There are many good folx on the ground working to help homeless animals. One group are the 'caretakers' of feral cat colonies - the people who feed, water, trap, provide shelter, and generally care for homeless cats who live outdoors. We call them caretakers.
Almost 100% of their costs are paid out of their own pocket - food, supplies, etc. There are resources to help with some veterinary costs and occasionally other supports. But for caretakers on fixed incomes, this can be a stretch financially - especially when new cats join their colony.
There are some programs that help people with pet food, including some individual food pantries. Because feral cats are not pets and caretakers may not be affiliated with a food pantry, they are not always a great fit.
So I proposed that we establish a cat food drive specifically for these folks. We teamed up with the Homeless Cat Management Team and CARMAA ( Coalition to Adopt, Rehome and Match Abandoned Animals ) to organize a drive. This was February 2019. HCMT takes care of collecting donated items and distributing them to the caretakers. A caretaker who is not connected to HCMT can contact them to get on this distribution list.
We collected hundreds of donations and raised over $1200 in financial donations. HCMT is providing food supports to about 5-6 caretakers each month.
The drive wraps up at the end of June, but everyone wants to keep going. So we've set up this new crowdfund that won't expire. Funds will go directly to the Homeless Cat Management Team and used to purchase food for this drive.
You can also donate via our Amazon wishlist that ships directly to our drop-off spot.
Read more about our project at our webpage.
If you would like to set up a cat food drive or have items to donate, you can either go directly to Mr. Sign on Western Avenue in Pittsburgh's Northside OR you can contact us via email sue @ suecatdotcom This is a great project for youth, Scouts, book clubs reading about cats, service organizations, and more.
Thank you for your support.
