Feline Rescue Hopes to Raise $50,000 on Give for Max Day for Outreach Services – Twin Cities

Wednesday at the Feline Rescue shelter on Fairview Avenue in St. Paul, volunteer Todd Lane walked into a room filled with dozens of donated refrigerators.

As a supply coordinator for the nonprofit’s services and community services department, Lane modifies coolers to serve as insulated, hay-filled shelters for stray cats during the winter.

“It’s the first level of assistance,” Lane said, “a way to protect the cats.”

Thursday — Give to the Max Day — the St. Paul hopes to receive enough donations to fund and expand his outreach services, including coolers I’m just an example.

“Our goal this year is $50,000, which is pretty substantial,” said Kate King, executive director.

Give to Max Day

Give to the Max Day, now considered a “holiday of giving” in Minnesota, is back for its 16th year through GiveMN at givemn.org.

It started as a way to have fun, compete with all that online holiday shopping, continues to encourage people to connect and shop for causes and organizations across the state or in their neighborhoods. Instead of adding items to a virtual shopping cart, people browse and stack donations, checking out after selecting new or favorite options.

In 2023, people donated more than $34.2 million to 6,615 causes in Minnesota.

With inflation affecting donor budgets in recent years, will people be able to give as much?

“There’s no doubt that in the last couple of years belts have tightened,” said Jake Blumberg, executive director of GiveMN. “If we as individuals feel this way, imagine how nonprofits feel, stepping up to serve those in need while the same pressures affect them. … So if you can give, you know any amount will make a huge difference.”

Inflationary pressures

While Lane looked over the coolers Wednesday, volunteer Angie Cariveau was at the shelter playing with a cat named Curry Emma Rue.

Curry, a 6-year-old Calico, was tapping a feather on a string that Cariveau was dangling. The cat has special kidney care needs and is living at the shelter while awaiting adoption.

Whether it’s buying special food for Curry or taking other cats to specialists, care costs are rising for all local shelters.

“Vet bills have gone up astronomically,” King said. “This is our biggest expense.”

“We have a few cats with neurology cases right now,” said Sara Post, director of operations for Feline Rescue.

“And cardiology,” King added.

extension

Feline Rescue’s recent charges include Butterball, a pregnant cat due on Thanksgiving, and a pair of weeks-old kittens found in someone’s yard. The organization also cares for two cats that were surrendered due to their owner’s evacuation.

“It’s not just the cats we meet that struggle,” King said. “Mankind is fighting.”

Minnesota’s recent warm stretch — including last winter and this fall — has affected the seasonality of the stray cat population, which is also straining local animal services.

“Cats are born year-round now,” King said.

With its fundraising goal focused on mobilization, Feline Rescue wants to step up intervention with its trap-neuter-return programs for stray cats.

“It gets really rough out there for the cats,” King said.

That’s one reason, King said, that the nonprofit is highlighting its outreach services during this year’s Give to the Max Day.

Recent fights