It's been a long time!
Few important announcements and updates from SFRAW.
My weekly newsletter vanished during the pandemic as I shifted to using more video/live communication via social media.
It's been a difficult time for all involved. So much has changed for everyone.
There are a zillion things that have happened that I wish I could share with you here but it would be "a book" (btw: yes, I've been working on a book, too!) but here's what's going on right now that is of importance.
|
|
|
SFRAW SUPERSALE IS THIS WEEKEND
JULY 30-AUG 1ST
FRIDAY, JULY 30TH FROM 5-7PM
CLOSED TO NON-MEMBERS FOR THESE HOURS
OPEN TO MEMBERS ONLY FOR VIP PRE-SALE SHOPPING
SAT JULY 31ST FROM 9AM-5PM
SUN AUGUST 1ST FROM 12-5PM
OPEN TO EVERYONE WITH 10% OFF "EVERYTHING" IN-STORE
|
|
SUPERSALE STANDARD RULES & RESTRICTIONS
|
|
|
Out of Office Announcement
|
|
I will be out of the office starting August 2nd for 1-3 week period of time. Click here to get the full Backstory.
If you have any questions about nutrition/diets, follow-up questions or support from a Nutritional Consultation we had, or if we've been working together on your pet's issues -- please expect delays in my ability to get back to you, but I will do my best. You can continue to text me as you have been for updates and guidance - texting is best for me these days.
Questions about orders, inventory, production schedules, and everything else -- please call SFRAW at: 415-225-0589
A hard working staff member will get back to you ASAP but, becasue we are INCREDIBLY SHORT-STAFFED and our new hires are great but still learning, please be understanding if you experience the following possibilities:
- delays in communication
- possible mistakes/human errors
- shortages in product availability
- New production staff are getting trained. While learning, production levels will be lower as they get their footing and learn how best to work together as a team. I expect by mid-August they will be confidently running along super well, but right now it's all a learning process for them and there's a tremendous amount to manage/consider when it comes to production.
- yes, there could very well be some mishaps or misunderstandings
Please be understanding and patient. They're all going to do their best. Jeff will remain part-time. Alexander (customer service), Vanessa and Kelly (production) are here full-time. Eventually, Marie (we have missed her!), will be back full-time, too, but she is out of the country until mid-August.
We have a lot of new staff that are just now starting, or starting mid-August that are in-training including: Eric (long-time SFRAW member/raw feeder that has worked in grocery and wine production), Chris (new dog dad/new to raw feeding but long history of working as a chef/in kitchens), John (formerly a handy-man/construction, works in production is an animal lover/food lover), Alex (SFRAW member that has been feeding raw for about a year and has many talents - he's in production now but will probably be doing customer service eventually), Maggie (daughter of our neighbor- she's already proving to be a rockstar in production, this is her first job), Selina (Kelly's younger sister is doing a great job with production work on the weekends) and Jill (SFRAW member with many skills; experience working in customer service, food, grocery - she'll be doing customer service when she stars mid-August).
My husband, Branko, will be taking care of the animals for the very first time ever (yes, I'm worried LOL) and helping at the shop during this time as much as his regular job/work schedule allows.
Know that the SFRAW staff really, genuinely care about you and your animals and SFRAW. They are dedicated, hard-working, good-hearted people, and please know that they will do what they can to help you within their current abilities and knowledge. This will be a challenge while I am away and a burden on them, but I also know this new team are stars, and I actually think they will truly shine.
Backstory: Many of you know that I started SFRAW in 2003 after being Dx with a life-threatening autoimmune disease, SLE with stage 4 lupus nephritis. In 2001, becasue of the unusual severity of my dis-ease, I was given the poor prognosis of a 50% chance of 5-year survival. Indeed, for several years I struggled with a lot of hospital stays, chemotherapy, high dose corticosteroids, immunosuppressant and anti-malarial drugs, and experienced multiple organ failure.
Thankfully, I beat the odds, eventually getting off all medications and have enjoyed a long period of being mostly in remission. Unfortunately, in Feb 2020 before the pandemic and after my father passed away in Jan 2020, routine testing resulted in learning my kidneys were not holding up and I had entered an active flare period.
With a new 2-3 years expected prognosis; the recommendations made for possible treatment options were things that I'm not willing to do right now. Truth is, for all of these many years, I have genuinely seen every day as "icing" and a gift; I wasn't supposed to make it this long, and I am grateful for each day. I had gone down that allopathic treatment path before, I know what it looks like/what is involved and it's not what I want for me and my path at this stage. I decided that I wanted to manage this chapter of my health journey in a different way, which would not involve the usual treatment protocols.
