Thanks to Marc and to me (in a much smaller way), PoC is about to donate $1000 (USD) to a cat charity or charities.
Over the last weekend, 29th to 30th June 2013, PoC regulars celebrated the life of a loved cat. His name is Red. He was, and still is, loved by Marc who was his human companion. We had a great weekend thanks to Marc’s efforts in creating a pictorial history of Red’s life. What a beautiful life it was.
Many tears were shed in reading Marc’s memorial to Red. Those tears have been channeled into a flood of funds for cat welfare.
If you are new to this story, please go to In Remembering Red and return here. Please read it. There is so much that is good about it. It is about a pure love between cat and human that won’t fade.
Before Marc wrote his memorial, I had the idea of raising money through comments written. I decided to donate 5 cents for every comment. This is a permanent feature of PoC, which started on 19th June 2013.
Marc added to that pledge by telling us that he would contribute $5 for every comment made on PoC over the weekend of Red’s Memorial. This was extremely generous because there were 175 comments over that weekend.
That generous gesture raised $875, while the PoC comments scheme raised an additional $31 since 19th June. That figure is added to the $875, making $906
Then Marc told me that he wanted to round it up to $1000. An awesome and moving gesture of generosity in Red’s name. To recap, Marc donates $1000 minus $31, which PoC donates. So, the final calculation is $969 from Marc, a mind blowing number, and $31 from PoC.
Now, let’s think of handsome Red and decide how we can distribute the money. It is Red’s legacy to cat welfare.
Please tell us where you think the money should go. 51% of visitors to PoC are Americans, I am told by Alexa, a major website. Is that important?
I think Marc should decide. But, understandably, he is wants us to decide. So, it’s over to me and you.
Thank you Marc and Red.
PoC has a history of giving with the intention of improving cat welfare.
Forgot to mention, Marc, bless his heart, inspired me to sell my car. (I have a bicycle. :))
Mr. Furtado, I have bee looking for a cat welfare site in India, which PoC should recognise; do You know of one in particular? You have always been so gentle and kind, unlike me. I respect you very much on the pages here. I have not been able to come across any one particular website for felines in India. May I ask, why is this? I just sold my car today so that I could use the monies to charities that are in need, desperately. I would like to give to charities for humans in need, and the other half to cats who are helpless and maligned. Any insight on your part will help immensely. TIA, Caroline
You have all written kind comments to me here again – thank you very much everybody. I want to do this again next year. That it lands on the last day of the month means I recieve my paycheck (pay cheque in UK) the next day so it works out well in the sense of timing.
It’s been a very hard weekend – once again about ‘Red Red Red and me me me’ but also and at least there’s a purpose behind it and the money and comment idea seems like the right way to balance it. I feel like that I can remember Red and do so in a way that is useful to cats who need help, elsewhere.
I guess we need to draw up a list of the Charities that have been mentioned by everyone and have a look at them all, once everbody had a chance to mention them.
I’ve heard of many of these charities and like the sound of them all. I have just one particular angle on the whole thing. There are some charities who are well known and heard of and some who aren’t. The ones who are have the luck to recieve more donations no doubt. They are just as deserving – all of them are – but there may be ones who haven’t been on TV or who are just a little bit smaller and who are struggling for donations. The nice thing about donating to such a place is that you can really make their day or even their week with a nice donation. I am generally of the ‘political’ stance to help the small if the big are already being fed.
Another thing I want to say about this whole thing – I may do lots of wonderful things for my cats but I don’t do hardly anything for other cats who I will never even meet. There are people out there who work everyday constantly helping cats in need and their time is worth 50 times my money and some. It’s very selfish of me to always talk about my cats and me in some sense so doing this donation is putting things a little bit into perspective. If I lived somewhere I was more needed I would certainly be helping but I guess this, for now, is one way I can.
I love cat house on the kings and alley cat allies but I feel the donation might not change much in their day since they are world famous just about in the cat world. I have only ever heard of Kay’s Hill through PoC and I don’t know how they advertize or get donations. Just thinking outloud here.
A shelter I like is called ‘Friends of Felines Rescue Center’ in Defiance, Ohio – I am not sure how well they recieve donations these days but certainly it won’t be badly.
There are many rescues – some of them are just a few volunteers from the community doing whatever they can without hardly any help from anyone – several hundred dollars would help the tremendously.
The other thing is that Michael and Charlie have to keep $50 🙂
Elisa recommends: Abby’s Animal Angels as a suitable charity. This is just a note for me to remind me.
Thanks Rudolph. Is there are cat charity in India you know about? Perhaps one in Mumbai? You are a vital link for PoC to Asia. You are very important to PoC.