do you love animals? me too. so read on, k? k.

the preface: hi...sean francis, here. i just sent this out to some of my friends via e-mail but figured "why stop there?" this was actually the first time i'd ever done that kind of "mass mail" and so i decided if it was important enough to "spam" friends and family with, it's certainly important enough to make a webpage for. before i move on: i apologize in advance for getting all sally struthers on you, but i'm not asking for money or trying to sell you something. please, just take just a moment to read on...in-between this page and what i'm actually asking you to do, it'll be about two minutes of your life. if you were considering getting me a christmas or birthday gift and weren't having any luck deciding what to get, don't. just do this.

the story: this fall i was blessed with a wonderful new dog. i was (by far) not looking for a new pet, but she wriggled her way into my heart and my home and i'm glad that she did. my hair-covered couch might not be, but i definitely couldn't be happier. her name is stella, and she came from my local-ish humane society. i actually did a little bit of volunteer work for them over the summer, and i came to really be enraptured with how everything there worked...people joke about how hard (and how much) i work, and i know most all of you who're receiving this get the same kind of comments about your schedules as well -- but really, seeing people work as hard as i do (and harder) completely lacking any sort of monetary compensation for it......it was touching. there are no words to describe it, really. these volunteers were coming in after grueling full-time jobs and then putting in another 30+ hours a week. some were moms, grandfathers, young, old, CEOs, doctors, students...they all had their stories and they all did it for the well being of the animals. we were all very different, but unified to try and help a kitten or an old lab or a pair of rats find a new home. the other thing we all found common ground on? that shelter is by far one of the most under-funded out of any i've ever been to.

that's not to say any shelter doesn't need some help...but these folks REALLY do. and they deserve it.

the favor: so, here's the whole point of my blathering - care2.com is running an online contest to make 2009 "a new year of hope for animals"...they're doing weekly donations to various shelters, and very soon they're going to reward one lucky shelter a $10,000 donation for 2009, just based on votes/attention they garner for the site. this is a big longshot as it's a nationwide contest and this is a teeny little shelter, but addison county humane society (where i got stella) is nominated. and heck, if there's anything i can do, it's network. so, why not, right?

every vote helps promote the need for pet adoption to save homeless animals' lives, it's not as though i'm asking you to vote for the best restaurant in town or something...

http://www.care2.com/animalsheltercontest/69269/?refer=9974.13.1229378269.173

i don't think it's really a conflict of interest to ask you to vote for them as i assume none of you were necessarily going to cast a vote elsewhere, anyway. so please...one more time (i even made an easy to remember URL)

http://tinyurl.com/VOTEachs

and heck, if you know others who'd take a moment of time and hear my plea and maybe vote too, pass this on.

now...thank you for hearing me out. and have a safe and happy holiday.

best,
sean francis, stella, and many soon-to-be-adopted-animals

p.s. if you're curious, the humane society has a site and a myspace, too http://www.addisonhumane.org/ and http://www.myspace.com/addisonhumane

stella and i doing the dishes together.