7:00 - 10:00 pm
  Dzian Gallery

  65 Water Street
  Worcester, MA

  Tickets: $35.00 per person

Please join us on Saturday, October 4, 2008 from 7-10 pm at Dzian Gallery as we raise funds to help the precious animals in need at Maple Farm Sanctuary. Come and enjoy drinks, hors d' oeuvres, delicious vegan catering, silent auctions, animal artwork, complimentary valet parking and so much more.

All proceeds from the evening will go to help Maple Farm Sanctuary maintain a peaceful home for neglected and abused animals. Please join us and help make a difference!

 
Tickets: $35.00 per person. 

To order tickets please call 508-831-1106 or  make check payable to

"Maple Farm Sanctuary" and mail to

Dzian Gallery, 65 Water Street, Worcester, MA 01604

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Time: 1:00 - 5:00 pm

Location: Maple Farm Sanctuary

Street: 101 North Avenue

City: Mendon, MA

Beaten sheep healing at Maple Farm

(click on title above to link to original source)

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

Sun Apr 27, 2008, 05:19 PM EDT

What if Maple Farm Sanctuary earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase you made online went to support our cause? Well, now it can!

GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

GoodShop.com is a new online shopping mall which donates up to 37 percent of each purchase to your favorite cause! Hundreds of great stores including Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you'll be supporting your favorite cause.

Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter "Maple Farm Sanctuary" as the charity you want to support. And, be sure to spread the word!

Activists from Connecticut and New York recently visited the Maple Farm Sanctuary in Mendon, MA for a day of volunteering and a meet-and-greet with the beautiful animals who are living out their days in tranquility on the farm.  They spent the day cleaning the barn and feeding the goats, miniature pony and sheep, and they were accompanied by Gracie the turkey and Phyllis the hen who kept everyone laughing with their antics all afternoon.

• Donate your time and supplies 

• Sponser an animal or send a donation

• Buy an MFS shirt

• Encourage your friends to add MFS on Myspace

Let me begin by stating I've always loved animals, but I grew up in a society that treats them as possessions, as things—a "meat and potatoes" world. I had no idea the flesh I consumed came from wide-eyed cows and innocent fluffy chickens. And while I knew I always wanted to work with animals, it took time and several life lessons before I found a job that truly benefited them.

My first growth spurt came when I was employed at a drug manufacturer, as both a histology technician and—brace yourself—autopsy room technician. I was told the research benefited mankind and that the killing of test animals was called "sacrificing." In the logbooks where we recorded autopsy room data, we didn't kill anything, we "sacrificed numbers."

I remember early in my employment, walking to where the dogs—sweet little beagles—were caged and routinely dosed with compounds such as growth promotants, antibiotics, dopamine and a multitude of others. I would talk with them, reach through the cages to pet them, all the while looking into their trusting, unknowing eyes. I did this for only a few days before I was caught and reprimanded for this behavior. I was told test animals were to have no human contact other than dosing, examining, cleaning and feeding since any expression of affection would cause the animal to have a will to live and adversely affect their reaction to the compounds they were given. Well, I tried living with that justification for about four years before I left. My life of discovery had begun.

Swimming with Dolphins
My next job was at an aquarium. And while I found myself amongst many who adored and cared for animals, we were working for folks who lined their pockets with their blood. My job description as "aquarist" included feeding and monitoring the health of the thousands of fish and a few marine mammals, monitoring the quality of the water, helping the staff care for the marine mammals and assisting with autopsies.

When the aquarium received four bottle-nosed dolphins, I felt lucky to have the privilege of swimming with them during their adjustment to captivity. Then a misjudgment on management's part ruined that vision. A satellite pool, off the main pool, was divided into four sections, similar to a rotating pie. The sections were used to hold dolphins, as a form of punishment, for not properly doing a trick for the paying public. While each section was framed with metal piping, the fabric dividing the areas was nylon netting. The trainers tried telling management this was an accident waiting to happen but the pleas fell on deaf ears.

