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Newsletter

May 2024

In This Edition:

In Honor of Moms - Human & Feline
We'll Leave the Light On - If You Can Help
Do More 24
Put That on Your Calendar!

Our Newsletter is Best Viewed in Landscape Orientation on Mobile Devices!

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” ~Tenneva Jordan

“A man’s work is from sun to sun, but a mother’s work is never done.”
~Author Unknown

“Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy…”
~Every 4-year old you’ve ever encountered

"Mew, mew, mew, mew, mew*!!"

~ Every 4-week old kitten you've ever encountered...

(* Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy!)

"To the world, you are a mother, but to your foster cats, you are the world!"

~ The Editor of the FFGW Newsletter

Mother's Day!

It wouldn't be Mother's Day without honoring some special moms - both human and feline - who are so important in FFGW's mission of rescue.

In 2002, beautiful long-haired mom Lucy and her two daughters, Dinker and Pumpkin, were adopted from the Feline Foundation by a young woman and her husband.

The young woman kept in touch with FFGW and 20 years later, is now our Vice President, Brittany Scothorn. We told the story of Brittany and her husband Steve a couple of years ago - you can read it here: Winter 2022 Newsletter

Lucy was an exceptional mom, nurturing both foster cats and the Scothorn's own kitties.

All good things must come to an end, sadly, and certainly one of life’s hard things is to say goodbye to a cherished, long-lived cat, even when you know that it’s time and the right thing to do. Brittany and Steve last year had to say goodbye to Lucy, just after her 23rd birthday.

For more photos, and to donate, click HERE!

We thought that the best way that we could honor Lucy’s long life, and all that Brittany and Steve do for FFGW, was to set up a memorial fund in Lucy’s name so that FFGW can help another mom and kittens find the life that they deserve. The fund is used to provide vetting for momma cats, and to provide incentive to adopt a momma and one or more of her kittens together by providing a discount on the adoption fee.

We hope that you’ll join us by honoring Lucy's legacy as a special mom - by helping FFGW help other mom cats - with a donation to the Lucy Scothorn Fund Thank you!

Lucy Fund

Not All Moms Have Fur!

If Kitties had opposable thumbs, they could take their own photos and upload them to the FFGW website. If kitties could, they'd probably write their own biographies ("Fluffer, who prefers to be called MachoSpike, likes long walks along the back of the couch, raw meat, and killed the last person who tried to rub his belly..."). If kitties could drive, they could get themselves to and from adoption events, and make the occasional grocery run... but they can't do any of those things.

Fortunately for the kitties - and for FFGW - our foster moms do all of that, and a LOT more!

(And they keep kitties in the back seat, not behind the wheel - can you imaging the road rage when some orange tabby cuts off a tortie in a parking lot?!)

Britta

Britta is one of FFGW's amazing foster moms. That's Britta's daughter Cassidy demonstrating a cuddling technique known as "Kitten in the Hoodie"! (Lawyers are meeting with the family right now to discuss patenting this amazing socialization technique!)

Britta came to FFGW first as an adopter, and she tells us that she was impressed with how kind and responsive everyone was (we try!).

Britta obviously loves cats, and adopted three! And, when a call for fosters went out, she replied to the need.

She tells us, "I wanted to do more volunteer work, but my time is limited with two active kids and a full time job. When my parents moved down to Alexandria, we now had space that wasn’t used as a long term guest room. I figured we could use the space for fostering - why wait until retirement!"

Why wait, indeed!

(That's Britta's husband, demonstrating another socialization technique known as "shouldering the burden"!)

As you can see, Britta's entire family is involved in fostering, and she tells us that everyone participates in feeding and litter box cleaning, though her high school age kids definitely prefer the playing and socializing part of fostering!

We note that they actually count some of their time with the foster cats as volunteer hours - something to consider if you too need to find hours for your high school student!!!

Mango

Asked to name her favorite foster, Britta wisely says all of them... but one she singled out was her most recent foster Mango, another mom who should be celebrated this holiday.

A very relaxed Mango!

Britta says that Mango arrived very pregnant and still wanted to be part of everything in the house. She started exploring and meeting the resident cats right away. She didn’t want to miss a thing! She always had a ready purr for anyone who pet her. She liked to play, whether with her kittens or toys.

Everyone loved Mango, and Mango loved everyone... Britta says that Mango might be the cat version of Taylor Swift!

We are delighted to say that just this past week not only was Mango was adopted, but she went to her forever home with one of her kittens! We love endings like that!

