Keeping Pets Safe During Winter

Helpful tips on keeping your pets safe this winter.

Winter has finally arrived! As most owners know, this time of year can be a challenge for pets. And while we haven’t seen a snow storm yet, chances are pretty good we will before Spring. We’ve checked in with the ASPCA and the Humane Society to collect some helpful tips for keeping your pets safe and warm during the cold winter months!

sudley in snow jsrealty4u Sarah Taylor
Sudley taking a walk

LEASH YOUR DOG
Aside from the county leash laws, it’s just good common sense to keep your dogs on a leash while walking them. Especially during a snow storm, where they could very easily run away and get lost. And when you head out, make sure your dog is wearing his ID tags in case he manages to get loose.

Penny Katie Hofer jsrealty4u pets
Penny playing in the snow

WIPE ANIMALS DOWN
Snow, ice, salt, and other chemicals can be harmful to your pet if ingested or left on their paw pads. If you’ve been out, wipe your pet down thoroughly when you return. Be sure to check paws, legs, and stomach.

pet Taylor Jsrealty4u
Taylor checking out the snow

KEEP ANIMALS INSIDE
Outside, animals can very easily freeze, get lost or stolen, or worse. It’s best to keep pets indoors as much as possible. Be sure they have a place to sleep that’s off the floor and away from drafts. A pet bed and/or blankets and pillows work well.

Thunder Katie Hofer JSRealty pet
Our fur buddy Thunder

GROOMING
A longer coat will provide more warmth, so hold off on that “shave and a haircut” until the weather warms up. Consider purchasing a sweater for shorter hair breeds. And if you have to bathe your pet, completely dry them before taking them outside. Better yet, use a dry shampoo powder to freshen them up so you can skip the bath altogether.

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Penny & Molly playing

CREATIVE PLAY & FEEDING
Got an active pet? Laser pointers, interactive toys, and tricks-for-treats are great ways to keep your animal mentally and physically active without spending time outside. And you may want to up their food portions a bit too, since regulating body temperature takes more energy!

CHECK UNDER YOUR CAR
If you live in an area where animals roam free, it’s a good idea to give a loud knock on the hood of your car, or even honk your horn once before starting it up. This should help scare off any cats, squirrels, or other little creature that might have sought out warmth under the hood of your car.

jsrealty4u sam pets Beth Wenner
Sam taking a break

NEVER LEAVE ANIMALS IN THE CAR
Your pets should never be left unattended in a car. The car can act like a refrigerator during winter months, holding in the cold and could cause your pet to freeze to death.

CLEAN UP ANTIFREEZE SPILLS
Antifreeze – like coolant – is a lethal poison for dogs and cats. Unfortunately pets are attracted to the smell and taste of it. Immediately clean up any spills from your vehicle to prevent accidental ingestion. And consider using products that contain propylene glycol instead of ethylene glycol. However, neither is safe for cats.

If you’re interested in adding a dog or cat to your family this year, check out our furry buddies at Friends of Homeless Animals.
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MEET THE STEP SISTERS

Today we’d like to introduce you to The Step Sisters, one of the 4 local charities that the JS Realty Team supports!

JS Realty Step Sisters breast cancer factThe Step Sisters began in 2005, with a small group of women and men who’d been impacted by breast cancer in some way. Now over 100 “members” strong, the Step Sisters recently made a huge shift in their fundraising goals and focused in on a specific mission: to support and provide much needed quality-of-life services for local breast cancer patients.

Based in Loudoun County’s Brambleton community, these breast cancer JS Realty StepSisters logo2survivors, mothers, sisters, daughters, brothers, sons, and fathers who have all been touched by this terrible disease have raised more than $500,000 for the breast cancer cause. Wanting to help local patients in a positive way, The Step Sisters partnered with INOVA Loudoun Hospital, INOVA Fair Oaks Hospital and INOVA Fairfax Hospital and now fund four main services for breast cancer patients: fresh food delivery, house cleaning, child care, and transportation to and from appointments.

Interested in helping The Step Sisters and their mission? There are several ways to make a difference – and have some fun!

JS Realty Step Sisters scramble golfKick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month by registering for the 2015 Step Sisters Scramble Golf Tournament! The 4-person scramble, followed by a lunch and awards reception will take place on Thursday, October 8th at the The Golf Club of Lansdowne.