Early one morning, I heard the high-pitched screams. We may not speak their language, but anguish, sadness and frustration are easily translatable. One of the male dolphins had caught his nose in the netting and in trying to free himself, actually twisted tighter, trapping himself underwater. In the wild, if a dolphin is sick or injured, the others come to his aid and push him to the surface for air. In this captive setting, the other dolphins could only watch as their companion slowly drowned.

A fellow worker and I dove in with a knife hoping to cut the netting but it had tightened so severely around the dolphin's nose we couldn't get it off. We could only cut the section free and bring the lifeless body to the surface. Shortly thereafter, the dolphin was replaced with another caught from the wild, the netting replaced with metal chain link, and the show went on.

Spilled Goats' Milk
I subsequently left the aquarium and spent a short time as a graphic designer before deciding to become a goat milk farmer. I actually met my husband, Jim, when collecting goats for my business. He was selling his dairy cows and getting ready to raise replacement heifers. We became inseparable.

One day I entered the barn while he was milking and noticed an obviously ill calf. When I questioned what would happen to her, he told me regardless of the calf's illness she would be sent to a livestock dealer where she would be sold for meat. At the time, I had some money set aside and pleaded with him to let me take care of the sick calf. He reluctantly agreed. I brought the calf to Tufts' veterinary clinic where the vet started IV fluids and antibiotics and said that if left uncared for another day she would have died. When she was well enough I brought her back to the farm where she eventually became a dairy cow.

In time, our consciences would not allow us to continue milking our cows for the purpose of producing dairy products. Instead, we increased the goat herd and began to sell goat milk. The very unfortunate byproduct of this was, "what to do with all the kids?"

In certain ethnic communities it's tradition to have baby goat meat during the Easter holiday. Those of Portuguese and Greek descent, who knew of our farm, would overwhelm us during this period. We would weigh the 25-35 pound kids and the customers paid. They were then hogtied and picked up like pieces of luggage and literally thrown into the back of a trunk or pick-up truck. These babies would look into my eyes with trust, wonder and fear. Jim and I knew their fate. Having been in the dairy business his whole life Jim had tried to harden my emotions. We couldn't possibly keep all the kids, and not many people want goats as pets.

Many times Jim and I stood at the gate listening to our baby goats cry as they were driven away. It was at one of those horrific moments when Jim and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes and began our journey to a no-kill life. It was a frightening time for us because the goat milk and the kids were part of our income in supporting the farm.

We went on a quest to find someone to help change our ways and help with the animals. We contacted PETA and I spoke to a wonderful person who reassured me, in between my sobbing, that we were doing the right thing. To ease the financial burden we were given a list of farm sanctuaries to call that could perhaps take some of the goats. After several calls to sanctuaries with no room, we found OohMahNee. Founders Cayce Mell and Jason Tracy assured us that we were indeed doing the right thing. My heart was aching. I loved my goats and having to send them away was difficult even though I knew it would be a safe place for them. After much thought, we sent half of our herd to the OohMahNee and PIGs sanctuaries. It was a day of mixed feelings but Cayce and Jason were my angels and comforted us during this distressful time.

Today, Jim and I are vegetarians and have our own small sanctuary in Massachusetts, Maple Farm Sanctuary. A safe and loving refuge for farmed animals, they live the remainder of their lives in peace, free to roam and meander the land.

Cheri Ezell-Vandersluis is co-founder of Maple Farm Sanctuary (www.maplefarmsanctuary.org), located in Mendon, Massachusetts.

___________________________________________________________

If you like this article, please go to the link below and "digg it" so more people will read it. Thanks!

http://digg.com/environment/From_Goat_Farmer_to_Sanctuary_Founder

July/August 2007
Maple Farm Sanctuary Summer Newsletter
Summer's Here!
This Issue's Articles

Good News!
From Cruelty in the Classroom to a Happy Ending at Maple Farm Sanctuary
Law Forbids Handling Baby Wildlife
Vegetarianism is a Small Price to Pay
Federal: Farm Bill Threatens State Food Safety and Animal Welfare Laws!
Care2Home Cash for Charity Program
iGive.com
Good Search
Yummy Vegan Recipe!
MFS T-Shirts, Sweat Shirts and Caps Now Available
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We hope this newsletter finds everyone well rested and
looking forward to a fun-filled summer! The picture
above is of little Habibi, six months old in this photo.
Isn't she sweet?

