animal sanctuary in Southern Utah dedicated to housing and finding homes for unwanted pets while advocating the importance of no-kill.

Today, Best Friends has a goal to educate and empower shelters and rescues to increase “live” outcomes (number of noses in/number of noses out), create community-supported shelters, run more successful fundraising campaigns, end breed-specific legislation, and much more.

Here is some good news to share—the average save rate for dogs and cats across the country has shifted from 64% in 2016 to 83% in 2020. Today, a third of all communities with sheltering services around the country are now no-kill. Many shelters are at 90% (no-kill) and above, and two states have achieved “No Kill” and sustained this impressive status—New Hampshire and Delaware. Best Friend’s has a vision and a goal of achieving 100% “No Kill” for all brick-and-mortar shelters by 2025.

Although most of the workshops were focused on shelters and the work they are doing, there is a lot we can do as a Rescue to support the efforts of Best Friends and shelters across our state and country. NRGRR submitted the documentation to become a member of the Best Friends Network and was accepted in less than 24 hours! We are thrilled!

Why become a Best Friends Network Partner and what does this mean? As a Best Friends Network Partner, NRGRR will join the public and private shelters, rescues spay/neuter programs, and animal welfare groups across all 50 states in a collaborative effort to improve the lives of animals is our care. We will be part of the mission –“Together we will Save Them All!” As a Partner we also will enjoy the benefits of professional resources and mentorship opportunities to achieve organizational goals and increase lifesaving impact. We will participate in major fundraising events such as the nationwide STRUTT YOUR MUTT each Fall.

We have all heard or seen the advertising by nonprofits to donate your car to charity. CARS accepts all vehicles (running or not) including cars, trucks, trailers, boats, RVs, motorcycles, campers, off-road vehicles, planes, heavy equipment, farm machinery, and most other motorized vehicles. CARS also has a real estate donation program.

At the Best Friends National Conference, NRGRR representatives had the opportunity to meet the representatives from CARS as well as the staff of many fellow animal welfare nonprofits who are CARS partners. The absolute consensus was that the car donation program is an easy, no work way for NRGRR to receive another donation opportunity. CARS does all the work – receives the call about a donation, works with the donor on a pick-up time, does all the title transfer and legal documentation processing, sells the vehicle, thanks the donor, and gives the donor the required IRS donation receipt and deposits the proceeds to NRGRR. CARS keeps a portion of the funds, but the charity receives the majority of the proceeds to do the work of rescue.

We are excited about this new partnership! Please join us in letting all your friends and family know about the newest NRGRR donation opportunity.

The invasion of Ukraine has left many animals homeless and in need of food and shelter. One of our NRGRR volunteers has made contact with a Ukrainian woman in Reidsville who, with her animal rescue, Fine Whine and Lickers, is helping the animals of Ukraine. Galyna Karpenski, the founder of this rescue is originally from the Ukraine.

Monies donated are used to purchase supplies in Poland, such as crates and food. The supplies are then transported into Ukraine to help abandoned pets and stray animals. Galyna’s rescue is working hard to help animals in the Ukraine, but they need help! If you are interested in supporting their efforts check out Fine Whine and Lickers website and Gail Karpenski and Ukrainians in the Carolinas Facebook pages.

We hope you enjoy this new platform for the Rescue Ranger! You may receive this edition more than once as we strive to not leave anyone out. You can always email questions or concerns to us at: rescueranger@nrgrr.org.

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