OASC has donated a total of $6,903 to charitable organizations!  When joining the club or renewing membership, one has the opportunity to make a charitable donation – matched in part by club funds – to one of six different organizations:

Blue Ridge Mountain Rescue Group
Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA
Charlottesville Free Clinic
Emergency Food Bank
Ivy Creek Foundation
The Nature Conservancy – Central Virginia Piedmont Program

During the third quarter 2006, OASC member donations plus matching club funds added up to $207.50.  In addition, the “Sweet and Tender Hooligans” – OASC’s team in the MS 150 cycling tour – raised $2,328.00 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  Way to go everyone; thanks so much!

One further creative way club members served our community was via the Halloween Trick-or-treating for Charity adventure (pictures) during which we collected many bags of food for the Emergency Food Bank.  The EFB wrote in response,

Dear Matt,

This letter is to acknowledge the thoughtful donation of food to the Emergency Food Bank from you and the Outdoor Adventure Social Club. Through generous folk like you the EFB is able to help a hundred or more families a week, and to continue our thirty-plus years of service to the community. We are an all volunteer organization with about 90 individuals in various jobs, and all of us appreciate support from others in Charlottesville.

With our warmest thanks to you all,

Barbara Deaver
Office Chairman

Many thanks to all of you kind souls for giving back to the community we love.

Doing good & having fun

OASC partners with charitable organizations to offer numerous community service adventures.  Here is one of many highlights, by OASC Leader Pete Runge.

OASC has been had regular volunteer workdays at Rikki’s Refuge for over a year now.  Rikki's is a 330 acre, no-kill, all-species sanctuary supported solely by donations. It is owned and operated by Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc. an approved not-for profit Virginia & IRS Corporation.
It is home to around 700 animals, ranging from unwanted cats rabbits, guinea pigs and dogs, to horses, Emus, ducks, geese, peacocks, chickens, pigs, etc. Pretty much anything you can imagine is there. Many of the animals are available for adoption, but most will live out their natural lives safely at Rikki's.

On our numerous trips there (pictures), we have done everything from organize storage trailers & cleaning up the grounds, to mending fences, building enclosures & rounding up sheep & goats for the monthly vaccinations. The latter seems to be the most popular activity for our volunteers, as you don’t get to play cowboy every day.   They even have a resident sheepdog, Emmet, who helps us round up the sheep.  Everybody works at their own pace, and some people simply come to play with the critters all day.  Most of us work most of the day, then play with animals the last 30 minutes or so.
Of course, the most rewarding part of the trip is playing with the animals.  They LOVE getting attention.  People say cats don’t like affection from humans?  Walk into one of the cat enclosures.  See if you get the door closed before you are surrounded by purring, furry bodies.  After a couple visits, you will recognize many of the critters with stronger personalities, and look forward to seeing them.  It is also touching to see the bonds they form among themselves.  Certain ones seem to hang out with friends & siblings.

One of the most touching memories I have is a cat named Sadie.  At the end of one of the workdays, we were playing with the cats.  We noticed one of them was having trouble breathing, so we reported her to the employees.  I emailed the next day to ask about her.  Apparently, within an hour she was limp, fighting for her life in an oxygen tent.  Employees stayed up all night with her trying antibiotics, and everything else the vet could think of.  Her brother, who had never been apart from her before, was so distraught that all he did all day was meow constantly.  They took him from the cat shelter, and placed him in the oxygen tent with his sister, where he promptly curled up quietly next to her.  Every time they took him out, he would cry until he was back with her.  After about a week, she finally started responding to antibiotics, and is happy and healthy in cathouse #2 with her brother.  People say animals don’t have feelings?

Rikki’s  relies on volunteers, as they can only afford to pay 5 employees many of whom work 7 days a week, and often stay up all night with sick animals.  They are always grateful for people who help out, and especially for the OASC group, since we come out regularly about every month.  Why not sign up for one of the workdays? Spend a fun day in the country helping our furry & feathery friend, while getting to know a few like-minded members.