Blogging Cats Spread The Joy Of Giving!

One of my favorite things about the month of December is the spirit of giving that casts a buoyant glow in the hearts of many.  In the Cat Blogosphere,  giving takes place ALL year, but in the month of December, blogging cats are known to work even harder to ensure that homeless cats, (and often other animals), have the help, hope, supplies and toys that they need to make their holiday season brighter.

This year is no exception.  In the month of December you will be reading on many of our blogs, about some causes that are near and dear to the cat blogging community.

The first of two causes that I would like to share is the:

that was created by Summer and her human Janis, from the Sparkle Cat blog.

The Santa Kitty Toy Hop was created with love by Janis, (as a result of brainstorming with other blogging kitties on Facebook), when it was thought that the yearly Santa Paws Drive would not be taking place (it now IS, and you will read more about that further into this blog post). 

What I LOVE about the Santa Kitty Toy Hop is that it focuses on Blogging Cats giving to other cats (and even dogs!), in their OWN COMMUNITY!

From Summer's blog:To participate in the Santa Kitty Toy Hop, all you have to do is play Santa Kitty to a rescue in your area. Bring the kitties cat toys, treats, or other gifts to brighten their holidays. Take photos of your visit, and then write a blog post about the rescue and what you did. There will be a blog hop that I will host starting on December 12 and going through December 19. It will be a linky you will be able to share on your own blog if you so desire. We cat bloggers are everywhere, so we are hoping to bring the spirit of Santa Kitty to cats worldwide!

Cody and I were super excited to participate! We performed our Santa Kitty duties a few weeks ago at the Novi Pet Expo that was held on November 21st. 

If you are a regular reader of our blog, you know that we often feature rescue/adoption events held by The Michigan Humane Society. As it turns out, Michigan Humane was one of the sponsors of the Expo and they had stated that they were accepting donations there! They were hoping for gently used toys, supplies, monetary donations, anything!  I suggested to Cody that we gather some of his unused and GENTLY used toys together and donate them to kitties who are less fortunate! We also included some misc. supplies such as paper towels, etc.

   

 Cody had his doubts that giving his toys to less fortunate kitties was a good thing, he had some trouble letting go.

 It was important to him that Dakota also get in on the giving!

Our sensitive Sheltie
Shares his Goodies

Dakota's toy donation!

Cody just had to be sure that
some of Dakota's toys were being given as well!

When we completed filling the bags
we ended up with FOUR bags full
of toys and misc. items for Michigan Humane

Our furiends at Michigan Humane
were so happy with our items
that they allowed me to take their photo
(of course, I don't have their names!)

Cody, Dakota and I were proud to take part in the Santa Kitty Toy Hop and hope that this is the first year of a new tradition that will benefit the kitties that are located in our local communities for many years to come!

As we mentioned above the:

is alive and kicking again this year after it was initially thought that it wouldn't be! Cody and I have contributed the past couple of years, (and this year as well!), and we were thrilled to hear the news!

About the Santa Paws Drive:

Santa Paws Drive is the dream of Dorian Wagner, founder of  YourDailyCute.com and the Cute Transport Network. She had the idea for the program, but no idea how to actually pull it off. She reached out from her home in Deerfield Beach, FL to several friends around the world with difference expertise to make it a reality. (See the Elves page for a little bit about each of them!) 

In the past five years, Santa Paws Drive has raised more than $55,000 in toys, treats and donations for 30 shelters worldwide. It's been a huge success, and we were able to mail off huge gift packages and a check to each! 

This holiday season, we want to make an even bigger difference and do things a little bit differently. Our amazing 2014 organizations work together to do something very special – they rescue homeless animals from high-kill shelters, and then transport them safely to partner no-kill rescues up North, who have the space and can find them homes quickly. 

In the past two years alone, the groups Santa Paws Drive 2014 is benefiting – along with their wonderful network of more than 800 volunteer drivers and fosters! -- have worked together to save more than 350 cats and several dogs from kill shelters! 

The ultimate goal is of Santa Paws Drive this year is not only to provide toys and cheer to shelter animals – but to make it possible to give them the ultimate joy… a forever home. 

Photo Courtesy of http://blog.santapawsdrive.com/

And so the donations we are collecting are everything needed to save more animals and make these transports possible. You can donate to save one shelter cat or even a whole family! Or you can donate a carrier for them to ride in, toys and supplies for the ride, or sponsor a spay/neuter surgery. The more we raise, the more lives we can save! 

Donate to help shelter animals today!!

You can also donate directly on the widget on our sidebar!