Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Some of you have already heard that there was a fire last night at Ollie's Place which is the cat shelter where I volunteer at here in New York.

The cats are all ok!!!- and we were in the process of moving so w/ the help of the North Shore Animal League the volunteers were able to relocate the cats to the new space (we had just signed the lease on Wednesday!).

I was not there when it happened (actually I was trying to post a video on the living room when my phone rang!) so I don't too much more information than has been on the news, but I am hoping to get down there later today.

We desperately need money as much food and supplies were lost (again fortunately all the cats are fine but very very shaken up as some of them got hit with debris when the roof collapsed and got soaked with water on a very cold night).

I know that I am always begging for money for these guys- but they are like my second cat family. I love them all and am truly worried.

If anyone can help our PayPal account is working and we can take credit card donations.

The link is here http://www.olliesplace.org/getInvolved.jsp

I am happy to update anyone who is interested- but don't want to corrupt this board any more than I have already have but anyone who wants to help or wants more information can always PM or email me.


Thank you PPK for loving animals as much as I do.

SuzyHB

SuzyHB

Where can we bring in-kind donations and is there a list of needed items?
I can post something on my facebook page to see if any of my friends have things they can donate.

Definitely keep us updated!

Sigh...........The moderators are going to kick me off of PPK one of these days.

Here is a picture from last night


I wish I had more details- right now they are asking everyone to NOT go down there are as they are assessing what was lost and what we need and a few of the cats are really upset- they want to limit foot traffic.

I am sure we will have more details soon- here is the webpage http://www.olliesplace.org/

Part of the issue is going to be storage- I haven't even seen the new place yet (and believe me I am chomping at the bit to get down there and check on my babies) so right now they are just asking for money.

I am sure we will need towels etc (I am getting together my own donation package) but right now its still so soon.

I will keep you up to date and you can follow Ollies on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/olliesplace and they have a Facebook page as well http://www.facebook.com/olliesplacecats ... ats?v=wall

Thank you for your concern.

donation made. thanks for everything you do, suzyhb! so glad the kitties are safe!!

Just made a donation. So awful...I hope the cats feel better soon.

oh man! this is awful. i'm so glad the kitties are ok.

the mods would NEVER kick you off for trying to help animals!

I just made a donation but keep us posted on in-kind donations that we can make, whenever the shelter is ready.

Donated, wish I lived closer so I could help more! Thank you for all that you do. Please send lots of chin scritches and warm snuggles to all the sweet kittens and cats.

I live halfway across the country, so I can't bring anything, but I donated. :)

Guys Thank You all so so much!

I am going to see the kitties in their new home tomorrow and will be able to post a better update.

From what I have heard the cats are trying to settle in despite all of the chaos. We are just all so grateful that they are all ok.

Thanks again for all the support.

SuzyHB

Going to donate right now. Love to you and the kitties. Awful.

Thank you Celyn-

And please give LadyM a hug from all of us at Ollies.

Donation made. Poor kitties. :(((

Those poor kitties. I donated too.

Donated! The poor things! My cat gets spooked when I open a can of pop. A fire must have been horrendous!

My former shelter kitty advised me that I better donate 'or else'. I'm not sure I want to find out what 'or else' entails so I donated.

Once again Thank You Thank You THANK YOU to everyone who donated.

I just came back from helping with the clean up and seeing the cats. They all seem to be doing ok although several are very skittish.

They all smell like smoke and a number of them are refusing to let anyone try to clean them. The crates, the food bowls, everything is covered with a layer of soot.

But none of them seem to be having any type of respiratory issues as a result of the fire and just about everyone is eating peeing and pooping.

There has been a huge out pouring from volunteers, former volunteers, people who have adopted from us and friends.

We weren’t really going to move into the new space for another month or so and its definitely not ready-- so that’s our big current challenge.

Although we have people volunteering to help with renovations, these are now going to have to do be done with the cats already in the facility, which is far from ideal.

But we are so fortunate that we have a place where they are safe and lots of volunteers to look after them.

In terms of in-kind donations, we probably will hold off on big things like scratching posts, furniture, even bedding and stuff like that until after the renovations are finished.

As I suspected we have very little closet space.

But we always always always need things like paper towels, cat litter, cleaning supplies like sponges, white vinegar, cat treats, little toys, catnip etc. Anyone who would to donate stuff like that should probably email kitcoord (at) gmail.com.

We are not officially open but people will be there a lot during the next few weeks so you should probably check before stopping by with supplies.

Once again thank you PPK for your, good thoughts, support and for wanting to help our cats. I am truly touched by how many of you have offered to help us out.

SuzyHB

Poor babies! I'm glad everyone's safe. I made a donation, hopefully will help a bit. <3 <3 <3

Oh, that is terrible! Poor kitties! I am so glad that none of them were hurt! And that you had a place they could go to. Poor babies must be traumatized.

Once again I thank everyone who donated and who has been sending us good thoughts.

I have been trying to think of an adequate way to express mine and everyone at Ollies gratitude for your generosity and the best I could come up with is to post some pictures of a few of the animals who you have helped.

All of these pictures were taken by me (and I am not the world's greatest photographer) and they were taken at the old facility about 2 months ago.



This is Dana who will have her first birthday in March. Unfortunately it was into her cage that part that part of the ceiling fell. She also got soaked from the sprinklers. She is still understandably very upset. But we have a few volunteers who are working hard to reassure her and the new place is almost tropically warm (which is a good thing -I don't think that I ever want to see a space heater again). It's just going to take a while.




This Joey but I call him Joey Ramone. He is a bad boy who gets into alot of fights and who might be the only cat who is enjoying all of the commotion. He has alot of energy and seems to find everything fascinating.

And this is Lena.




She is (I think) about 7 or 8 and has had her share of health issues while staying with us. Ear infections, tummy trouble and even a broken leg! But she gets good vet care and lots of love and shows her appreciation by biting us (we call them "love nips"). Joey picks on her so she was "hiding" in the old cabinet.

These are just a few of the cats who were rescued by the NYFD, our volunteers and who will be helped by your donations and good vibes.

You can see others on our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1 ... 7546588813
(I do not have a facebook account myself and can open the link w/o problem so I am hoping no one else will)

Once again of behalf of everyone at Ollie's and especially the cats thank you so much for your help during this difficult time.

SuzyHB

Cute kitties! I don't call all of our cats by their exact names all the time either. We have an office cat named Penny, but I call her Henny Penny while I play chase her around.

Thanks again fatcat for your donation.

We have been overwhelmed by all the support.

Aww how sweet!!

Lena looks similar to my tortie, orange/black with little white paws. I showed my husband as well.

Well thanks again to you your husband and your shelter kitty!

They are beautiful, Suzy. And your love for them and for the work the shelter does makes me very happy to donate. <3