At Christmastime, most of us think about people that are less fortunate, but what about their cats?
That thought circled James Thompson’s mind several years ago when he and his staff at the Cats At Home Feline Hospital came up with the idea of a cat food drive.
“Our inspiration came from our staff meetings where we wanted to expand our contribution to the community,” remembered Thompson, co-owner of Cats At Home, along with his wife Susan Thompson.
“We (knew) that food banks help families who have cats to enjoy the spirit of Christmas by providing them with food for their kitties,” he said.
So the Thompsons and their staff started their annual Cat Food Drive to support the Surrey Food Bank.
Now in its eighth year, Thompson said this year’s drive was a big success as they collected more cat food donations than in previous years.
“We have always been well received by the food bank staff as there is a never ending need for cat food,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for those people in need to be able to provide a gift to their cat family members during this Christmas time of giving.”
Over the years, Thompson said they’ve probably collected more than 600 kilograms of cat food, along with numerous toys, and lots of bags of kitty litter.
“There were about 35 to 40 people that donated this year,” said Thompson. That amounted to about 100 kilograms of food, along with toys and litter. “This was definitely up from last year.”
Although Cats At Home started the holiday initiative eight years ago, Thompson said the cat food drive wouldn’t have gone anywhere had it not been for his “very generous” clients.
Thompson said Cats At Home always tries to give back to the community. “We participate annually with the SPCA at the Paws for a Cause [fundraising walk],” he said. “We offer (the SPCA) care and surgery, such as spays and neuters, on a periodic basis. This year we also entered the Museum of Surrey Christmas Tree Competition.”
Thompson said he’ll ramp up efforts again next year for their ninth annual drive.
“We’ll start taking in donations around the first week of December,” Thompson added.
Cats At Home Feline Hospital is located at 17967 56 Ave. in Cloverdale.
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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