Britta tells us that one of the most rewarding things about fostering is seeing the change in cats that a temporary, loving home can provide - she recalls one litter they affectionately called Rat-Bat-Cats given the amount of their fur loss, and how wonderful it was to see the litter all turn into fluffy, probably part Maine Coon kittens with the most gorgeous fur! "You never know how fabulously they all transform until given the chance through rescues like FFGW," she tells us!

And yes... Britta admits it's hard to let them go. But she adds, "it’s always hard to say goodbye to them because we do love them all! However, I remember how happy we were to adopt our kitties, and it makes me happy to know that the adopters will feel the same way and love them just as much!"

We agree - and we hope more folks will want to be awesome moms like Britta - you can learn more about fostering here: Foster FAQ

Kendra Scott

Thanks to the volunteers, fosters and kitties who came out to our special Kendra Scott event! Judging from the lines at the register, the event will be a success with FFGW receiving a portion of sales.

The kittens in attendance had fun as there was no shortage of ooohs and aaahs from their admirers, and lots of dangly toys were offered for play. Meanwhile, our volunteers were very happy to spread the message of rescue to the kittens' admirers, and we've already been invited back!

Featured Kitty - Stripe!

This month's featured kitty isn't a mom - because thanks to FFGW she won't be contributing to the overpopulation of homeless cats. Stripe joined us at our Kendra Scott event, and her transporter was absolutely charmed by her - they had an entire conversation in the car on the way to the event!

Stripe is practically a kitten herself at just 10 months old, and in addition to being chatty and active she is

super friendly and fun - and a lap cat!

We can't believe that Stripe hasn't been adopted yet!

(She's not a one-trick cat, either - in addition to her striking stripes, she has lots of spots too!

Make an appointment to meet Stripe today!

See Stripe Here

Put A Calendar on Your Calendar!

We hope you all are enjoying your 2024 Fabulous Feline calendar from our FFGW contest last year! In case you missed it, or were a prior participant and are excited for this year - keep an eye out for details as we start another contest this summer for our 2025 calendar. This was a wonderful fundraiser and we received a lot of positive feedback from you!

We made just over $12,000 in last year’s contest and it has gone to help with necessary vetting costs for our rescued cats. Thank you!

No Room at the Inn?

Money to pay for the care of kittens is only part of what is needed for us to rescue. FFGW is primarily a foster-based rescue, and for us to rescue a cat or kitten, there has to be a temporary home where he or she can go. Fostering is really rewarding and we'll show you all you need to know - you just provide food, litter and love! The reason folks most often tell us that they can't foster? They're afraid they won't be able to let go. Come to one of our adoption events, see the joy on the faces of people bringing home a new kitty, and you'll see that letting go is easy when there's so much love to share.

Our need for fosters is critical as the flood of kittens continues - and we also try to save those overlooked adult cats. Please consider using a bathroom or spare bedroom to house foster cats and...

Instead of "there's no room at the inn," please help FFGW say

"we'll leave the light on for you!"

You can find out lots more about fostering HERE!

If you're interested in fostering, fill out an application and we'll contact you and answer all your questions!

Do More 24 - Save the Date!

Beginning at 12:00 Noon on May 17th and continuing for 24 hours until noon on May 18th, Do More 24 is the DMV's largest 24-hour online fundraiser powered by United Way of the National Capital Area.

Watch our Facebook and Instagram for details!

Check Us Meowt!

On Social Media!

Facebook & Insta!

We try not to overflow your email inbox, and most months send just one Newsletter with a deep dive into all that's going on at FFGW, and some fun cat-centric stuff - but you can find out all the rescue happenings closer to real time on our social media!

Watch our social media for details on Kendra Scott & Do More 24!

(And of course... see a lot more cute kitty pictures!)

Facebook

Instagram

I Feel Like Something Chewy!

Actually, not that chewy, but "Chewy"!

www.chewy.com is a pet product company specializing in home delivery of all things pet-related.

FFGW has a "wish list" which you can find here:

Chewy Wish List

Any products you select from our wish list will be delivered directly to us for use at our adoption center at PetSmart and by our fosters!

If you're new to Chewy, we'll even get a gift certificate for bringing in a new purchaser.

It's a great way to help us in our mission to help the kitties!

Thanks to everyone who has donated food, treats, litter, beds, toys... Chewy's platform doesn't allow us to see the names of our generous donors, but please know that your support is very much appreciated! And if you drop us a line and let us know when you donate something, we'll be more than happy to send our thanks!

This post contains affilliate links. FFGW may be compensated if you buy something after clicking on these links.

Shop at Walmart and Help the Kitties!

Walmart's Spark Good Program.

Go to the link above, designate FFGW as your charity, and each purchase will be "round up" to the nearest dollar - with that change going to FFGW.