JS Realty Step Sisters ribbon-run-logoMark your calendar for the 8th annual Brambleton Ribbon Run/Walk on Saturday, April 16, 2016.  This certified 5K & 10K race also includes a Kids Fun Run!

Make a Donation. Funds are directed to helping The Step Sisters provide quality-of-life services to local breast cancer patients. As the organization grows, they hope to expand their service offerings.

The Step Sisters is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.


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The JS Realty Team – not only serving Brambleton, serving all of Northern Virginia.

 

FRIENDS OF HOMELESS ANIMALS

Why we support the Friends of Homeless Animals

We have recently been discussing some wonderful local charities. Today we are sharing more about one of favorites, Friends of Homeless Animals (FOHA). Friends of Homeless Animals is one of the top 4 local charities that the JS Realty Team supports by raising money and volunteering at during their local events. We even attended their dog walking course so we can visit the property and give the dogs some much needed attention and time. We all love our furry friends and they need help too!

JS Realty Cute Little Chihuahua Wearing A Blue JumperFOHA strives to: bring an end to the unnecessary killing of companion animals, provide a safe haven for abused and abandoned animals, provide food, shelter, medical care, rehabilitation, and compassion to homeless animals, find permanent, loving homes for the animals in our care and most importantly, bring about a time when there will be no more homeless pets and every dog and cat can be guaranteed a loving home.

FOHA is located in Aldie, VA and was founded by Judge Anne Lewis in 1973. She was inspired to open a no kill shelter and devoted the next 32 years of her life to homeless animals. Still in operation today, they strive to provide the highest quality medical care possible and have a careful adoption process and a unique lifetime pet return policy.jsrealty4u animalsOver the last four decades, FOHA has saved and placed in forever homes tens of thousands of dogs and cats who would otherwise have been abandoned or killed. This is the legacy of Anne Lewis.

To find out more about adopting your next pet, or if you are interested in volunteering or donating, please contact FOHA.

GENEROSITY FEEDS

Living in Northern Virginia we all have a lot to be thankful for. Last week we blogged about how we decided to partner with 4 local charities to do our part in giving back to Loudoun County and the surrounding communities. The first organization we highlighted was Serve our Wounded Warriors. The JS Realty Team has learned and grown a lot by researching and selecting charities to work with. This has been a passion we have wanted to implement for a while and we are fortunate to be able to kick off our donations and volunteering to these four special organizations.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Generosity Feeds.

JS Realty Generosity Feeds1 in 5 children in America struggle with hunger. In Loudoun County around 13% of our students qualify for reduced or free meals in our schools. Generosity Feeds takes the next step by ensuring that those children have food when they are not at school. Their experienced team works with organizations to mobilize hundreds of volunteers to package 10,000 or more meals in just a couple of hours. These meals are then distributed to local schools and food banks that facilitate the delivery of the meals to the children that need it.

JS Realty Generosity FeedsWe recently met with the President of Generosity Feeds, Ron Klabunde, and came away from the meeting knowing that we wanted to one day be able to sponsor a packaging event. Ron’s insight into how the process worked and the way they were able to get the free meals to the children in our community was inspiring. Ron and his team are working to “decrease effects of food insecurity on children in your area by packaging and providing nutritious and delicious meals for those children in need”. Their vision is to feed hungry children in every county throughout America. They have already succeeded in our area, as well as many other counties across America.

JSrealty4u generosity feedsReady to get involved? Want to help make a difference? We encourage you to JOIN THE JS REALTY TEAM at the next Generosity Feeds event on Saturday, September 12th in Chantilly, VA and help us make 10,000 meals! This is a family event, and children as young as 3 can participate.

If you’re not able to attend in person, you can still donate! As little as $30 can help feed 30 children. Event registration and additional details can be found here.

We hope to see you there!


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The JS Realty Team – not only serving Brambleton, serving all of Northern Virginia.

WILLING WARRIORS CHARITY

The JS Realty Team is committed to giving back to our community through monetary donations and by volunteering our time. After researching local charities we painstakingly narrowed our selections down to four that we are now building a relationship with. Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting each of the organization to raise awareness and show you what it was that made us want to work with them.

SOWW charityToday we point the spotlight at Serve Our Willing Warriors (SOWW).

