animal defense league

The Big Give 2017

May the Fourth Be With You!

The Big Give S.A. is all day today, May 4. For those who may not be familiar, The Big Give S.A. is a 24-hour day of giving. It’s organized by the Texas Nonprofit Council and the San Antonio Area Foundation, with the support of the New Braunfels Community Center and the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country.

Since 2014, 101,000 donors have given nearly $11 million dollars to over 1,600 nonprofits through the Big Give-making it one of the most successful giving days in the country.

You may remember that last year was challenging — After a series of technical failures, the national Give Local America site went down, and donors across the country had difficulty giving to the nonprofits of their choice. Our community still rallied to raise $4.3 million for 1,055 nonprofits in 2016! You are resilient and generous!

All the nonprofits we have helped in this past year or will help later this year are fundraising extra-hard today! Many are participating in special events all day. Here are their Big Give links. If a particular organization over the last year was special to you, or if one of our upcoming nonprofit partners has a special place in your heart, please give and GIVE BIG!

Elf Louise

San Antonio Food Bank

Family Violence Prevention Services

SAMMinistries

San Antonio AIDS Foundation

San Antonio Youth Literacy

Texas Burn Survivor Society

The Rape Crisis Center

Texas Diaper Bank

Alpha Home

Merced Housing Texas

SNIPSA

The Big Give 2017Stephanie2017-05-04T10:04:59-06:00

The Big Give

Today’s a big day! The Big Give S.A. is all day today, May 3. For those who may not be familiar, The Big Give S.A. is a 24-hour day of giving. It’s organized by the Texas Nonprofit Council and the San Antonio Area Foundation, with the support of the New Braunfels Community Center and the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country.

The Big Give S.A. launched in 2014 with a goal of raising $1 million in donations for local nonprofits. They exceeded that goal, with $2 million in donations raised.

In 2015, The Big Give S.A. expanded to include the 11 surrounding counties and doubled the goal, increasing it to $4 million. Again, it was exceeded, raising over $4.3 million raised for local nonprofit organizations.

The goal this year is $6 million, and all the nonprofits we have helped in this past year or will help later this year are fundraising extra-hard today! Many are participating in special events all day. Here are their Big Give links. If a particular organization over the last year was special to you, or if one of our upcoming nonprofit partners has a special place in your heart, please give and GIVE BIG!

Elf Louise (November 2015/16)

San Antonio Food Bank (December 2015/16)

Family Violence Prevention Services (January 2016)

SAMMinistries (February 2016/July 2016)

Animal Defense League (March 2016)

San Antonio AIDS Foundation (April 2016)

San Antonio Youth Literacy (May 2016)

Texas Burn Survivor Society (June 2016)

The Rape Crisis Center (August 2016)

Texas Diaper Bank (October 2016)

For any questions about The Big Give S.A., you may reach a Big Give team member at 210.774.GIVE.

The Big GiveStephanie2016-05-15T09:22:06-06:00

March Nerd Night Wrap-Up

Going to the Dogs

Hello again! Thank you to everyone for a super successful March Nerd Night. We gathered a ton of things for the Animal Defense League and I delivered them earlier this week. They were over the moon about the quantity of items. It’s always a good feeling when I drop off the donations, so thanks to all of you for a bright spot in my Monday.

A note on Nerd Nights going forward. We know we were overcrowded, and we’re working with Geeks Cafe on a way to alleviate that – new table layouts, more chairs, maybe moving the sofas somewhere… long story short we know it was hard to move around and we want you guys to have a comfortable place to game, so we’ll work on it for next time!

Speaking of next time

April’s charity is the San Antonio AIDS Foundation. Spotlight to come soon. The date is April 8th. We’ll be gathering items for clients of their housing and hospice programs.

Our next event, though, is ReDo Recess at the DoSeum. I’m looking for a few people to come with us and hand out postcards, talk about Nerd Night, and help out with staffing their event. You’ll get a free ticket to Recess (which is a lot of fun) and also I’ll be decking you out in a fabulous Nerd Night polo that you can wear to future events! If you’re interested drop me a line (steph@sanerdnight.org) ASAP please.

Who knew you all were so photogenic?

Thanks to Lene Griego of Master Photography by LG for graciously sharing her photos of the event with me! So much nicer than my camera phone pictures.

Don Jennings - Animal Defense League - Master Photography by LG

Don Jennings from the Animal Defense League speaks about their mission.

March Nerd Night - Master Photography by LG

Don Williams - Animal Defense League - Master Photography by LG

Childs Play had their mobile store at the event.

March Nerd Night - Master Photography by LG

Geek Out SA doing that podcast thing they do.

This game involved donuts, I’m told. And there’s a kickstarter? Someone give me links.

March Nerd Night - Master Photography by LG

Red Star Gaming

March Nerd Night - Master Photography by LG

March Nerd Night Wrap-UpStephanie2016-11-25T10:59:34-06:00

Crowdfunding, Nerd Night Updates

Hey nerds!

It’s been a while since my last post. Things have been busy at Nerd Night HQ, aka my house, and I figured it was time for a quick update.

