Bay Area Arbor learn about volunteering at Majical Miniatures

On December 17th members of the Gleaner Insurance Society's, Bay Area Arbor, who's mission is to help local nonprofits by volunteering and raising funds, visited Majical Miniatures for a volunteer orientation and to learn more about what we do and what they, as a group, can do to help the animals. Arbor member and volunteer, Santiago Fonseca, shared his visit and photos with his friends on facebook and with us. Here is what he had to say:

"What a great place!! We walked in and we were welcomed by Speedy - a beautiful Llama (probably my homeboy from Peru), who walked up to me and rubbed noses with me. He oversees and protects all the smaller range animals and is often seen on his mound lording over them and keeping an eye out for foxes or any other predators that may get into the property.

After Speedy came out and he made sure we were friends, all kinds of goats and miniature ponies came out as the welcoming committee and as we continued on the volunteer tour with Jenna, Majical Miniatures operations manager, we saw so many different animals, and some you'll see in these images. The little 'roos were adorable! We fed them Orange Juice - thirsty little fellows :-). Look at a picture of me and Oreo who rubbed his face on me over and over and was so affectionate.

They have over 200 animals and never enough volunteers to tackle the tremendous tasks they face on a daily basis - seven days a week. You see, many of their animals have been injured and are there for rehabilitation. Those of them who are healthy after rehabilitation are released back into the wild, but many who were hit by cars, shot or otherwise maimed by uncaring humans, will live the rest of their natural lives there. You can imagine their Vet fees are high – their weekly operating budget is around $4000 – without the Vet costs and those vary from month to month. Tough going without outside support!

I’d like to ask you once again to become a member to help them retain their non-profit status. Memberships vary but start at 10 bucks a year – hardly two beers at any bar! And being a member of such wonderful place will enrich your lives as well. You can keep up with them through the website and/or the newsletter you’ll get as a member.  One of their long time volunteers and supporters has set up a page specifically for this – please go to: http://www.majicalminiatures.org/membership.html

Each level tells you what you get and each level has the appropriate buttons to make it easy to join – or you can look on the left side and e-mail any of the ladies there and they can offer you an alternative for payment (if you do not like paypal)."