A Wonderful Life 

Main Room (Adult Cats) 

                                           

 

   

Edward and Sunny 

As you walk down Main Street in Bloomsburg there is business after business, the corner of Market and Main is different. There is a non-profit that has been the home to almost a thousand cats and kittens, Cats in Bloom! Cats in Bloom opened in November of 2019, and has been giving cats a wonderful life that may have never happened without the safety of the cafe. You can see many trees, toys, cats and people in the cafe just from the sidewalk, imagine what you'd experience actually being inside! If you walk in the front door of the cafe you're greeted by a bright- eyed and smiling volunteer asking if you've been there before. The sounds of bells, chirps and music being played over the radio fills the rooms.  After you sign in and give a $5 donation, all the cats are yours to enjoy for an hour. 

Downstairs Kitten Room 

   
Sue Ball, Anna Beaver, DiAnne Leonard and Michelle Yefko who met while volunteering in rescue, are the four 'founding women' of Cats in Bloom. They came up with the idea in March/April of 2019 and made it come to life that November. These four women, many volunteers and donations are what make the cafe run. They believed Bloomsburg needed a non-profit like this to help cats and kittens get the best homes they could possibly have. I spoke to Sue Ball and she proudly relayed to me that they do everything they can to get these cats the best vet care and homes. These precious cats have such a spectacular home at the cafe but ultimately, they don't want to stay there forever. We all know that a non-profit relies soley on donations and volunteer work, but I asked Sue if there are ways they raise money through fundraisers. She seemed very excited to talk about this! "We do many fundraisers ourselves, including wine and paint with the cats, Giving Tuesday, Raise the Region on Facebook and we receive donations through the #BettyWhiteChallenge . We also do a Meowentine's Day King and Queen fundraiser! Each vote is $5 for a male/female pair that they think should be the cafe's Valentine's Day King and Queen." That contest is very fitting considering the cafe is decked out head to toe in decorations. The cats will never be confused as to what holiday is next!

King Dorado 

I continued my conversation with Sue and asked her what the best part was about being a large part of this non-profit is. Her face gleamed with pride as she said "It's always amazing to see a cat come into the cafe and find their person! Our end goal is for all our cats to find the best forever home. We always go through an extensive adoption application to make sure the adopters are fitting for our cats." It is obvious the founders and every volunteer cares greatly about each and every one of these cats. I followed the benefits, asking what the struggles were. " Getting donations and volunteers is sometimes difficult and not having enough room for incoming fosters. We only have so many foster families and sometimes not enough for how many come into our care." Sue and I also talked about how hard it is to lose a cat while in their care or even after they're adopted. The founders, volunteers and the majority of visitors tend to connect with at least one of the cats in a special way. One cat that connected with a large majority of people was Dorado. A large orange and white cat who was spicy but very sweet at some times. This hunk of a boy managed to steal the hearts of everyone last February as he was crowned 'Meowentines Day King 2022'! He was adopted a few months later but unfortunately passed away soon after. This was a hard hit on everyone that was involved or followed the cafe. If you walk in the cafe there is a beautiful picture of him fastened to the wall above the desk. He will always be a large part of the cafes history and greatly missed.

Ember 

Our conversation continued with talking about the more business and day to day aspects of running the cafe. Volunteers sign up on a calendar for when they want to do chores. 1-2 people are in charge of morning chores which include vacuuming, mopping, feeding wet food to both kitten rooms, filling food/water bowls and scooping litter boxes. "Usually Thom is sleeping during open hours because he is such big help with morning chores!", Sue exclaimed.  On days when the cafe is not open to the public, there are a few hours dedicated to socialization.  This is where a group of volunteers come in and spend time with the cats! On open days there is a board member and an escort that moves people throughout the rooms. This ensures that everyone gets to meet all the cats and spend quality time with them. Evening chores consist of feeding wet food to all rooms, filling food/water bowls and scooping boxes. There is only a fraction of the cats in the cafe, many many more are cared for in foster homes by volunteers or board members. According to Sue, "This place runs off of our foster families, volunteers and our community. We would not have room for all of these cats without fosters and we wouldn't have achieved this much success without the support of our amazing community." Although being as involved with the cafe as Sue is and it being as much, if not more work than a full time job, it makes it worth it when you see the cats go to amazing homes and get to live out a better life than they would out on the street. To date, there is over 900 adoptions and many more cats waiting to be adopted. I'm sure if these cats could talk, they would say thank you to everyone that has either saved them or cares for them.