Recent Donors of Services and Goods
JP Morgan Chase October 3, 2004 See Photos
POSabilities March 21, 2004
Gerdau Ameristeel CATS March 20, 2004
Keith and Renee Kent of Kiss-Cote February 21, 2004
In order to apply for most grants, BCR needs audited financial statements, which are being done right now. But, one of the prerequisites for the audit was better tracking of sales in our gift shop. To do that, we needed a “point of sale”, or “POS”, system, i.e. the kind of computer you see in most retail locations that can scan a bar code to track sales and inventory and print out a customer receipt. While the software and computer were within our budget, we lacked the technical expertise to install and maintain such a system, and did not have funds to pay for those services.
Then Bill Grant, owner of POSabilities, Inc., came to our rescue. POSabilities is a Tampa area company specializing in POS systems. He, along with his head of sales, Brian Steffen and technical guru Julian Meyers, guided us to an affordable software solution, arranged a favorable price on the software and hardware, and then generously donated the time of Julian and Jason Reopelle to help us get it all set up and maintain it.
In addition to the generosity, their service has been incredible. They guided us through the entire setup process, including helping get our inventory entered and correct. They gave us our staff training on how to use the system in simple, understandable language that got us up and running in just a few hours. And in the first few days when we needed to work out some kinks in the system, they were incredibly attentive both by phone and with on site visits. The system is already having a tremendous impact. It has significantly speeded up the sales process for visitors, which they appreciate, and is increasing our sales by preventing us from running out of popular items since we now have a real time inventory.
We cannot thank Bill and his staff enough, and would HIGHLY recommend them to any retail business owners seeking a RELIABLE vendor for Point of Sale needs. The phone number is 727-524-0767.
Below is a photo of the POSabilities team and their families with China Doll, the Bengal Tiger, on a recent company excursion to visit the cats they have helped so much through their generous donation:
Thank you so much for all the hard work and the donation of the supplies. These projects would have taken us months to complete because our staff and volunteers are just so overwhelmed with animal care to take on a lot of these maintenance projects.
By sealing the benches we will be able to have a nice pic nic area for years to come. We have school field trips that eat their lunch on the beach, summer camp that uses the area as an out door classroom, and corporate and birthday parties that use these benches. Your protecting them will give us many years of service.
The mobile home that you painted is our E-Center (Education, Enrichment and Events) This is the first thing that people see when they park and you took it from being an awful eyesore to being very GREEN which blends in with the nature that people come here to see. Moving all of those plants to further camouflage the trailer really helped make the whole experience much nicer.
By moving the fence back and re-setting the gate, you gave us much more parking space and created a safe area for school kids that are here waiting for the field trip and those here for summer camp.
Tearing down the old cage was another way that you really made the entrance to the property much more beautiful. Cutting the wire into barricades will provide a safe experience and the ugly barricades will go behind all of the pretty flowers that you planted today.
Removing the roof behind the Volunteer Check Point makes it easier for us to install a new one and to create a nice sitting area for the volunteers who work so hard. They don't have anywhere that they can sit and visit and be out of the guests' way, so this will give them a little place they can call their own.
Moving all of the grass and trees back to the RV will give shade and make that whole area a lot prettier for the interns who come here for six months at a time to live on the property and take care of the cats.
I can't thank you enough for making Big Cat Rescue the recipient of all of your hard work and sweat! This really meant a lot to us and provided us with a lot of beautification projects that would have had to take a back seat to animal care for a long time if you hadn't come and helped us out today.
Thanks again!
For the cats
Carole Lewis, Founder
DR. KEITH KENT AND KISS-COTE, INC.
Dr. Kent is the inventor of a fantastic product called Kiss-Cote which creates a smooth coating on any surface to which it is applied. It is used for many industrial and medical purposes. One of the uses of Kiss-Cote is as a sprayed on bandage that promotes healing. In the past he has donated product and advised and participated in its use in helping injured cats successfully recovered much more quickly than would otherwise have occurred.
On February 21 st Dr. Kent generously donated his time and hundreds of dollars worth of the Kiss-Cote product in an experiment to see if Kiss-Cote applied to one of our newly built enclosures would prohibit rusting of the cage wire better than the painting that we have done in the past.
With the help of the members of FSU accounting fraternity Beta Alpha Psi, who donated the labor for the project, we coated one cage with Kiss-Cote and painted another. Below is a photo of Dr. Kent and the Beta Alpha Psi participants who coated the cage: 
We'll be observing to see the result, but based on the analysis done by Dr. Kent and his past experience in other applications, we believe this treatment will provide substantially better protection for the cage, deferring the expense of replacing it by a number of years.
Dr. Kent has been a devoted supporter of Big Cat Rescue for years and attended and spoke eloquently at our recent Planned Development hearings. Thanks Dr. Kent for all you have done to help save the cats, and particularly for your recent help on prolonging the useful life of our cages!
To see a list of our donors to Big Cat Rescue, click on the links below: