I started volunteering at Orphan Angels because I love cats. I thought it was time to stop wishing I could do something and join the effort of saving and caring for them. Everyone at Orphan Angels work hard to care for all of the cats. There are a wide variety of fundraising events so there are plenty of ways to help.
My volunteering with Orphan Angels Cat Sanctuary and Adoption Center at 5439 West Lake Rd started not from just a love of cats, but a love of Daffin’s chocolate. I would sell it for them since it was easy and I was buying it for myself, too.
That one small chocolate step led to a larger understanding of this struggling non-profit run solely by volunteers with no funding besides what people donate-with very few events scheduled to donate at.
The few volunteers that they had were busy doing all of the shelter work. With my extreme cat allergies and my love to network, I volunteered to be their fundraising director-something they unanimously approved. As my dog allergies are not as severe, if I volunteered at a dog shelter, I know I would bring home every single small dog under 25 pounds. No cats come with me, despite how many I want to take in and snuggle!! My respiratory system will not let me.
Since I will ask for anything-and it never hurts to ask-it made sense that I jump in and help get them much needed funding. In a grass roots organization with no committed funding, we need to get things for free or discounted. Asking for this was something the other volunteers had trouble doing. Apparently, I was the missing piece of their puzzle.
I connected with local restaurants and we have Hoss’s days where we distribute cash cow cards to our supporters and we get back a percentage of our sales. We had our picture in the Sunday paper a few weeks ago. We have raised about $1000 total from our past 3 events there. Our next Hoss events are October 13th and November 11th. We have a Jr’s Night planned for November 1st where we get a percentage of the tickets that we sell.
This weekend I will clock around 18 hours volunteering representing Orphan Angels at a local fundraiser, bussing tables at our Cici’s Buffet community day and then selling $1 Sunday newspapers at the Westside Wal-mart that the Times News donates to us.
Our semi-annual Rummage and Bake Sale from June netted us around $4000 which went quickly to a $3000 vet bill and $900 monthly rent. Keep us in mind for our next sale which is September 9th and 10th. We will take any items that have any value to sell up until that date.
This organization changed my life for the better. I work A LOT, but I get the best feeling of helping that I am addicted to, it's so wonderful to be so happy from hard work.
I do want to give a heartfelt thank you to all of the people who have been so supportive of chocolate and Orphan Angels. Regardless of how you feel about cats, Orphan Angels works to control the local cat population and keep the cats that are already here and homeless safe. Another win/win for the Erie Community.
Orphan Angels is a no kill cat sanctuary and adoption center. My husband and I wanted to adopt a rescue cat and found our way to Orphan Angels. We adopted Czarina or rather she adopted us. This impressive facilty has a home-like atmosphere where the kittens and cats can roam and play together. Comfortable furniture allows you to observe and interact with the kitties. The completely volunteer group provides the perfect atmosphere for the kitties to be socialized and loved. They also are very vigilant to see the cats get proper health care and are spayed/neutered. The shelter can handle about 130 cats/kittens. The amazing work of these volunteers could always use donations! I don't just support Orphan Angels - I love them!