Summer finds Cheri and Jim busy haying, growing
organic veggies and with the help of some wonderful
MFS supporters,  installing walls and fencing to
expand the outdoor areas for the animals.

The Second Annual Fall Picnic Fundraiser will be held
this year on the grounds of the farm on Sunday,
October 21st. More details to come.

If you are a fan of the band Rise Against please come
to the show on August 17th at Avalon. We'll be tabling
there so please make sure to stop by and say
hello.

Our summer issue includes articles written by
friends of MFS. Please remember that we would love
to add your experiences visiting MFS to our newsletter
so forward  your article or a story idea so we may
consider it for the next issue.

For this or any other administrative issue please
contact cheryl@maplefarmsanctuary.org or at
617-913-8913.

You can always reach Cheri, MFS's President, at 508-
473-7539 or at cheri.ezell@gmail.com for all things
sanctuary related.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good News!
Nonprofit Status Achieved and Board of Directors Announced.

In May we learned that we had finally achieved
nonprofit status - we are officially a nonprofit
organization!

We also now have a fantastic and dedicated board of
directors.

Board Members

John Calabria
Elaine Daley
Robin Flynn
Cheryl Guerriero
Jim Jacobson
Chris Roth
Cheri Ezell-Vander Sluis
Jim Vander Sluis

Each member brings with him or her special skills
and a devotion to the animals and the success of
Maple Farm Sanctuary. We are definitely a working
board and can't thank the members enough for all
their hard work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Cruelty in the Classroom to a Happy Ending at Maple Farm Sanctuary
by John Sanbonmatsu

Peep!  Peep!  Peep!  At my son's nursery school in
Cambridge, the baby chicks were crying for a mother
who never comes. 

Every spring, in a cruel ritual repeated thousands of
times across the nation, teachers like the one at my
son's school buy fertilized chicken eggs, then hatch
them in incubators so that their students can watch. 
Educators call this good science, saying students
learn about "the natural life cycle" and "caring" for
animals.  But whatever our children are being taught, it
is neither good science nor ethics.

As even a four year old knows, there is
nothing "natural" about being born inside a machine. 
In nature, eggs are tended closely by their mothers. 
Amazingly, chicks communicate with their mothers
through the egg shell.  If the chick expresses
discomfort, the hen will turn the shell.  Hens will turn
their eggs up to 30 times per day. 

Many incubators, however, don't turn the eggs at all,
leaving it to the teacher to turn them periodically. 
Often, chicks will come out with hernias or other gross
deformities, in some cases their intestines sticking to
the sides of the shells or hanging from their rectums.
When hatched normally, chicks are literally taken
under the wings of their mothers. 

At my son's school, the teacher crowded the chicks
into a small cardboard box, under a bright lamp,
without any shelter. But chicks need a place to hide
when feeling anxious or frightened.  It was pitiful to
see them, confused and alarmed, trying to escape the
harsh light and their captors' grasping hands, ducking
their heads under the non-existent wings of their
siblings. I saw one chick being squeezed so tightly by
one of the children that its sharp cries of pain rose
above the pandemonium of the classroom.

"Young birds need nurturing and rest," Dr. F. Barbara
Orlans, an ethicist at Georgetown University, has
observed. "Chicks can suffer malnutrition, starvation
and dehydration in the classroom that is not even
noticed. The overriding message of chick-hatching
projects is that human responsibility for these birds is
limited, and animals can be discarded like yesterday's
toys."

And discarded they are. Many ethicists agree that
caring for others is a crucial ingredient in right moral
action.  But care implies a genuine, long-term
commitment to the well-being of the other.  Classroom
hatchings make a mockery of commitment.  After the
chicks grow up, teachers either send the chickens
home with the children, who don't know how to care
for them (leaving them vulnerable to disease or
predation), or dispense them to the slaughterhouse. 

