Monthly Archives: September 2017

It’s Time for the Great Grocery Stock Up!

Posted in You Can Make a Difference by

Right now when you stock up on grocery cards from Safeway and Save-on-Foods VOKRA gets 8% of the profits. 

That can really add up fast! Last year with the help of our fosters and volunteers we raised more than $3,000 which we used to buy things like cat food, litter and flea medicine.

We need to bulk buy the gift cards in order to get this special 8% return and that’s where you come in. We need you to order your Safeway* or Save-on-Foods** cards by November 1.

  • Cards are available in $25, $50 and $100 for both grocery outlets and you can also get Safeway cards for $250. You get the full value of the card and we get 8% back from the retailer.
  • Order now – but you don’t need to pay until November 1 (We’ll even take a post-dated cheque for November 1!)
  • The cards will be delivered in late mid-November in time for the holiday season.

This is a limited time offer so be sure to place your order by November 1 by emailing [email protected] and let the gift card team know what you’d like. They’ll confirm your order and contact you to arrange payment and delivery. Want to know more about our gift card program? Click here.

You can help us reach our goal of $40,000 in sales. That’s a profit of $3,200 for VOKRA kitties!

*Safeway gift cards can be used at Sobeys, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thriftyfoods, Lawtons & Needs.

**Save-On-Foods cards can be used at PriceSmart, Overwaitea and Cooper’s Foods.

Camela & Ballo’s Happy Tail Ending

Posted in Happy Tails, volunteers, You Can Make a Difference by

written by Katherine Drabek

This is a story about two sisters who were reunited after having been separated by adoption. After they were found by VOKRA the two sisters transitioned from life in a vacant lot to being fostered in my apartment. I named Camela because of her camel coloured chin and Ballo was named for the opera “The Masked Ball” because of the amazing colours of her face which made her look as if she were wearing a mask. After a few months with me Camela (now Batila) was adopted by a wonderful woman named Ashley and then her sister Ballo (now Nars) was left alone in foster care after their white brother Briar was also adopted. The sisters are tortoiseshell and talkative. Camela would sit at the kitchen door, cock her head and chirp comments while I was cooking.  As a foster kitten she was like a little floor buffer in that she would roll around while chasing string or a ball. Camela ate pieces of mango and even tasted peanut butter.  Ballo would run toward me with a ball in her mouth and pointedly drop it at my feet with a beseeching sound. She had an amazing preternatural wisdom about her and would stay calm in situations in which other cats would have been afraid.

After some weeks Ashley came back to adopt the second sister, Ballo. Now reunited, they enjoy bird watching and napping with the elderly, 15-year old third cat in the household. A one-eared dog has since joined their household and the sisters have benevolently accepted him. They sometimes watch a tap dripping and will hide under bedclothes if they judge guests to be too loud. Ballo has occasional seizures but in her wise, accepting way comes to the kitchen when she hears Ashley opening the pill bottle for her daily medication. Her sister grooms her after a seizure in a nurturing and calming way. Camela continues to chirp at her owners and enjoys bird watching through a window with her sister. That these sisters are living together again gives me great peace of mind. As sad as it was to say goodbye to these special and lovely creatures, I know that they have now a wonderful home and that VOKRA’s loving care of cats, beginning with rescuing the homeless ones like these once were, ultimately leads to passing that love on through the families who later welcome them.

If you are considering becoming a VOKRA foster volunteer I highly recommend it. I’ve never had more fun as a volunteer.

As a volunteer-driven non-profit, we couldn’t do what we do without our extremely dedicated and hard working team of volunteers and fosters. THANK YOU!

To learn more about fostering visit vokra.ca/fostering and to learn more about volunteering visit vokra.ca/volunteer.

 

Volunteer of the Month – September 2017

Posted in volunteers by

With Walk for the Kitties coming up, we’re grateful for all our volunteers who make everything we do possible. This September, we’d like to celebrate Ellen Runnalls as our Volunteer of the Month!

Ellen’s been volunteering with VOKRA for almost six years. Time flies when it’s spent hanging out with cats! She mostly helps enter the cats’ bios and puts them up on the website. However, she’s taken on various other tasks in her “nine lives” as a volunteer that make it all a joyful experience. Volunteering is a great way to meet cats without having to take them all home… unless you do.

Some of Ellen’s favourite things about volunteering include meeting all the cats and getting to know their unique personalities (especially the shy ones); spending time with feral and semi-feral cats to watch them gain confidence while also earning their trust; and meeting the real cat ladies of this world who are all so dedicated and amazing, and without whom so many cats would never get a chance at a happy life.

Ellen dishes on her favourite memories and kitties she’s met:

“One of my favourite memories is a feral kitten “search and rescue” in an East Van backyard with (VOKRA co-founder) Maria, and another is holding a garage sale with Yana,” said Ellen. “I love being able to advocate for black cats whenever possible as they’re some of the sweetest cats around. I couldn’t possibly choose a favourite cat, but it’s safe to say that aside from all the black kitties I’ve met, every tortoiseshell has stolen my heart.”

Without Ellen, nobody would be able to read up on all our available kittens and cats on our site! She’s an integral part of VOKRA and we’re so happy to have a dedicated volunteer like Ellen on board.

Post written by Aurora C.

As a 100% volunteer-driven non-profit, we clearly couldn’t do what we do without our extremely dedicated and hard working team of volunteers. THANK YOU!

If you’re interested in volunteering with us visit our website at vokra.ca/volunteer.