Phew! What an amazing year! We are thrilled to share this collection of piggy happenings and events that kept our little microsanctuary running all year. Jenna and Friends Animal Sanctuary (JAFAS) is our little slice of heaven, and if you’re reading this, you’re already a fan! Perhaps you’ve donated through one of our fundraisers or come out to volunteer one Saturday morning. Or maybe you’re an avid follower of our social media. If you’ve interacted with us in any capacity, you’re part of our little piggy family! Three new rescued pigsThis year, we rescued Ricky, Marty, and Ruby. That means three more adorable faces to greet us every morning. Their oinking, grunting, and squealing sounds will add to the usual cacophony of sanctuary noises - a regular pig symphony! Above all, it means three beautiful souls who’ll never have to worry about food or shelter ever again. The sights and sounds that these three sweethearts bring to our little microsanctuary is so heartwarming. They are now part of a loving herd that they can call their forever family. New sponsorship spotlight seriesIf you follow us on Instagram and Facebook, most likely you’ve seen our monthy sponsorship spotlights where we highlight a particular pig, tell you his/her before-and-after story, and provide a link to our website where you can sign up for a recurring donation. We launched this spotlight series as part of our ongoing fundraising campaign for supporters who want to support a pig in need. Recurring donations are so useful because they help us better plan our finances and expenses while continuing our mission of rescuing pigs and giving them a life of luxury. To learn more, navigate to our Sponsor page to read about the program (including some really pigtastic incentives) and how to get started. Just select a pig from the picture gallery to get started! New JAFAS merch available on our websiteWant to be one of the kool kids and show off your support for the animals? We have comfy cotton t-shirts in multiple sizes in three colors (seafoam, salmon, and washed denim), 18 oz. travel tumblers in two colors (purple and green), and 10 oz. vacuum-insulated cups in a stunning light blue. All items sport the eye-catchy JAFAS logo. To purchase an item either for shipping or pick-up, just go to our Shop page, choose your favorite item, and select your purchasing preference. Shout-out to our amazing web designer!We are so incredibly proud of our website, and it’s all because of our awesome web designer Kerry Thompson. In the last few months, thanks to Kerry, we’ve published 21 sponsorship pages for each pig (complete with their rescue stories and donation forms), a snazzy picture gallery that displays throughout the site to help you easily navigate through the sponsorship pages, and most recently, our new online store for purchasing JAFAS merchandise. Kerry is incredibly kind and talented, and we have no idea what we would do without her support. If you're interested in improving your website or building a new one, reach out to her. We recommend her 100%! Girl Scouts get hands-on experience with the pigsWe’ve been so blessed to host multiple local Girl Scout troops this year. These lovely girls and their parents took time to come out and learn about the animals and volunteer their time. We’re just amazed at the maturity of their questions and willingness to help with chores. Their curiosity and genuine expressions of compassion just overwhelm us with joy and give us hope for a bright future. We may even have sparked some future pig rescuers! Randie Lou’s incredible transformationWe have so many success stories of transformation here at JAFAS, but Randie Lou’s story is nothing short of miraculous. We rescued Randie (and her sister Penny Lane) a couple of years ago from a horrific situation where she was living in a dark corner of a shed in her own feces and urine with no access to fresh air or sunshine. She came here morbidly obese from eating commercial hog food, suffering from fat blindness (the folds of fat on her face cover her eyes). We've been working on her weight little by little since then, but we are thrilled with the weight-loss progress she’s made so far - 50 pounds gone! She still has more weight to lose, but now that she’s more active, we are expecting continued improvements. Please pray that she continues to drop pounds and regain her sight! Stormy visits the pigs!Did you know our pigs are famous? They are! Why else would the mascot of a professional hockey team want to come out for a photo shoot? Stormy, the “ice hog” mascot for Raleigh-based Carolina Hurricanes, made a trip out to JAFAS one muddy afternoon in February to offer some lovely ValenSWINE’s Day gifts for the pigs. Stormy said he wasn’t into picking favorites, but by the looks of it, we think he found his new love – Petey! So adorable! GO CANES! Our sanctuary handymen rock!Thanks to Randy Mapes (top) and Simon Dunson (bottom) for your amazing skills! Because of these two superstars, we’ve added three more piggy houses, several feet of fencing, new gates, a new quarantine area, new ramps to the barn, and the list just goes on and on. Oh, and let’s not forget about all the repairs, chainsawing, hauling, and cleaning up from all the storms we had over the summer. What a mess! Both of you are true rockstars and deserve to give yourselves a big OINKIN’ pat on the back! Insanely awesome food donationsWeaver Street Market at Southern Village provides several boxes of fresh produce to the pigs every single week. Kyle, Lydia, Stephen, Ian, Drew, Lynn, and the rest of the staff are always so enthusiastic about helping the animals, and we are beyond grateful! Steel String Brewery at Pluck Farm provides four containers of spent grains every week to help feed the pigsters. We mix the grains with pellets, fruit, vegetables, and whatever else we happen to have on hand to create healthy and yummy meals. For the 2nd year in a row, Piedmont Feed and Garden Center donated 100s of pumpkins to the pigs after the Thanksgiving season. The pigs love to eat pumpkins and can even be seen playing a hoof ball with them when they’re feeling a little spunky. We’ve been recognized!Thanks to our fans, we are one of the first winners of the 2023 Top-Rated Award from GreatNonprofits! GreatNonprofits, the largest donation website for nonprofits, is where people share stories about their personal experiences on more than 1.8 million charities and nonprofits. Read more about our award and share your stories on our official page. Collaboration with local universitiesWe’ve been incredibly lucky for ongoing opportunities to partner with both UNC and NC State on animal-related projects and events. UNC Vegans for Peace continue to volunteer on a regular basis (they are the best poop scoopers we’ve ever seen!), and three students from the UNC of Journalism did projects about the mission and day-to-day operations of the sanctuary. We also did an in-person presentation on the NC State campus for about 25 students from the Animal Companion Club during the fall semester. We just love their enthusiasm and desire to make a difference for the animals. To see a super neat and professional article and video about the sanctuary made by Taylor Holbrooks (masters student at UNC), see her page The Unheard Voices of North Carolina's Hog Industry. Interview with the amazing Chef AJ!Anyone in the whole food plant-based (WFPB) world knows Chef AJ! She’s a brilliant culinary instructor and speaker who has devoted her life to spreading the good news about healthy, unprocessed food. She’s interviewed thousands and thousands of some of the most well known doctors and nutritionists in the world, and she’s written a number of books too, including Unprocessed. We had the pleasure of meeting Chef AJ in person in Sacramento earlier this year, and that meeting sparked a conversation about little ol’ me - Anna - being a guest on her show! Well it happened, and here’s the recording on YouTube if you want to check it out! Small Pig Sanctuary Fosters Love and Compassion in North Carolina Community A special thanks from me, AnnaPhoto credit: Jordan Mills A special thank you to these folks and organizations!
What can you do to help?So glad you asked! You can:
Questions? Just send us a message through our contact form or email us directly at jennaandfriendsanimalsanctuary@gmail.com.
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AuthorAnna O'Neal, founder and caretaker at Jenna and Friends Animal Sanctuary Archives
December 2023
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