When I asked my son's teacher what she planned to
do with the chicks after they had grown, she said they
would be returned to the farm in Lincoln where she'd
purchased the eggs. Then what? I asked.  She didn't
know.  So I called the farm. In six weeks, they said, the
males would be auctioned off and brought to the
slaughterhouse.  The females would be exploited as
layers for another year or two, then they too would be
brutally killed.  (By contrast, wild chickens in Asia can
live up to 20 years.)

Whatever is being taught to our children, it is not care. 
Nor are we teaching them about the real lives of 99%
of the world's chickens, the billions raised in horrific
conditions for our consumption. While still peeping
chicks, the vast majority of males are either thrown
alive into plastic bags or dumpsters to slowly
suffocate, or are tossed alive into a grinding machine
(their bodies used for animal feed).  But they're the
lucky ones. Female chicks are sent to factory farms. 
There they are crowded into such unbearable
conditions that their beaks are mutilated to keep them
from cannibalizing one another.  And if they survive that
ordeal, they are sent at six weeks old to the killing
floor.  Most are conscious as their throats are slit.

That is the grim reality behind the eggs most
Americans buy, not the false pastoral image that our
children are getting in the classroom.  There are better
ways to teach our kids about the life process and
about the meaning of care than by bringing vulnerable,
captive animals into the classroom to be fondled,
abused, and abandoned to their doom.

But there is a happy ending to this story.  I got in touch
with Karen Davis, the director of United Poultry
Concerns, and told her about the chicks' plight.  And
she told me about an extraordinary couple named
Cheri and Jim, and the sanctuary they started at Maple
Farm. After a brief phone conversation, Cheri agreed
to take the baby chicks after my son's nursery school
was done using them. Instead of going to slaughter,
they would go to a humane sanctuary to live out the
rest of their lives in peace.

In May, the appointed day finally came, and my five
year old son and I got in the car and made the drive
down to Mendon.  It was a terribly hot day....At last we
got there, and were greeted by Cheri-a slight,
charming woman with a warm, broad smile.  She
immediately took the baby chicks and put them in a
large cage filled with fresh straw.  "When they get
older, we'll introduce them to the other chickens, and
they'll have the run of the place too," she explained.

Never have I met anyone who exuded such love and
compassion for the animals in her care.  Buddhists
use the special word "bodhisattva" to refer to an
enlightened, morally advanced being, someone with
boundless concern for all those who suffer.  Well, it
was instantly clear that Cheri was just that, a
bodhisattva.

We only stayed for an hour or so-the heat and
unfamiliar sights and sounds and smells of a working
farm proved too much for my little boy, who was
startled to find that real "farm" animals are louder,
larger, more independent and more alive than the
passive, cartoon images young children are brought
up with in the classroom.  Before we had to leave,
though, Cheri managed to give us an amazing tour of
the Maple Farm facility, a kind of Noah's Ark for
animals who have escaped the Flood of commercial
cruelty.  Ducks, goats, horses, a cow, a turkey, llamas,
and any number of proud roosters and hens.  We also
caught a glimpse of her partner Jim (who I suspected
of having bodhisattva tendencies himself). 

And Cheri told us some moving stories about the
animals she and Jim had rescued over the years. 
She spoke with such deep feeling for them all, with
love and at times sadness, that I came away deeply
moved.

Then we got back on the road and left.  As I drove back
to Boston, I was thinking of how beautiful and
courageous Cheri and Jim are, working such hard
and long days on their farm, and for a pittance, just so
that these animals might live out the rest of their lives
in peace. I thought of the billions upon billions of other
animals who have no one to love them, no one to keep
them from misery and a gruesome end on the killing
floor. 

But my thoughts kept returning to what I had seen in a
small corner of Mendon, Mass.  And I thought, so long
as we still have people in the world like Cheri and Jim,
we may have a fighting chance of turning this
madness around. 



Update:  All six chicks now have full plumage
and we have come to learn that there is one hen and
five roosters. They are all healthy and doing well,
enjoying their new home.

