i am having a mindless wind down from stress and disappointment

My take on this pepsi challenge (for what it's worth):

Is it not a raging success that SAINTS came in 3rd??? Just look at the quality of "competition" so to speak. It's a true testament to the importance of what SAINTS does that you placed so high in the first round of a brand new nation-wide contest. While disappointed to miss the money of course, my heart soars for you, Carol, and what you have created - this is not a loss, for you are far closer to $25,000 than you've ever been before.

I hear what you are saying with the asking for votes tactic. But it is a challenge and I don't think that reminding like-minded folks to vote for SAINTS is a bad thing to do. I don't believe in the "I voted for you, so you vote for me" mentality, but I really do think it's okay to seek out those folks who believe in what you do and keep SAINTS out there for everyone to see. It's not so much that you're asking folks to vote who don't value what you do; it's more that you're saying "Hey, this is who we are and we could really use the support if we're something you believe in." It's basic viral marketing and it's exactly how to win this kind of grant money. It's a new techie way of getting things done, but the results are tremendous. Even just the comments from new visitors to the blog have been so uplifting. There are entire communities from across the country that have rallied behind you in the contest. It's been great for spreading awareness...baby steps will get us there.

And Marisa (I think??) from the last blog entry - such powerful words. I just watched Earthlings the other night, and after sobbing my way through all 95 minutes of it I struggled with how to fight such mass disrespect for life. Your answer came during this time when I've been looking for it most - not because of me.

(For those who haven't seen/heard of Earthlings, it's streamed for free on earthlings.com and it is the single most powerful documentary I've ever watched. It's a painful hour and a half to sit through, but nobody benefits when we choose not to see.

oh and i forgot to say i really like reading your blog, you seem like such a kind loving person to the animals, i'm happy that they have you to care for them.

I will vote for you , even if you don't chose to vote for us because i think what you do is great no matter what :) I hope both you and turtle gardens can win this round . I support you both and many other animal causes on there :)

lol..you can't edit anything on a post you did not write...but if you had posted this as a separate post (which you do have the ability to do...you could have edited it all that you wanted and you could have edited any of the comments that you personally wrote below that post....omg! i am turning into a techie..i understand something technical here.

as for your comment which we discussed earlier..i have to agree...while we really do need to win this challenge for the saints animals vet bills...we do have to win (or lose) with integrity. in a perfect world..people will vote for saints because they feel our mission is important and they feel a responsibility to help senior animals discarded by our society...and while we don't live in a perfect world...we could come closer if we do try to live by our values of what is right, what is not..or as marisa says...just being kind. goodness can be just simply good..it doesn't have to be political, it doesn't have to be paid back..it truly should be able to stand tall and proud all on its own.
i will use up my ten votes a day...and i may well give one of my daily votes to someone who will eventually beat us..like the homeless belongings storage folks did cuz that is a great idea..not cuz i would ever ask or expect any of them to vote for us. they are focused on saving people and we are focused on saving senior animals who don't happen to have any people!
it is all good...just different.
so...vote as we will..but please do take the time to vote for the things that we do believe in and think are important and worth doing to each of us...no one can ever go wrong with that! half my votes go to animals..half go to people..i live and work for both so for me personally that is good, right and fair!

ya sounds great --the animals were happy today we need to make Carol happy too. Ann are clothes optional haha

Oh sh....t I just rewrote that last sentence so it makes sense and then just deleted it. How come you can't edit your comments.

I meant to say ... This time around I will be voting with my conscience and with what touches me and not by who has voted for SAINTS and because of that vote has expectations that I(a volunteer, a fan... a person who knows Carol) should return the vote.

I am not sure where to post this since there are so many posts today and they all mention the Pepsi challenge.
Here are my many opinions on this challenge... cuz I have a lot of opinions as Carol can attest to.
When I first saw the post from Nicole on the challenge I told Carol that this was the direction the fundraising was going and wasn’t it so much easier than doing an “event” like the October Gala because there was so much less work... 61 days later I have changed my mind and am not so enthusiastic. I am not a competitive person so I wish that for one organization to win another really great organization doesn’t have to lose. But from the looks of things more and more large companies are going to be heading this way because it is a “marketing/advertising” event for them. The good thing is that some great organizations get some help.

The one thing that bothered me the most was the comment sections that said one vote from such and such an organization so please vote for us now - return the favour. To me this is what is wrong with our governments (federal, provincial, and municipal) ... it smacked of if you do me a favour I will do you a favour and I was very uncomfortable with it. I could be reading this wrong but the expectation that Carol (like the head of a political party) should have her volunteers (you know all the mp’s and mla’s that are afraid to lose their positions so vote the way the party asks them to) vote the way she had asked. I am a volunteer of the bcspca and I voted for that organization but I made sure I separated the two. I didn’t ask the participants at the SAINTS fundraiser to also vote for the BCSPCA. When I sent out my emails I thought about who I sent them out to because I wanted to send out to those who I thought would support the idea of SAINTS and not those who would do me the favour of voting (i.e. I asked my niece to place it on her facebook so her friends could CHOOSE to vote not be ASKED to vote as a favour to her). And really do people have to be told that proxy voting is illegal – it should be very clear that is called CHEATING and it should not have to be pointed out.
This time around I will be voting with my conscience and with what touches me and not by who votes for SAINTS because I am meant to feel obligated to return the vote.

pretty please do!!!..that will greatly cheer me up..and i will get jenn to video tape it for the blog readers too!

Hey Carol, we are all on board for the new contest, don't worry you have a lot of people out there cheering for you and SAINTS. You are never alone even it feels like that sometimes, I know I speak for everyone who shares this blog when I saw we will never let you down, we will all be voting again and this time WE WILL WIN!! GO SAINTS!! Should I get some pom pom's and lead the weekend warriors in a SAINTS cheer this weekend?

pumpkin also makes excellent dog food, if there was pumpkin recycling depot thatd be cool, put them to use rather than (hopefully) composting it.mine are cooked, packaged and in the deep freeze.

But Hey the new one is out.....just voted.....GET OUT THERE PEOPLE And Lets get this one.... :) :)

I was so excited for ya while voting everyday......Man!!!!! :mad: Damn that evil contest.....3rd...soo close.......must be disappointing.....I figured ya had it.....Well if I win the lotto....n hey yur still in the will.....lol......hopin ya have to wait for that coin........but what the Hey ......I drink Coke anyways.....lol

yes she will...she likes apples, bananas and strawberries better but she will eat pumpkin (cuz it is a fruit...she just hates most vegetables.)

i forgot to ask when i was talking to you, will ellie eat pumpkin? we had a couple small ones at work for decoration that need somewhere to go.