Then the pandemic hit, and very suddenly, the daily challenge and my only focus became just keeping the business alive through a crisis. Throughout the pandemic I have experienced some very difficult health issues. You may have noticed some changes in my appearance or schedule - while I am at SFRAW 7-days/week I am not always there during the hours when we are open and I shifted to working from home part of every day. The hours that I spend working, however, every day have sky-rocketed to a level that I recognize is unsustainable but necessary to keep everything running. Everyone at SFRAW has been working hard, not just me.
After much consideration of many different treatments, I decided to enter into a program that seems promising and affordable without needing to travel far. I have been waiting to get into the program for many months. So, I am am nervous, but hopeful, to be leaving for Aug 2nd for a period of one to three weeks to hopefully get my health to a better place.
There is WiFi, and while I will not be available for consultations during this time, I will make every effort to work as much as possible while in residence at this facility, and will return to work as soon as possible.
Frankly, the timing is terrible for me leaving because we have so many new staff members in-training right now, but they are all good people that CARE and I know they will do their very best to help. I can't pass on his opportunity to enter this program that I have been waiting months for - especially when just recently my health status has declined, so I need to do this.
Challenge is an opportunity to do even better; for us to tap into previously unknown strength and creativity. It can open doors to new possibilities. I truly believe this. This challenge I am facing personally, the challenge that SFRAW has been operating under since March 2020, that we ALL have been dealing with in our own ways, can lead those of us fortunate enough to be here now, to new ways of seeing, being and to even greater things ahead. It's amazing what nature and each one of us can do - when it seems impossible, when it seems so overwhelming - I find just focusing on the here and how - the next 10 minutes - doing what you can every day, every moment, to get to the next step - eventually step by step, day by day, you'll look back and see how far you have come. In time, if you don't give up and keep at it, you might even be amazed at what you have accomplished. (I say this as a reminder for myself more than anything else - but I think this will be true for the SFRAW team, and is for most people, in general, too. But I also don't presume or assume this philosophy to ring true for everyone and I apologize if it offends or annoys anyone reading this - we each have our ways and unique journeys - yours may be very different and is true to you.)
Sincerely,
Kasie Maxwell Grujcic
Founder/President/Owner, SFRAW Inc.
|
|
|
Photo of SFRAW Team at a recent farm visit to our primary beef producer, Stemple Creek near Tomales/West Marin, CA
Left to right: John, Loren of Stemple Creek, Kasie, Jeff, Alexander, Marie, Kelly, Vanessa (not pictured: Branko, Alex, Jill, Eric, Chris & Maggie)
|
|
|
|
Selina (Kelly's younger sister) just started working weekends at SFRAW. She joined us for a recent farm visit with the rest of the SFRAW Team to our duck egg producer (and many more good things to come) Corvus Farm located in beautiful Pescadero, CA.
|
|
|
Farewell to Tim
Tim recently left SFRAW to follow his dream of becoming a firefighter when a totally unexpected, rare opportunity opened up at an amazing fire station near his home. While we were crushed to have him leave, we're super excited for him to be working closer to accomplishing his goal - we have nothing but respect and well wishes for Tim. He is one of those rare individuals that can manage to do the work alone of three solid workers, and he does so with the highest level of integrity, contentiousness, and thoughtfulness. He is an exceptional human and was absolutely pivotal in bringing SFRAW's production to a level never before seen. To say we will miss him is an understatement. Thank you, Tim for all your incredible work and putting in that heroic level of extra effort here over this past month while we all scrambled to get people to take over your position. You were a hero here, and now you'll be a hero for many others as you serve the public in your fire protection vocation. Farewell and we wish you only good things to come.
|
|
|
"Leading the Curious to the Courageous!"
Please look up "The SFRAW Podcast" to like/subscribe/follow on whichever platform you use for podcasts,*then* take a second to click to "turn on notifications" for whenever I post a new episode/content. Comments and shares are hugely appreciated and support this project tremendously, too. Episodes should be available/distributed to most platforms by now so if you would be so kind to also listen/watch the shows or even better, to write a little comment below each episode and share the link, that would be hugely supportive & extra, extra wonderful. All of these little clicking type things are the primary determining factors for our ability to be seen or get distribution to platforms for anyone to be able to find the show. Your couple of clicks, just a minute of your time, really makes a difference.
  Thank you so much for your support and taking the time to click on this stuff, listen, subscribe, follow, comment and share.
BTW - YouTube will be the best place to check out Episode 2 which should really be watched, not just listened to.
Thank you! You can be one of my first followers of this project and I'd appreciate it so much.