John Sanbonmatsu teaches philosophy and
ethics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Farm Tales
by Laurie Burke

Beau (the large gentle sheep ram with four horns)
waited to be petted; his eyes half closing as I
massage the top of his head.   He had been looking at
us the whole time we were talking and paying
attention to the pony and the turkey.  As I left, his eyes
look right into mine with such wisdom; I tell him he is
a wise ram.

Lucky (the miniature horse) turned in fast little circles
as we groomed him and asked to have his little bum
scratched, never standing still for long this morning!
The small goat, Chocolate Milk, licked my hand so
gently.  She and Butterscotch then got a salt lick, and
loved it.   Today I met Gracie, the brown and white
turkey, who sat gracefully down on the floor as she
saw my hand approach.  She loves to be petted with
the back of your fingers. Also, for a gentle massage
under her wings, she will spread her wings and lift
them a little, all done with such peace and grace; she
reminds one of a swan the way she moves.

Last week when I was here, the little potbellied black
pig, Piggy Wiggy, made a round, raised nest out of hay
and curled up in a perfect circle like a kitten.  
Apparently, pigs like to sleep in a nest when given the
chance. Habibi, the beautiful Jersey heifer is out
enjoying the sunshine but comes up to the fence
when I approach.  She thinks we are all part of the
same herd since she was hand raised. Our greeting
always includes having her neck scratched and in
return she licks my face with her long rough tongue!

As I sweep the aisle of the main barn, so many llama
faces peer into mine as I look up.  (If I don't look up,
my hat may be snatched from my head:) The llamas
and Lucky will also sample who you are with little
nips; they love to pull on clothing or whatever presents
itself!

 The next event in this morning's parade was that barn
ducks got their fresh water in the wading pool! They
joyfully dipped their beaks down under the water and
then tilted their necks back up, letting the water run
down.  A minute later, much splashing and paddling
and quack-shouts of enjoyment! 

There are so many celebrations, so many difficult
stories, and much hard work.  The animals give so
much back.   The fowl visit each other, occasionally
flying overhead.   Often you will hear a hen and rooster
chorus rise suddenly in joyful cacophony from the
stalls where they perch - someone has just laid an
egg - yes!   Large brown llama eyes peer over the
edge of the stalls as I deliver small apple wedges to
the softest of muzzles. 

We were all together this morning in such harmony.
Whenever I arrive to do my volunteering here, I get
to look out past the large white barn, across rolling
fields and breathe in the peace of the place.  It is my
weekly gift to myself and, thankfully for me, this
story is ongoing.

Jim and Cheri are quiet, unassuming and dedicated
folks.  It is my privilege to have found them and this
wonderful place.

Just peace and the sun each day,

Just a loving touch,

And a flake of hay,

Is it so much to ask?

       And they don't even ask,

They soft nuzzle their thanks -

And their little hooves will climb

Up a rung or two -

Eyes bright with the height!

Precious ones at play ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While this articles is speaking to the laws of the State of Kansas I think it is an important reminder of how to handle, or in fact "not" handle, wild life anywhere.

Law Forbids Handling Baby Wildlife
Originally Published On The McPherson Sentinel's Sentinet: Thursday, June 21, 2007.

Every spring and early summer, the calls start coming
into the Kansas State Game Wardens. Baby deer,
foxes, bobcats and birds are found, seemingly
deserted by their mothers.  Is that really the case?

Each year, hundreds of orphaned wild animals are
picked up when they would do perfectly well left alone.
In most cases, the intended rescue results in a death
sentence.

If the animal does end up in the hands of a
professional wildlife rehabilitator, its chances are
better but still not good.  Overworked rehabilitators
have enough to do with animals that are genuinely
injured.

Bird and animal mothers will often leave their young in
search of food during the day.

Humans entering the area are often convinced that the
young have been abandoned and pick them up in
order to "save" them. 

Unfortunately, such action almost always leads to the
death of the animal, sometimes slowly and
painfully.

In addition to the damage done to wild species, the
health risk to humans picking up wild animals is
high.  Rabies is common to many species of wild
animals.  Raccoons often carry a parasite, which
attacks the brain.  Deaths can, and have, occurred
from this parasite.