Last month, five of your fellow Nerd Nighters and I gathered at my house and formed San Antonio Nerd Night, Inc. We’re now an official nonprofit corporation, registered with the state of Texas. We’re a board of six, and I’ll get some information up about the board soon once we determine how that’s going to be put out there. Our first order of business is obtaining our 501(c)(3) status, which is expensive and involves a lot of forms, like anything the federal government, and especially the IRS, is in charge of – so that’s quite an undertaking. To that end, we’re raising money on Crowdrise. You might have seen my posts on Facebook or Twitter about this, and I’ll speak on it more at Nerd Night on Friday, but the short version is that we need several hundred dollars for the application and I’m not able to front it myself. Thus, the wonderful world of crowdfunding. If everyone gives a little, we’ll have what we need in no time.

Nerd Night is this Friday! Join us at Geeks Cafe on Babcock and bring an item (or two or ten) to support the Animal Defense League of Texas. The donation wish list is available at this event link and there’s sure to be something there you can find easily at a store near you. We’ll have a guest speaker from ADL and her canine friend.

Joining us on Friday will be Childs’ Play Games & Geekery, a mobile game store run by Sarah Childs and based in New Braunfels. She is graciously donating a portion of all game sales to the ADL, so if you play a game you especially enjoy, see if she has a copy with her! They also offer local free delivery to the San Antonio area.

Speaking of generous Nerd Night partners, Geeks Cafe will be donating a portion of all food sales on Friday night as well. Do we have the best friends or what?

See you all on Friday night!

Crowdfunding, Nerd Night UpdatesStephanie2016-03-09T10:37:43-06:00

March Nerd Night

This month’s partner organization is the Animal Defense League of Texas, a 501(c)(3) non-profit working to help San Antonio’s stray dogs and cats.

ADL is a true no-kill shelter, which means animals are never euthanized if they can be treated and returned to health. No animal is ever euthanized to make room for others. The mission of the Animal Defense League is to enhance the quality of life for abandoned, abused, or neglected animals by providing needed medical care, food, shelter, and safety along with compassion and attention. They provide a number of services, including:

Sheltering animals, regardless of their conditions when they arrive
Complete medical treatment for all resident animals
Full-time veterinary staff
Low-cost spay and neuter program for pets of low-income families
Humane education programs
Adoption services to help resident animals find forever homes

March Nerd Night will collecting items to support the work of ADL, both general need and animal-specific items.

General Needs

Brooms & String Mops
Copy Paper
Hand Sanitizer
Heavy Duty Water Hoses
Laundry Detergent
Bleach
Trash Bags (33 gallon)
Newspapers
Strip-Shredded Paper
Lawnmowers, Weedeaters, and Edgers
Electric Space Heaters
Refrigerators
Nailguns and Drills
100 ft. Electric Snake
Steam Mop

Animal-Specific Needs

KONG and “Hard Plastic” Toys
Blankets (any size)
Towels
Heating Pads
Nebulizers
Canned Kitten Food
Puppy and Kitten Toys
Dog and Cat Toys
Pedigree Canned Dog Food
Esbilac Puppy Formula
KMR Kitten Milk Replacement
Gerber 2^nd FOOD Chicken
Beech Nut Stage 1 Chicken
Plastic Kiddie Pools
Baby Wipes

March Nerd NightStephanie2016-03-09T12:03:59-06:00

Charity Spotlight: Animal Defense League of Texas

About Animal Defense League of Texas

The Animal Defense League was established in 1934 “for the prevention of cruelty to animals; to provide kind and humane treatment of animals; and to aid and assist the enforcement of laws enacted for the prevention of animal cruelty.”

While they began their mission with a few makeshift chicken-wire cages to shelter stray cats and dogs in the San Antonio area, ADL has grown to a 12-acre campus with a pet park, an adoption center, a small retail store, and a 5,000 square-foot clinic that provides on-site spay and neuter surgery, surgery for injured and ill animals, as well as veterinary care for all resident animals.

ADL is a true no-kill shelter, which means animals are never euthanized if they can be treated and returned to health. No animal is ever euthanized to make room for others. The mission of the Animal Defense League is to enhance the quality of life for abandoned, abused, or neglected animals by providing needed medical care, food, shelter, and safety along with compassion and attention. They provide a number of services, including:

Sheltering animals, regardless of their conditions when they arrive
Complete medical treatment for all resident animals
Full-time veterinary staff
Humane education programs
Adoption services to help resident animals find forever homes

ADL is supported through adoption fees, grants, bequests, donations and a number of special events to raise funds. We will be collecting donations to support the work of the Animal Defense League at our March 11^th Nerd Night. Needed items are:

General Needs

Brooms & String Mops
Copy Paper
Hand Sanitizer
Heavy Duty Water Hoses
Laundry Detergent
Bleach
Trash Bags (33 gallon)
Newspapers
Strip-Shredded Paper
Lawnmowers, Weedeaters, and Edgers
Electric Space Heaters
Refrigerators
Nailguns and Drills
100 ft. Electric Snake
Steam Mop

Animal-Specific Needs

KONG and “Hard Plastic” Toys
Blankets (any size)
Towels
Heating Pads
Nebulizers
Canned Kitten Food
Puppy and Kitten Toys
Dog and Cat Toys
Pedigree Canned Dog Food
Esbilac Puppy Formula
KMR Kitten Milk Replacement
Gerber 2^nd FOOD Chicken
Beech Nut Stage 1 Chicken
Plastic Kiddie Pools
Baby Wipes

Charity Spotlight: Animal Defense League of TexasStephanie2016-11-25T10:59:35-06:00