For over 9 years this organization has been providing “a little taste of home” for wounded, ill, and injured warriors. SOWW started in 2006 with a grassroots campaign with a small group from a local church in Haymarket, VA. They started off sponsoring events such as gift-giving at holidays, summer cookouts, and visitation for lonely service and family members. These volunteers came away with an enormous desire to do more for these incredible service members. The original volunteers were moved by the remarkable sense of community, mutual support and can-do attitudes of the injured service members who faced such daunting challenges. That was when they knew they had to do more. JS Realty SOWW RetreatThrough their visits they discovered a need for a little piece of a “normal life” for the service members. This lead to their mission to provide our country’s recovering wounded, ill, and injured warriors and their families with encouragement, support and even a vacation from their daily norm. Something like a “home away from home.”

With this in mind, SOWW recently opened The Bull Run Warrior Retreat in Haymarket. The retreat is located on 44 acres on the edge of the Bull Run Mountains. At the moment there is an 11,000 sq. ft. home with plans to add 3 cottages to increase the room for outpatient warriors and their families to spend well needed vacation breaks from the hospital environment. The next stage will be to add additional amenities to the property including gardens, walking trails, a pond, and much more.SOWW JSRealty4U

SOWW hosts many sponsored events throughout the year to benefit the Bull Run Warrior Retreat. JS Realty SOWW 1st Golf TourneyThis fall, come out and join the JS Realty Team at the SOWW 3rd Annual Golf Tournament on October 5th! You can download the Golf Tournament flyer for more information. For you serious (and casual) bike riders, the 2nd Annual Cycling Charity Ride will take place on October 17th. Additional details can be found on the Cycling flyer. In December, SOWW will continue their tradition of visiting the troops at Walter Reed Medical Center and Fort Belvoir Community Hospital.

As you can see, this touched our hearts and is a charity that we wanted to get involved with. For more information on this remarkable charity and to register for their upcoming events visit their website.


 

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The JS Realty Team – not only serving Brambleton, serving all of Northern Virginia.

LIVING KIDNEY DONATION

As of this morning, there are over 122,300 people needing a life-saving organ JS Realty UNOS Region Maptransplant in the United States. More than 10,000 of those candidates live in “Region 11” (UNOS designated region consisting of KY, TN, VA, NC, and SC). And 8,527 of them need a Kidney.

Mindy Colonna is one of them.

Mindy and her husband Eddie
Mindy and her husband Eddie

Mindy grew up in Williamsburg, VA, the childhood best friend of Sarah King Taylor. Mindy was the youngest of 4, and has 3 older brothers. She currently lives just outside Williamsburg with her husband Eddie and her son Cody. Mindy was only 19 when she first found out about her kidney disease. Her doctor put her on medication to help slow the process and for 20 years, it seemed to work.  In September of 2014, she started feeling sick and extremely fatigued all the time. After checking in with the doctor, they determined her kidneys were functioning at 70%, which was not cause for immediate concern. Unfortunately not much time passed before Mindy’s hands, feet, and legs began swelling and she discovered her kidney function had dropped down to only 15%.

Mindy with her son Cody
Mindy with her son Cody

Mindy’s husband, Eddie, volunteered to donate one of his kidneys. He got tested and found out he was a match! Unfortunately, the doctors discovered some of his arteries were in such close proximity to the kidney, that they could not perform the procedure safely. Mindy has been on the transplant list since June 2015. She is currently undergoing the second-half of the surgery needed to prepare her veins for dialysis. She will have to do dialysis 3 times a week, for 4 hours each time, until she receives a transplant.


#BIGASKBIGGIVE
JS Realty Big Ask Big Give LogoDid you know a healthy person can donate one of their kidney’s while they are still living? Kidneys from living donors offer better outcomes and a life-saving alternative to the long, uncertain wait of a deceased donor. Living donors allow those in need to plan and schedule their transplant when they need it most. Living donor kidney transplants offer a number of superior benefits, from greater success rates to nearly double the years of function. Living donors not only help those in need get a healthy “living” kidney (when they need one); they also prevent those in need from getting sicker (or dying) while they wait.

If you were healthy enough to do so, would you ever consider donating one of your kidneys? Finding out if you’re a match is almost as simple as knowing your blood type (in Mindy’s case, A+ or O would match).

If you would like more information on how you can help Mindy, please email us at Info@JSRealty4U.com.  

In the meantime, please forward and share this story and help spread the word to raise awareness about being a living donor. You can help save lives!
JS Realty Donate Life Logo