My Nonprofit Reviews

If we won the lottery, we've always said that we'd give the first batch of money to King Street Cats (KSC) as the first charitable cause. ..Actually scratch that.

We already won the lottery when we adopted Gino and Mia from their cat shelter. They were formerly known as the wine kitties, Chablis and Chardonnay, and we met them on a fateful day in 2009.

We were aware from a work colleague, of the amazing work that King Street Cats do in saving the lives of cats in the Alexandria area. She volunteered at the shelter, just like several others who work for nothing do; tending to the cats on a daily basis.

We sometimes visited KSC if we were passing by; just to pet the cats and show them some love for an afternoon, dropping the occasional bit of cash in their jar, or buying some cat food for them. Again, the KSC volunteers do that on a regular basis.

One day while visiting, one of the gray kitties jumped on my wife’s shoulder and starting purring. She said to me, “I don’t care what happens, we’re taking this one”. And so it was, that Gino claimed her as her own, swiftly followed by my own declaration of love for what seemed to be the prettiest cat in the world – Mia, even though she was feeling poorly after an operation (performed at the personal cost of KSC).

Mia tried to hide under a sink from the other cats, but I stroked her and as she was the sister of Gino, I knew I just had to have her.

We renamed them Gino, after Ginola (who was a French international soccer player with gray hair, and Mia was named after the famous women’s soccer player, Mia Hamm), as both of our kitties chased the soccer ball on the TV, whenever it was on!

We have made trips back to KSC and always seen the incredible work they do, and I get the Facebook updates which show the adoption of the cats to new family homes. Their love and support for the cats is incredible, and if I had one wish for a lottery win (and I have spoken of this on many an occasion), I would pay for KSC to relocate to a bigger premises. If there was grant money, I would love to see this happen, so the cats could enjoy more spaces in which to play, before they eventually get adopted.
Please consider this when awarding grant money – for they are a noble cause.
Carl and Susan Hodkin