It must also be emphasized that picking up these
young animals, under any circumstances, is against
the law. Both the Department of Wildlife and Parks
and the Kansas Department of Health and
Environment have regulations against such activity.
Fines can be as much as $1,000.

Conservation Officer Hal Kaina of the Kansas
Department  of Wildlife and Parks Law Enforcement
staff advises that wild animals are better off left in the
wild. They are not puppies or kittens. They are seldom
tamed, even by those who know what they are doing.
They cannot legally be inoculated by veterinarians,
and few people really know how to care for them.

If you see young animals in your neighborhood this
spring or summer, consider yourself lucky to have
seen them.  But remember, their mother is most likely
hunting or watching nearby.  Please leave them in the
wild where they belong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vegetarianism is a Small Price to Pay
Originally Published in the Times of India, June 2, 2007

It's goodbye to sausage and bacon, steak and kidney
pie, rogan josh and kebabs - and global warming.
Switching from meat to vegetarian or better still, dairy-
free vegan diet, could make the difference between
doom and deliverance. Far from being ridiculous or
far-fetched, the UK government's proposal to promote
a meat-free diet to counter climate change is based
on sound science.

First, it is becoming increasingly evident that global
warming is the consequence of human activity that
generates greenhouse gases (GHGs). Second, while
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions - largely from
polluting industrial processes and automotive
transport - are the focus of world attention, not much
importance is being given to methane (CH4), a gas
that forms one fourth of all human-activity induced
GHG emissions.

A report published by the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organisation shows that the livestock
sector generates more GHG emissions as measured
in CO2 equivalent than transport. Livestock rearing is
also a major source of land and water degradation.
Livestock currently uses 30 per cent of the world's
entire land surface. More and more trees are being cut
and forests denuded to make room for pasture. With
increasing worldwide demand for meat and dairy
products, livestock numbers are growing
exponentially.

Methane's global warming potential is more than that
of carbon dioxide. Taking an average over 100 years,
each kg of methane warms the earth 25 times as
much as a similar amount of CO2.

However, there is 220 times more CO2 in the
atmosphere and this is why methane is not being
perceived as much a threat as CO2. Turning
vegetarian is a small price to pay to help save the
planet. Reducing and eventually banishing meat
products from our diet will help mitigate global
warming. Coupled with clean technology initiatives,
vegetarianism could well be the ahimsa way to
counter humankind's violence on the planet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Federal: Farm Bill Threatens State Food Safety and Animal Welfare Laws!
Section 123 of Title I of the 2007 Farm Bill

Action Needed: Send a letter to your representative
now and urge him or her to oppose Section 123 of
Title I of the Farm Bill.

A few weeks ago, federal lawmakers amended the
2007 Farm Bill to include a sweeping provision that
would wipe out state and local authority to protect food
safety, the environment and humane animal
treatment. Consumer, environmental, farmer and
animal welfare groups have since united to oppose
Section 123 of Title I of the 2007 Farm Bill.

If passed, this provision would prohibit states from
passing certain animal welfare laws, like those
stopping the slaughter of horses for horse meat for
human consumption. It would prohibit states and
localities from passing any laws prohibiting
commercial use of USDA-inspected products. This
overreaching provision would prevent states from
passing laws to prohibit the sale or use of products
that the USDA has "1) inspected and passed; or 2)
determined to be of non-regulated status." It could
even prevent local health inspectors from condemning
adulterated meat if it has already been inspected by
the USDA.

In the current climate, in which concerns about food
safety abound, Congress should be increasing food
safety efforts, not decreasing them. Contact your
representative now and urge him or her to tell the
Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee to
delete Section 123 from the Farm Bill!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Care2Home Cash for Charity Program
If you are buying a home or condo, please use this program and a donation will be made to Maple Farm Free of Charge to You When You Buy or Sell Your Home

The Care2 HomeCash for Charity program is an easy-
yet-powerful new way to make a difference.
HomeCash works by enabling anyone who is buying
or selling a home, condominium or apartment to get
an automatic cash rebate for a donation to the
nonprofit of their choice.

