The House Rabbit Network held a volunteer meeting on October 14, 2001 at the home of Diane Thomas in Billerica, Massachusetts. All board members except Suzanne Rubins were present, as were about 15 volunteers. Suzanne Trayhan presided over the meeting and called upon other volunteers to give extra details of projects they are involved with. The following business was discussed.

Adoptions and foster homes: We have placed 50 rabbits in permanent homes since January 2001. We currently have 39 rabbits in foster care. A woman from Burlington, VT is having trouble adopting out a pair of rabbits and is trying to get them into another organization. She is also willing to donate the rabbits' cage for fostering. Anyone who is interested in learning more about these rabbits was asked to speak with Suzanne Trayhan after the meeting. Foster homes can talk with Suzanne T. if interested in having one or more of their foster rabbits featured on the website as "Bun(s) of the Month"

Newsletter: The latest addition of the newsletter was recently issued in the past couple weeks. There are currently 22 people who have a paid subscription to the newsletter. The newsletter comes out approximately three times per year. A general request was made for article submissions. The tracking of subscription renewals was discussed. Bruce Fuller suggested putting the renewal date on the address labels. It was also suggested that renewals be done on a calendar year basis (i.e. every September) regardless of when the subscription is submitted. Subscriptions that come in later in the year could be pro-rated. September was specifically mentioned as a bad month to choose for this set-up, due to large expenses like college tuition being due at this time. Suzanne T. and Bruce F. volunteered to look further into the options for setting up a subscription and membership tracking and renewal system. The "Rabbit Glossary" was submitted to volunteers to look over and contribute to. The glossary will be published in a future edition of the newsletter. Education and Events: No events are currently planned in the near future. Flyers were made available after the meeting to anyone who wished to distribute them. Volunteers were invited to contact area pet stores that do not sell rabbits to set up information tables at any time. We recommend pairing new and experienced volunteers for these events. More educational materials are needed, and some volunteers are working on creating a tri-fold brochure. Teresa Tomari volunteered to contact local libraries about carrying House Rabbit Handbook, Rabbit Health 101, and House Rabbits in the 21st Century. Phone calls are being handled by Kathy Duffy and Carol Youngclaus with Laura O'Connell as a backup. Hotline volunteers were asked to track the source of the calls by finding out where the caller heard about HRN.

Fundraising and Promotions: A yard sale held in May 2001 netted over $1200, and a recent Tupperware sale raised $125. Jen Walsh is coordinating rabbit sitting services to raise money. Volunteers interested in boarding other people's rabbits can contact her. The Rabbit Health 101 fundraiser and yard sale are currently our most successful fundraisers. New ideas and continued efforts at fundraising are needed. Cherryl Reinhardt suggested having an annual auction with items donated from local businesses; however, she does not have time to take this on herself. Carol Y. expressed interest in researching having an auction by contacting local organizations such as the Hopkinton Bay Path Humane Society that have held similar events. She also suggested EBay may be another way to raise money through auctions. Cherryl R. has contacted Hebert's Candy about promotional candy fundraising, but has not had a response. She will follow-up with Hebert's. Carol Y. volunteered to contact the Vermont Teddy Bear Company about offering stuffed rabbits for Easter and for fundraisers. She also offered to design bookmarks and greeting cards to offer as a fundraiser. Luanne G. volunteered to do preliminary research on setting up a dinner/awards ceremony as a fund-raising event. Janel Kydd volunteered to check on the feasibility of selling books as a fund-raiser at Countryside in Chelmsford, MA. Again, no sales tax is to be charged for these as long as they are associated with a fundraiser. Bruce F. suggested putting together a small "emergency kit" to sell as a fund-raiser. All fundraising expenses must be carefully tracked and reported to the IRS and Mass. Division of Charities. We need computer-savvy volunteers to keep the Petfinder and Arfdigita services up to date on the r abbits we have available. Any interested volunteers can speak to Suzanne T. A new volunteer from New York is interested in working on the website. Continued efforts are needed to advertise. Carol Y., Luanne Gagliano, Suzanne T., and Linda Massey expressed interest in possibly participating in a local radio show, Radio Free Allston. Anyone with other advertising ideas can contact Suzanne T.

Finances and Taxes: We have approximately $6,100 in our account. Teresa T. reported this is down from $8,000 two months ago due to the organization having many special needs rabbits in care with large medical expenses. Taxes for the year 2000 were filed in May, and all other filings required by the state and IRS are up-to-date. Volunteers may contact Teresa to see copies of our 2000 taxes.

Submitted by Linda Massey