Reminder-renew your Kroger card for OAR

Kroger's Community Rewards program requires participants to re-enroll annually.  For those of you who enrolled April 2012 (as a result of OAR's reminder messages), it's time to re-enroll!  Not sure when your enrollment deadline is?  Check the bottom of your receipt the next time you visit Kroger, and the information should be there. 

Re-enrollment instructions:  (scroll down for instructions if you are enrolling for the first time)

1) Go to www.kroger.com/community/Pages/community_rewards.aspx
2) Under the bold heading “ Kroger Community Rewards”, click where it says “Do you already have an account? Click Here to sign in.” You will be directed to the Sign In page.
3) On the Sign In page, enter your email address and the password you used to set up your Kroger account. You will be directed to the Community Rewards Program page.
4) On the Community Rewards Program page, enter Ohio Alleycat Resource under “1. Find Your Organization”.
5) Under “2. Select your Organization”, you should see OAR listed.  We are organization # 80416
6) Click on the circle immediately to the left of Ohio Alleycat Resource to select it.
7) Click the SAVE button under “3. Save your Selection”

If you have never registered your Kroger Plus Shopper’s Card to benefit OAR, it's easy to do!  If you already have a Kroger on-line account, follow the directions above for re-registering a card. If you do not have a Kroger on-line, follow the directions below.
1) Go to www.kroger.com/community/Pages/community_rewards.aspx
2) Near the top of the page, click the large red box captioned “Create an Account”
3) On the Create Account page, enter your email address and a memorable password of your choice.
4) Immediately below that, click on the large red box captioned Add Your Plus Card Account and when prompted, enter the number on the back of your Kroger Plus Shopper’s plus, your last name and zip code.
5) Immediately below the Add Your Plus Card Account box, add info about your favorite Kroger store location.
6) Click the red box captioned Create Account
Kroger will send you an email confirming your account activation. Once activated, you can follow the instructions above to register your Kroger Plus Shopper’s Card to benefit OAR.

Neuterville Express expands to Middletown, Ohio

OAR's Neuterville Express service announces a new transport location  - Middletown, Ohio!  On April 10th, OAR will pick up pet, stray, and feral cats at PAWS Adoption Center, 2790 Cincinnati-Dayton Road.  Cats will be safely returned the next morning.  OAR is offering a special surgery rate of $15 for low-income clients, and a $10 rate for feral or stray cats that will be ear-tipped and returned to their outdoor homes.  Residents unable to affford the reduced surgery cost, or having many cats to fix may also apply for SNIP vouchers offered by the Scratching Post that make the cost of surgery free.  Vouchers must be requested by April 1st for the Middletown transport. 

Not a Middletown resident?  Check out our other Neuterville Express locations at http://www.ohioalleycat.org/transport-locations/

Kenneth A. Scott Trust grant to provide $10 feral S/N

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 13, 2013

MEDIA CONTACT:
Charlotte E. White-Hull, Director Development & Outreach
Ohio Alleycat Resource & Spay/Neuter Clinic
513-218-3019 / OAR.outreach@gmail.com

Nonprofit Clinic Receives $10,500 Grant to Provide $10 Spay/Neuter for Feral Cats

Ohio Alleycat Resource & Spay/Neuter Clinic (OAR) has been awarded a $10,500 grant by the Kenneth A. Scott Charitable Trust to assist Greater Cincinnati area residents caring for feral cats.  The grant will reduce the cost of OAR’s spay/neuter surgery-rabies vaccination package from $45 to $10.  The program is available to all Greater Cincinnati residents, regardless of income level. 

Feral cats are the wild offspring of stray or pet cats, and thus not suitable indoor pets.  Using trap-neuter-return methods to manage their population, feral cats can live out their natural lives without producing additional homeless cats.  Cats are trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and then returned to their outdoor home, where they are fed regularly and provided shelter.   “Trap-neuter-return methods are endorsed by multiple national animal welfare organizations as the most effective and humane means to reduce cat overpopulation.”,  notes Clinic Outreach Director Charlotte White-Hull. 

Residents are encouraged to call (513) 871-0185 or to consult the organization’s Website www.ohioalleycat.org for more information. 

Ohio Alleycat Resource & Spay/Neuter Clinic (www.ohioalleycat.org) enriches Greater Cincinnati’s cats and communities.  The organization offers pet adoption services, low-cost spay/neuter programs, and assists the public in caring for feral cats.   For more information on OAR and its programs, call (513) 871-7297, or visit www.ohioalleycat.org.

OAR Receives Greater Cincinnati Foundation grant

OAR is pleased to have received a grant in the amount of $4,275 to fund major medical expenses for our shelter cats.  This project was funded by a grant from The William Hunter Young Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation.

The grant will be used to further OAR's adoption program through funding of treatable, but significant medical conditions for our shelter's residents.  OAR’s shelter does not refuse cats who may require more financial resources due to injury or illness. Our adoption team has seen firsthand that cats who have endured health complications are as likely to form a bond with potential adopters as any other, and so we strive to provide the kind of life-saving care these cats need to lead healthy lives in homes.

Last year, we were able to help among others, Watson, whose painful lower urinary tract disease affected not only his quality of life, but his overall demeanor and, consequently, his ability to be adopted; and Grace, a stray cat who needed her leg and tail amputated after being hit by a car.  Both are healthy and happy in their new homes.  OAR is pleased to partner with the Foundation to assist similar cats in need in the upcoming year.

About the Greater Cincinnati Foundation:
The Greater Cincinnati Foundation helps people make the most of their giving to build a better community.  We believe in the power of philanthropy to change the lives of people and communities.  As a community foundation, GCF creates a prosperous Greater Cincinnati by investing in thriving people and vibrant places.  An effective steward of the community's charitable resources since 1963, the Foundation inspires philanthropy in eight counties in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.

Reduce waste and help cats at the same time!

OAR volunteer and Sun Sugar Farms owner Linda Fritz is donating all proceeds from her pawprint-themed CRESBI crates to OAR.  CRESBI crates are collapsible, environmentally-friendly and reusable stacking crates useful for carrying groceries and other items.  OAR will receive all proceeds from the Pet Paws 2 Pack and Bag.  Thanks, Linda, for your help with our Boone County Neuterville Express transport, and your generosity in this donation.  www.sunsugarfarms.com.

CRESI crates Paw Print design