Dear EPAMers,

The KOCIOłek Społeczny Foundation needs your help to get off the ground and help homeless cats in and around Gliwice! Let's use the magic of Santa Day and help our lovely feline friends which are often overlooked. But first, let us provide some background for those who don't know the foundation and what their mission is.

There are many "Foundations for homeless cats"; however, KOCIOłek Społeczny, decided to transform the idea into something bigger, which will allow the problem to be addressed more widely. They do not want to limit themselves to uploading social media posts about cats for adoption. On the contrary - they want to open up to you as much as possible and create a large, local (for the time being) community revolving around the problem of cat homelessness. That's why they often use the term "community center" in reference to the KOCIOłek foundation; the closest comparison may be a cat cafe, but one where you don't have to order coffee or cakes to spend some time around cats.

What does this mean in practice? For example, if you want to relax after work around some purry friends but don't have any of your own, you are welcome to come by. Same goes for people who love animals but their health and/or financial situation do not allow them to take full-time care of a kitten. KOCIOłek Społeczny’s doors will stand open. Here, you will be able to stay in the company of furry friends for as much as your soul desires. The goal is to bring mutual benefit here in the form of companionship, both for you (by staying around cats and like-minded cat lovers) and for the cats craving for attention and love.

The KOCIOłek Społeczny Foundation also focuses on education about cat homelessness, which continues to be ignored by many people and not taken as seriously as, for example, dog homelessness. In addition, they see a great need for education about the care of cats themselves, after adoption. They envision educational workshops, including classes for children, so that education about the rights and needs of animals begins as early as possible.

KOCIOłek wants to conduct all of this with extreme transparency and in an open, friendly atmosphere. They want to create a community of people changing the cats' lives for the better, not sitting in a circle and crying over their condition - although, of course, in such activity there are bound to be not one, not two, but many moments at which tears will not be held back.

For this purpose, we as EPAMers are setting up this fund raiser. The funds raised will be used for the regular fees: flat costs, food, vet visits, hygienic items, medicine etc. KOCIOłek currently has about 15 cats to take care of and in addition to that is of course strongly operating in the background:

- they have sent a request to the city of Gliwice to provide premises or financial support in finding one on their own - we are waiting for a response;

- they are looking for sponsors among local businesses;

- they are applying for grants in current NGO competitions;

In addition, from their own funds:

- they are investing in branding, which will help build image and establish business partnerships,

- they have sourced cat books (for children and adults), which will be available to all visitors to the community center;

- they are investing in education that will allow them to provide top-quality care for the cats, and for you to benefit from their knowledge during visits to KOCIOłek workshops and through social media posts;

These are things that are and will be financed with their own funds and that are not the subject of this fund raiser, but their additional activity for the foundation.

Of course, this fund raiser has been agreed on and confirmed by the leader of the KOCIOłek Społeczny foundation, Katarzyna Rusin-Czubaj.

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