Furever Friends Cat Rescue is marking 10 years of giving abandoned and injured cats in the Pembina Valley a new lease on life.
They’re celebrating with an annual summer raffle that’s bigger and better than ever, shares Carol Martens, a volunteer with the rescue.
“We have so many amazing prizes this year,” she says.
Up for grabs as the grand prize is an 36” Blackstone Omnivore Griddle from Sun Valley Co-op valued at $699.
Prize pack #2 features a family pass at the RCU Aquatic Centre in Winkler, a one-night stay at the Winkler Day’s Inn and Suites, and gift certificates to Meadows Amusements.
Prize pack #3 includes passes to the Oakview Golf Course in Gretna, a gift certificate to the Ukrainian House restaurant, and a jumbo variety pack from Ronnie’s Seeds.
There’s also an early bird prize pack being drawn on July 28 that includes tickets to the Aug. 9 Winnipeg Goldeyes game donated by Golden West/CFAM Radio and a gift certificate to Santa Lucia Pizza in Morris.
All these prizes were donated by generous local businesses and supporters, Martens says, and the rescue is so grateful for their help.
The prize draw will take place on Sept. 1.
Tickets are available for $10 each or three for $20 from the rescue’s booth at the Manitoba Sunflower Festival next weekend, by texting/phoning 204-304-9173, by email to furever_friends@icloud.com, or through the rescue’s social media pages.
Hundreds of cats helped
Furever Friends has come a long way over the past decade, Martens shares.
It was founded by Tracy Harder and her husband Stan in 2015 in response to an increase in lost, abandoned and feral cats in the Altona area.
“They’re just huge cat people and they saw all these poor cats that were everywhere in town,” Martens says. “A lot of them were sick and you could tell they had nowhere to go … so they made a plan with other people that had the same love for the cats and created the rescue.”
Today the group has grown to include six core members and 25 foster homes.
This dedicated team ensures every cat that comes into their care receives medical attention, including being spayed or neutered. They are then socialized by the foster families before being carefully placed with potential adopted families.
Martens estimates they’ve found homes for upwards of 1,000 cats over the past 10 years, from all over the region.
“We describe [our service area] as the Pembina Valley, because we never know for sure where the need is going to be,” she says.
They also work with the Town of Altona on a catch and release program, ensuring feral cats in the community are fixed and healthy. These cats help with rodent control in Altona and are looked after by volunteer caregivers.
All of the rescue’s work is made possible only thanks to the generous support of the community, Martens stresses.
“We do fundraisers throughout the year—bake sales in the spring, fall and winter. We had a Puzzle Palooza earlier this year. And we’ve had the Mystery Bag fundraiser, and the gift box one around Christmas. And of course the summer raffle,” she says. “We try to have things planned throughout the year because we’re totally dependent on all these fundraisers to do what we do.
“We are truly grateful for the amazing support we have received from the community.”
You can learn more about Furever Friends—including getting involved as a foster or volunteer, making a donation, or viewing the cats currently available for adoption or which need extra care/donations—on their website: fureverfriendsaltona.com
