Makana Pono Awardee Donna S. Selects CatFriends

Donna S. has worked at Islands Hospice for nine months as a Volunteer Coordinator, where she recruits, trains, and oversees all volunteers, both in the office and those who support our patients and their families. As our Makana Pono awardee, Donna has chosen CatFriends as the recipient of her $5,000 award.

CatFriends is a nonprofit organization on O‘ahu dedicated to humanely decreasing the cat population through the non-lethal Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage (TNRM) strategy. The organization, which is entirely volunteer-run, also works to remove friendly cats and kittens for fostering and adoption, and helps reunite lost pets who have found their way into colonies.

Donna has been deeply involved with CatFriends since moving to Hawai‘i in 2019, when she became a cat caretaker. 

"One of the first 'friends' I met was a cat I came across in Fort DeRussy Park," Donna said. "He was wet, hungry, and hiding under a food truck during a storm. With the help of CatFriends, I was able to gain his trust by feeding, trapping, and neutering him. He now lives happily with me in Waikiki."

In addition to being a caretaker, Donna also volunteers at CatFriends' free spay/neuter clinics. Supported by Feline Fix government funding and private donations, these clinics have spayed/neutered over 3,500 cats this year and more than 51,000 since the organization's founding in 2009.

Recognizing the importance of controlling O‘ahu’s cat population, Donna encourages her colleagues to spay and neuter their pets and to take advantage of the free services offered by CatFriends.

“Cats will begin having litters when they're only five months old. They can have three to four litters a year, usually of five to six kittens per litter,” Donna said. “If you ignore the situation, you can easily go from three or four cats to more than 30 in a short time.”

Congratulations to Donna, and thank you for your dedication to both our patients and the feline community on O‘ahu!