Happy New Year!
Wrapping up a year always has it's challenges. As I'm working on year end reports, looking at numbers, receipts and statistics, many faces of the people we have helped and the felines we have made life better for come back in a vivid way. It would be impossible and even unfair to highlight a few of them, because they were all equally important and poignant. If you follow our Facebook page you know the stories.
Another year is over. Another year of helping to fulfill our mission: to reduce the over population of outdoor feral, homeless and community cats.
Our totals for "spa treatments" has grown. As of December 31, 2015 we have fixed a total of 1353 cats. In 2015 we fixed 425 cats ( 236 were female) . Lots of hard work on the part of myself, my volunteers and those folks out there that care about the outdoor cats that have no one else. This has made an impact in our communities in Southwest Iowa. I will be making calls to regional rescues and shelters during this month to see if their intake numbers have gone down. My paws are crossed that they are seeing a difference because of what we are doing.
Aside from that, I believe the other huge difference we are making is in awareness and sensitivity to the plight of the community cat. Because of my volunteers that have the same passion I do, people are becoming more aware of the fact that not only do these cats deserve respect, they need us to care for them. On the rural side, we have convinced many farmers and country dwellers that having cats is good, but having "Wifcap'd" cats is even better. A healthy cat that is fixed and not breeding makes a much better employee. We have placed many cats in home or shops. We continue to encourage all shops to have a kitty for rodent patrol and customer service.
I am amazed when I think about those out there that have taken on the responsibility of feeding feral cats. Our volunteers that daily feed, water and watch over little broods of these sweet animals warm my heart. Your commitment blesses me and while it may seem like your work goes unnoticed, it doesn't. I wish you could be paid what you are worth, but for now, the look in those fed and cared for kitties must suffice. If you are like me, that's enough.
So, on to another year. My gut says we are about to enter the biggest year yet for WIFCaP. We are small but mighty. My heart says, I cant wait. We have some very committed volunteers that are up for the challenge of big trappings and we have two committed veterinarians to help us. All that only works with the cooperation of property owners, communities, feeders and of course our financial supporters. Our annual budget is around $25,000. That is a lot of fundraising, events and asking for donations, but we continue to up for the challenge and hope you are too! Donations can be made by clicking our "donate" button at the top of this page. We thank you from the bottom of our kitty loving hearts!
I am excited to start the new year and hope you are too. Thank you for hanging with us. Thank you for following along and telling your friends about us too.
Happy New Year! Watch and see what a small grassroots effort can do!
