Some Websites to Visit

If you love animals (and how could anyone not?) be sure to visit these websites of my favorite rescue organizations:

http://www.tahoewarf.com/ - Located near Lake Tahoe, they have a wonderful website showing current photos of the animals they have for adoption.

www.sparealife.org/ - This is a rescue group in Egypt and they surely have their work cut out for them! They are always desperately in need of financial support!
http://www.civicworldwide.org/ - Okay this is not an animal site, but it is a site devoted to helping people. CIVIC was started by Marla Ruzicka, a beautiful, young, kind and brave America woman, who was killed in April of 2005 in Iraq along with her friend, Faiz. They were working to count Iraqi civilian injuries and casualties to get compensation for the families of victims from the American government. Marla's story is amazing and heartbreaking. This is one site you don't want to skip!

I had exchanged several emails with Marla in the years before she was killed. She was very friendly, bubbly and personable. It was amazing with how busy she was that she would respond personally to email inquiries. She worked tirelessly to turn CIVIC from new and struggling organization into a powerhouse of hope known worldwide. Here is an email Marla sent to me on May 30, 2003, when I emailed CIVIC for more info on how to help after reading an article in the news about Marla taking off to Iraq with only $50 in her bank account:

Thank you so much for your kind words about CIVIC's work. E-mail is very difficult from Iraq, so I am sorry for a short message. We do need funds. People can make checks of under $100 out to CIVIC, and mail them to Marla Ruzicka, PO Box 1189 Lakeport, CA 95453 For contributions above $100 we are working out a fiscal agent so proper tax deductions can be made. If you find people who can support the project and need tax-deductions the best thing to do is have them email me in about 10 days when i'm back in the US and able to respond to them. As you know this is a lot of work for one person so your help touches my heart.
Thank you, Marla