Update
With the rapidly changing situation and recommendations, we have decided to cancel our Kitten Shower on April 19th.
We did mail out our invites over the weekend, not expecting the new restrictions.
If we are able to re-schedule, we will do so, but it is looking like months instead of weeks while the world goes thru this. Many other organizations are saying "See you next year." If you know someone who normally attends but does not participate in social media, please let them know about the cancellation.
We don't want anyone to be in a situation where they are exposed to a potentially fatal illness. Done.
We will still be doing TNR. We will stay in close contact with DCAS and ADOPT and are still planning on kicking off full trips in April. We absolutely do not want to lose ground. If caretakers are stuck at home, we might be busier than previous years!
We have cats waiting to be trapped already!
We hope to be able to close on our building this week – much can be done electronically but people have to actually be in their offices to receive and process. Scheduled for March 19th, the ending date of our Fund Our Ferals' Future fundraiser. We'll keep you posted on that front also.
When some normalcy returns we will have an Open House at the new building but cannot plan that date yet.
In the meantime, please take care of yourselves!
This is a global situation with local ramifications.
You may already be tired of hearing about it but this is not over yet, and Feral Fixers needs to update you one what we're doing.
We have no choice but to continue to do our work. We cannot lose ground, must continue to care for the cats. As long as none of us are sick, we will evaluate our own contacts with the public, which is usually one-on-one. We ask that anyone we will encounter consider our safety.
We have an event scheduled for April 19th, the Kitten Shower at the VFW in Villa Park. At this time, the VFW has had no issues, they are wiping down all surfaces after each event they host. This is still 5 weeks away and so much can change in just 5 weeks with this situation. The numbers could be worse or we could be on the downside with numbers going down dramatically. There's so much to do before the day of an event, we'll be sending out postcards today, working on gift baskets, etc.
Right now, we are still planning on holding the event. Attendance is usually 150 to 200 people, below the limits recently set by Governor Pritzker. We are not an excessively touchy-feely crowd, we will be supplying everyone with their own pens, providing hand sanitizer, figuring out the food. We do not have the resources to turn this into a virtual event on short notice and there isn't an alternate time period in the year we can move it to.
We will be monitoring the situation and may still cancel the event. So many enjoy the Kitten Shower, it may be the only time in the year we get to see our supporters and it is one of our major fundraisers.
We'll see what this looks like in a few weeks and keep everyone informed of our plans, it is a very fluid situation. DO NOT plan on attending if you feel the slightest bit ill or concerned. Your health is the most important thing here. You can turn it into your own virtual event!
Wanted to let everyone know where we are with this!