The goal of the SFRAW Podcast is to freely share and highlight the incredible knowledge and experiences of people/members that I greatly admire. These special people, doing amazing things, have valuable experiences/skills that I know can help so many animals and people all over the world to live healthier, longer and happier lives. Please help me accomplish this! I don't collect any $$, am not sponsored or supported in doing this, nor would I ever sell or use your information. Podcast creation takes hours to do and is a lot of work but I hope to share important ideas using this medium.
The SFRAW Podcast is a project for the free sharing of knowledge and experience that I hope helps others.
Please help me to do this with these clicky click click type clicking things  Thank you so much!
|
|
NEW MONTHLY HEALTH SCREENING TEST DAYS @SFRAW
Getting organized at SFRAW for our first test day (one Sunday per month actual dates are TBA) - have had to get/buy a centrifuge and all the lab materials needed to collect, prepare and properly handle/process each sample taken.
Thank you, Cole Cross former SFRAW employee, long-time SFRAW member, and highly skilled, very experienced registered veterinary technician to give us one Sunday a month of her valuable time for SFRAW'S Health Screening Testing days!
SFRAW will be conducting health screening tests for SFRAW Members monthly by appointment.
Tests available will include: KSU titer tests for dogs & cats, useful nutrition tests from Veterinary Diagnostics Labs , and other health screening tests include ParsleyPet, Nutriscan, Animalbiome, etc. These are valuable tests that you won't typically find available at your veterinarian's office, or that are available only at a very high cost. Test results can be used in combination with the usual laboratory tests offered by your veterinarian, to get a clearer understanding and more accurate assessment of your animals' health status and risk for disease.
Use this information to inform and guide you in making much better decisions regarding your animals' health and nutritional needs, at the individual level.
Stay tuned for our first testing day and to book an appointment (required).
One of the BEST things about all of this? The cost savings! We're NOT charging for the actual tests, all of which will be provided to you at *cost* with zero mark-up. There will be a nominal fee for our registered veterinary technician's time plus materials used for the proper preparation of the samples and postage to submit to the laboratories, as required.
It will be as affordable as possible - tests will be sold at cost.
This will be a useful, affordable health supporting community service that we are providing to our SFRAW Members!
|
|
|
|
SFRAW WORKSHOPS & CLASSES STARTING IN OCT 2021 (DATES TBD)
Due to the pandemic, we haven't been able to conduct our usual classes & workshops. We plan to offer three of our most popular classes in Oct 2021. They will take place on Sundays.
RAW FEEDING WORKSHOP FOR PUPPIES
RAW FEEDING WORKSHOP FOR DOGS
RAW FEEDING WORKSHOP FOR KITTENS & YOUNG CATS
During our hands-on workshops we will teach you how to put together a sample menu/diet for your animals(s) using SFRAW sourced ingredients. While making food we will answer general questions about preparing raw diets on a practical level.
Participants will prepare a meal that they can take home to feed their animal(s). Pick-up practical tips and tricks from seasoned raw feeders on how to feed fresh foods properly and how to manage every-day feeding with ease.
- Space is limited to 4-6 participants (2-3 food prep stations will be set-up with two people per station).
- Cost for the seminar includes food/ingredients, packaging and supplies involved in making the food you'll take home.
- Please let us know in advance if your pet has any food allergies or intolerances so we will have ingredients that will work for your pet ready for you.
|
|
|
In honor of special beings in our community that have recently passed: Halle & Athena. We are heartbroken and sending all touched by their loss love, sympathy and strength.
|
|
|
Hoping to break through these clouds and feel a lot more like this when I get back.
With Tremendous Gratitude & Thankfulness for Your Continued Support, Understanding and Kindness.
With Love,
Kasie
|
|
|
In Honor and Remembrance of Mary
We were shocked to learn of the recent passing of GreenTripe.com's founder/owner, Mary Voss. The world lost a wonderful person and a force in the rawfeeding community. Mary single-handedly brought *safe* properly handled RAW green tripe to market when this was simply unavailable in the US (unless you harvested it yourself!) Her health promoting products are her legacy and thankfully her family and dedicated staff (especially Libby) will continue to keep the business going. Mary was both funny and fierce. She seriously LOVED all animals but especially dogs. It's been a few years since we really talked, but we started our businesses around the same time (Mary about a year before me, but I was one of her early customers and spoke to her monthly for our orders for years). That's almost 20 years ago. I will miss our long talks. Thinking of you Mary with love and respect; sending sympathy and strength to her family and friends. A lot of people and animals will miss you, Mary.
|
|
|
|
|
|
