SAFFORD — Desert Cat Rescue and Sanctuary prepared a special cake in honor of the help provided by United Way of Graham and Greenlee Counties, and served it to volunteers and board members at a special gathering at the Graham County General Services Building on Monday.
Amanda Patterson, grants administrator for the local United Way, brought a gift to the gathering — a check for $199,117.
The funds were awarded as part of United Way’s 2024 Cycle 2 Grants.
“This is going for a number of things, from helping sustain operations, insurance, etc.; to funding some of our programs, like vouchers,” said Cheryl Christensen, Desert Cat Rescue director.
Also benefitting from the funds will be Desert Cat’s Happy Pets program and the Pet Food Pantry partnership with St. Vincent de Paul Society.
It’s the second grant Desert Cat Sanctuary has received in the last 12 months. In September 2023, Desert Cat was granted $1,000 from Arizona Community Foundation of the Gila Valley for expenses related to transporting animals to Tucson for adoption.
Desert Cat Rescue and Sanctuary fosters and adopts out kittens and abandoned cats, as well as helps defray costs on spaying and neutering. It also traps feral cats and, with support of Desert Cross Veterinary Hospital, spays and neuters the animals before returning them to the wild.
United Way of Graham and Greenlee Counties receives its funding for local grants from donations by Freeport-McMoRan, Freeport employees, City of Safford employees, employees of Graham County and individual donors.