HomeCash for Charity is an ideal way to fundraise
thousands of dollars for local non-profits. Simply
forward this email to friends and family, church or
synagogue members, neighbors or office colleagues
who will be buying or selling a home. Or share this
program by going to the link below.

If you are buying or selling a home yourself, here's
how to get started with this powerful new way to take
action for a better world:

Take three minutes to register with HomeCash for
Charity. Agents must know up front that you are part of
this program for you to get your rebate and/or make a
donation. Registering also enables you to indicate
which charity should receive your donation.
A real estate counselor from the company that helps
manage the program, HomeGift Realty, Inc., will
contact you to welcome you to the program and
answer any questions you might have.
Hire ANY agent you like (or ask HomeCash to put you
in touch with an agent).

After you close the sale, watch your mailbox for a
rebate check and/or for the receipt confirming your tax-
deductible donation to your favorite charity.
How is HomeCash possible? Real estate agents
typically receive large commissions when one of their
clients buys or sells a home. So agents routinely pay
large fees in return for being referred to a new client.
Care2's new HomeCash for Charity service puts the
negotiating power of millions of Care2 members to
work by channeling cash from these referral fees back
to Care2 members, who can donate some or all of it
to their favorite nonprofit charity. The agents get new
referrals - and you get to make a tax-deductible
donation to charity (or keep the rebate check for
yourself)!

Donate one thousand dollars or more - possibly much
more - to your favorite charity with no cost to you.

Thank you for helping build a better world as you build
a future for yourself.

http://go.care2.com/e/R77d/haRG/fgfj

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

iGive.com
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Virtual Karma

You can list and support your favorite cause, track
your earnings, and even see a complete list of checks
sent to your cause!

www.igive.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good Search
Our numbers have dropped off, please use Good Search to search the Net.

As featured in The New York Times, Oprah Magazine
and The Wall Street Journal, search the web with
www.goodsearch.com and money from their
advertisers will go to Maple Farm Sanctuary without
you spending a dime!

We estimate that with 1,000 supporters searching
twice a day would bring us approximately $7,300 per
year. The sky is the limit, the more people search,
the more we can earn!

Please set your home page to Good Search so you'll
never search again without helping Maple Farm
Sanctuary!

http://www.goodsearch.com

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Yummy Vegan Recipe!
Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Panino

Serves 2

1 Loaf French Bread1 Pint Sweet Cherry Tomatoes

1 Medium Eggplant

1 Bunch Fresh Basil, chiffonade

2 Slices Tofutti Cheese (optional)

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Preheat oven to 350º

Slice the tomatoes in half and place them cut-side up
in a baking dish. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of
salt and 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Roast for 70-80
minutes.

Once the tomatoes are in, prepare the eggplant. Slice
the ends off the eggplant and peel off the skin with a
vegetable peeler. Slice widthwise into quarter inch
thick circles and place on baking sheet one layered .
Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt. Drizzle about
1/2 cup of olive oil (or more. for serious) over the
slices. Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes depending
on how thick your slices are. The eggplant should be
soft and browned.

Let the eggplant and tomatoes cool. Slice the loaf of
bread into two equal portions. Slice each portion in
half lengthwise without cutting all the way through.
Rub the bread with olive oil and add the fillings:

Place sandwiches, open faced, into a 400º oven for 5
minutes, until bread is crispy and "cheese" is melted.
When they come out of the oven, fold the top over and
press down - the olive oil will soak into the bread and
form a natural "dressing" for the sandwich.

Serve warm.

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MFS T-Shirts, Sweat Shirts and Caps Now Available
Help Support Us By Making a Purchase At Cafe Press

We are happy to announce that we now have Maple
Farm Sanctuary Gear available for purchase! Please
visit Cafe Press at the "find out more" link below to see
all the cool stuff!

www.cafepress.com/maplefarm
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Your feedback is important to us. Feel free to send
any comments to Cheri

Cheri & Jim Vandersluis
Maple Farm Sanctuary
email: cheri.ezell@gmail.com

phone: 508-473-7539
web: http://www.maplefarmsanctuary.org
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