Kai for Kittens raising money for SPCA
When Helen Griffiths reads her book about Pukekura Park’s cat at schools and kindergartens she gets paid in cat food. Or dog food.
Griffiths’s book Ross the Cat, about a locally famous black cat that roams Pukekura Park, was published in November.
She was invited to speak at a kindergarten and asked for a koha she could donate to the SPCA, Griffiths said.
She called it Kai for Kittens. And the idea has taken off.
The SPCA were instrumental in nursing the one-eyed moggy back to health when he was discovered abandoned as a kitten, she said.
“The Vivian family found him on the side of the road in Taranaki. He was in a pretty bad way along with his sister and they took him to the SPCA. It seemed to be an appropriate cause.”
On Tuesday, she was at Kidszone Preschool in Waiwhakaiho and received a huge basket of goodies, she said.
“Most of the kindys have been so generous. I have quite a stash I need to take to the SPCA shortly.”
Griffiths first saw Ross the cat on TV. She hadn’t thought about writing a new book, her first was Treasure Beyond Measure, but after seeing Ross the “words just fell on the page”.
“I contacted the Vivian family, his owners and had a chat with them about the possibility about writing a book about Ross. And it turns out it was something they had always wanted to do, but didn’t know how to start.”
She already has several kindergarten visits lined up this term with the intention of gathering resources for the SPCA.
Kidszone head teacher Sarah Cash said they talked to the children about Kai for Kittens.
“We just made a post to our community and people started bringing food in. We’re happy people want to support this.”
The kids were excited Griffiths was going to read them the story, Cash said.
“And we talked about the SPCA. For us it’s all about language, literacy and making links with the community.”
Ross the Cat was illustrated by Simon Chadwick and Andy Bassett put it to music.
The book is available at all book stores for $25 and the profits from the books go to support the SPCA.