Hi Everyone: I emailed the following letter to family and friends, asking them to vote for MickaCoo in the Pepsi Refresh challenge. I got a good response from it, including a handful of folks who asked to be added to the daily voting reminder list. Elizabeth suggested that I post the letter here, in case any of you would like to use it as a model for something to send to out yourself. Please feel free to adapt it for your own use in any way you like. Thanks much and let's vote, vote, vote! Shae ____________________________________________ Dear Friends: You know I rarely ask for help with causes or get on board with corporate marketing schemes, but I'll do just about anything for the birds. There's a simple way to help MickaCoo Pigeon and Dove Rescue (http://www.mickacoo.org) win a much needed $25K grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project. All you have to do is vote. It will take less than five minutes and it won't cost a penny. (You also won't have to surrender your entire identity to Pepsi -- just a little part of it.) At the end of this email, you'll find two super easy ways to vote -- on the Web and by text message -- so you can scroll right down there if you're ready to help. But if you're not quite persuaded (or if you're simply interested), I'd like to make a brief pitch for MickaCoo and my friends the pij. Over the past several years, MickaCoo has placed several hundred unreleasable, abandoned pigeons and doves in safe forever homes. Two of these birds -- Yuzu and Quince -- recently landed here with me, and I am blessed to have them. They are innocent, smart, funny, feathered beings. Sometimes I feel helpless, knowing there are hundreds more like them that MickaCoo is currently trying to place, with more arriving all the time. Here's a recent news story about 200 domestic pigeons dumped in a Sacramento park by a breeder who decided he wasn't willing to care for them any longer: http://ow.ly/5fFqI. If not for MickaCoo, Yuzu, Quince, and many other pigeons and doves would have suffered the same fate as most of these Sacramento birds -- ugly deaths or euthanasia at an animal shelter. Now, I know there are plenty of good things that could be done with $25K and thousands of worthy causes that could use the money wisely and well. Pepsi is giving away millions of dollars as part of its Refresh Project, and you can vote for more than one idea -- but they've made this $25K available for the birds and the birds really need it. (There are lots of grants available for dogs and cats, but domestic birds? Not so much.) Elizabeth Young, the director of MickaCoo, has been working tirelessly and constantly during these years to keep the organization running -- without taking a penny in return for her time. She won't be able to continue indefinitely as an unpaid worker; this award would secure a small salary to ensure that she can continue her work and MickaCoo can stay alive. MickaCoo is currently placing around 30th out of 150 competitors -- which is fantastic -- but we need to be in the top 15 to win. This is totally doable if you are willing to help. *Here's how you can vote -- twice!* 1. Click here every day in the month of June: http://www.refresheverything.com/mickacoopigeonanddoverescue. (You do have to sign in through Facebook or through Pepsi, but don't you have one of those sketchy email addresses you use for online shopping or other times you don't want to get spammed? I do and I used that, but I've checked it and Pepsi hasn't even sent me any junk as a result of my voting.) 2. If you have a smart phone, text the message 106711 to the number 73774. You can do this every day during the month of June. (You'll get a confirmation text from Pepsi but they won't start pinging you with other unwanted messages. Regular texting charges apply.) If you're willing to receive a daily reminder email about voting, please let me know and I will add you to MickaCoo's vote-reminder list. (You won't be bothered after June 30.) And if you stumble across a Pepsi cap or box that contains a "Power Vote" code, please use it to vote or send it my way so I can garner extra votes for the birds. Of course, if you know of anyone else who would vote for the pij, please pass this on. Thank you so very much your time and your care. Shae, Yuzu, and Quince ________________________ Shae Irving P.O. Box 275 | Fairfax, CA | 94978 tel. 415.497.5306 http://hitchhikingtoheaven.com