How can I help?
Volunteering:
There are many ways to volunteer with the Cat’s Cradle Shelter.
·         If you can commit to a few regular hours each week, you might like to try one of our cleaning crews. The shelter is cleaned twice a day by teams or individuals who come in to scoop litter boxes, administer medication, check food and water dishes, and engage in other housekeeping tasks around the shelter.  We want to maintain high standards of hygiene to keep our cats safe and healthy.
·         If you cannot commit to a regular schedule, we have periodic fund-raisers and we need people who can serve food, help with registrations, work in a booth at an event, or help in other ways.  Fundraising is a very important part of what we do because we receive no subsidies from state or local government or from national agencies.
·         Periodically, we enter online contests where public voting can help us win a prize or donation….your vote could make a difference in whether we win or lose – so vote as much as you can and encourage your friends to do the same.
·         Publicity is also important to the shelter – pick up a poster of our cats to pin on a bulletin board at work, offer to put a donation box at your business, or just link to our facebook page and share with all your friends.
·         We are always looking for foster families – volunteers that are willing to take a cat or kitten(s) into their home for extra attention or care.  Young kittens are almost always placed in foster homes because they require much more supervision and socialization than older cats. If you have would like some general information about fostering, please see the Petfinder articles at http://www.petfinder.com/how-to-help-pets/what-is-cat-fostering.html or if you have specific questions, call us at 701-356-7877.
·         Do you have a special skill or talent that you would be willing to share?  The shelter is still a work in progress and in the future, we may need help with additional remodeling projects – keep watching the Facebook site and our website because we will post our “talent searches” as they become necessary.
Donations:
Every non-profit welcomes donations. There are two basic types of donations:  cash donations and “in-kind” donations.
·         Cash donations are used to purchase food & litter and to pay vet bills, rent, utilities, etc.   The Cat’s Cradle Shelter has no paid staff, so 100% of donations are used to take care of the cats and maintain the shelter.
o   Some people choose to make a small monthly donation, while others find it more convenient to make an annual gift, and still others like to donate to specific project or goal (like a remodeling project or to help with vet bills for a special cat).  We appreciate everything our sponsors offer us…every bit helps.
o   Room sponsorships are also available – please call us if you would like to see your name or business name on the wall next to a room full of happy cats.
o   And remember, without the help and support of our donors, we could not rescue as many cats and complete as many adoptions as we do!
·         In-kind donations are donations of goods or items (cat food, bedding, toys, etc).
o   The cats love gifts of toys, beds, and snuggly blankets.
o   We purchase food and litter by the pallet to take advantage of bulk rates, but we accept donations as well. The Cat’s Cradle Cats eat 4-Health All Life Stage Formula sold exclusively at Tractor Supply located in Moorhead, MN (we try to keep them on a consistent diet to avoid upset tummies).
§  We can accept donations of other kinds of food as we know several people in the community who feed colonies of cats and we will make sure any donations we don’t use at the shelter are shared with needy cats in the area.
o   We use the Fleet Farm brand clumping cat litter for multiple cats, but most of our kitties aren’t picky and will use any clumping litter. We also use clay litter when we have kittens.
o   During “kitten season” (usually starting in March and again in July/August), we go through a lot of KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) powder (manufactured by PetAg) and Purina kitten chow in the yellow bag. Momma cats and kittens always appreciate the gift of a good meal.
o   Periodically, we can use donations of bleach, laundry detergent, paper products, etc.
o   If you are wondering what we need at any given time, please give us a call at 701-356-7877.