Fund-raising initiatives help organisation care for feral cats
To raise money to help curb and care for the local feline population, Love4Claws conducts a variety of fundraising initiatives.
MALALANE – Founders and supporters of Love4Claws don’t just care for local feral cats, they also think up interesting ideas to raise money for their work.
On September 1, they hosted their third car-boot sale at the Inkwazi Centre’s parking lot. Despite the smaller number of stalls, it proved successful and sellers returned home with empty boots.
Shoppers had a chance to browse the tables and boots packed with second-hand goodies and other crafts.
Funds raised are essential to Love4Claws as their aim is to curb the local feral cat population by sterilising them and helping to find street kittens a loving home. It is run by volunteers with full-time jobs.
One of the founders, Patricia van der Westhuizen explained that they care for feral kittens until the felines are around eight weeks old and then try to find them new homes. Only then can they take in new kittens, aged between four and six weeks. They get around four to six kittens adopted a month.
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At the moment, their greatest challenges are diseases and viruses. The feral kittens pick up these diseases wherever they wander and can then infect the other kittens Love4Claws care for.
Kittens are kept in a quarantine cage for the first two weeks to avoid this. However, this also means that Love4Claws always needs money in their vet account to ensure they can get the sick kittens treated.
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They currently have four kittens aged around six weeks and each one has a possible home. This situation allows Van der Westhuizen and her colleagues to focus on their main mission of trapping, neutering and releasing Malalane’s feral cats.
As part of their fundraising efforts, they are hosting a raffle for a one-of-a-kind scratching pole. Raffle tickets are sold at R50 per ticket and available from Malelane Diereklinic, Komati Dierekliniek, Petchem in Komatipoort and Malelane Vetshop.
The draw will take place on September 28. Contact Van der Westhuizen on 073-098-1245 for more information.
They originally started making scratching posts to sell at a market to raise funds. Everything sold out and they even received orders for more. It takes them about three to four hours to make one from scratch, depending on the size, and they sell for between R200 and R400.
Love4Claws will not be hosting another car boot sale, but will celebrate their second birthday with a community car wash on November 3. The event will take place at Sasol Malelane from 11:00 and the fee will be R70 per vehicle. There will be stalls and kiddies activities.
The organisation is in need of volunteers to help wash cars, work at the stalls or supervise the kids entertainment. Plenty of prizes will be up for grabs for these teams.
Love4Claws would like to thank all of their sponsors for their invaluable contributions towards their work.
