Click here to go to read Chewy’s story and to go to his Chip-In page! 

Help Chewy get home so he can nap on couches like Chuck! If you look on the back of the couch behind him, you can see the kitten Chuck adopted.

We vote on who to send donations periodically on Chuck’s facebook page so watch for announcements and links!

Now for the update. Chuck is doing SO WELL. It turns out that the soldiers he lived with also taught him a few things. He seemed to know sit, down, shake, and it looks like they were working on roll over. Since he’s been here he has also learned “wait”. For us, that means don’t go anywhere just yet, don’t leap for the food dish, and/or don’t run out the door until I release you.  He loves playing with his new brother, and now he even has his own kitten. He hasn’t shown any of the big problems that I heard came with these dogs. He’s very friendly, doesn’t seem to be territorial at all, he likes kids (he met our nephew’s toddler and was very friendly and gentle), not overly barky, and isn’t dog aggressive. He does dig a lot but I expected it, and our back yard is just a giant sand pit anyway. Chuck is basically a giant marshmallow of love. I am so thankful every day to everyone who helped us get him home.

Here’s a picture I just took as I was writing this post.

Here he is with his kitten:

Now go to his facebook page and vote on who we help next!

https://www.facebook.com/bringchuckhome

Go to the post made on February 9th at 9:30 pm and vote! You have an hour left!

Here’ s Chuck chilling out with his family.

Now that we’re basically settled, it’s time to pay it forward. Go to the Soldier’s Animal Companion page (basically click this sentence) and read it. When your allergies finish making your eyes run, pick a pet. Then go to Chuck’s facebook page and vote in this post. The day after the deadline I will count up the votes and we’ll donate money to help bring that animal home! If I have the time and brainpower I will also make posts about it on Craigslist and other places, like I did with Chuck.

I have another pet project now too; paws4jamey.info. A soldier from here at Fort Bliss has an autistic child and he and his family are trying to raise money for a service dog for their son, Jamey. The dog will help keep Jamey calm and help his parents keep better control of him (keep him from running away, for example). There is a much better and in-depth explanation on the paws4jamey website so please go give it a look! Here’s a picture of Jamey so you can see what a cute kid you’d be helping out with your donations or links.

Thanks SO MUCH to Shelly from the Puppy Rescue Mission for your help! I couldn’t have done it without you!

Here’s a couple pictures to tide you over til I can do an in-depth.

Someone from The Puppy Rescue Mission  will be coming with me to take pictures and to help me introduce Chuck and Sagan (outside my house in case Sagan feels territorial at all; he’s never had another dog in the house before but he’s very friendly with visiting people).  Be warned: I tear up whenever I go to that site.  HOWEVER, if you can make it past that, there are some great links on the site that will help donate money to PRM with very little effort on your part.

Just use GoodSearch (instead of Google) or GoodShop when you do online shopping, to help donate money to help The Puppy Rescue Mission get more soldiers’ pets home!

“I know everyone is stretched pretty thin right now, but I’m posting this out of huge hope, optimism, and, frankly, desperation. My colleague and I are teaming up to get books for our junior English classes — traditionally American lit. It’s no secret that our schools are struggling. We’re losing money every year; at the same time, our needs are becoming more complex. It makes finding decent books — books that are both accessible and engaging for a diverse population of students — a challenge, to say the least. 

Many of our students were not raised to be readers, but that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy reading; they just need a “hook.” Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, would be a powerful addition to our curriculum. The true story of a Syrian-born American’s experiences following Hurricane Katrina, it raises the question of what it means to be American and the extent to which race and culture influence the way we navigate our common ground.

Some of our students come from relatively wealthy families, but most do not. We have pretty much ZERO money for new books and we cannot ask our students to buy books for our classes — but they deserve a rigorous yet accessible and engaging curriculum. The right book can inspire and challenge both our reluctant readers and those who are already motivated to succeed.

We need 65 copies of this book. If you could find it in your heart to support my colleague and me and our kids, I would be so deeply grateful — every little bit truly does help, and so many students, this year and in years to come, will benefit. 

Here is the link to our Donors Choose page: http://www.donorschoose.org/malbert

And please, please SHARE/REPOST THIS!

(Sidenote: My name doesn’t appear on our Donors Choose page because I’m still teaching part-time, so my colleague graciously agreed to team up with me. But my students will definitely be using these books immediately, if and when we can get them.)”

Please, if you’re not all tapped out, please donate enough to buy at least one book. They only need 65 of them and I am hoping I donated enough to buy at least one. I know money is tight around the holidays, but books saved my life when I was a kid.  We were able to help Chuck pretty quickly (I am still astonished and so grateful at how quickly and generously everyone responded). Surely we can take care of these kids who need a fraction of what Chuck needed.

If you know of anyone with a military ID who is willing to help us out with this, PLEASE ask them to contact me either here or on the facebook page! The bonus: that person will get to meet Chuck and snuggle him and pet him and squish him and love him IN PERSON. If we can’t find an ID card holder to do this for us then the price will be twice as much.

Let’ send him some!

http://www.wnem.com/story/16229213/boy-with-leaukemia-wishing-for-cards-to-cheer-him-up

Here’s the address: