Inside Feline Rescue's shelter on Fairview Avenue in St. Paul on Wednesday, volunteer Todd Lane walked into a room stacked with dozens of donated coolers.
As supply coordinator for the nonprofit's community outreach and services department, Lane modifies the coolers to serve as hay-filled, insulated shelters for stray cats over the winter.
"It's the first level of assistance," Lane said, "a way to protect the cats."
On Thursday -- Give to the Max Day -- the St. Paul-based organization hopes to receive enough donations to fund and expand its outreach services, of which the coolers are just one example.
"Our goal this year is $50,000, which is pretty substantial," said Kate King, executive director.
Give to the Max Day, now considered a "giving holiday" in Minnesota, is back for the 16th year via GiveMN at givemn.org.
Started as a way to make giving fun, to compete with all that online holiday shopping, it continues to encourage people to log on and "shop" for causes and organizations from across the state or in their own neighborhoods. Instead of adding merchandise to a virtual shopping cart, people browse and stack the donations, checking out once they've selected new or favorite choices.
In 2023, people donated more than $34.2 million to 6,615 causes across Minnesota.
With inflation hurting donors' budgets in recent years, will people be able to give as much?
"There's no doubt, over the past couple of years, belts have tightened," said Jake Blumberg, executive director of GiveMN. "If we as individuals are feeling that way, imagine how nonprofits are feeling, stepping up to serve those in need while the same pressures are impacting them as well. ... So, if you can give, know that any amount will make a huge difference."
While Lane looked over the coolers on Wednesday, volunteer Angie Cariveau was at the shelter playing with a cat called Curry Emma Rue.
Curry, a 6-year-old Calico, was batting at a feather on a string that Cariveau was dangling. The cat has special needs related to kidney care and is living at the shelter while she awaits adoption.
Whether it's buying special food for Curry or taking other cats to see specialists, care costs are rising for all local shelters.
"Vet bills have gone up astronomically," said King. "That's our biggest expense."
"We have a couple of neurology case cats right now," said Sara Post, director of operations for Feline Rescue.
"And cardiology," King added.
Feline Rescue's recent charges include Butterball, a pregnant cat due on Thanksgiving, and a pair of weeks-old kittens found in someone's backyard. The organization also is caring for two cats who were surrendered due to their owner's eviction.
"It's not just cats we encounter who are struggling," King said. "Humanity is struggling."
Minnesota's recent warm stretch -- including last winter and this fall -- has impacted the seasonality of the stray cat population that also is straining local animal services.
"Kittens are being born year-round now," King said.
With its outreach-focused fundraising goal, Feline Rescue wants to step up the intervention with its trap-neuter-return programs for stray cats.
"It's really getting dire out there for cats," said King.
That's one reason, King said, that the nonprofit is highlighting its outreach services during this year's Give to the Max Day.
The nonprofit has had a tough year, too.
"We ended up getting a really bad upper-respiratory infection that tore through our shelter," King said. "All of our cats were either sick, getting sick or getting over being sick. We decided to clear the shelter, do a deep clean, update our protocols and hire staff before reopening."
While the organization's foster cats were not affected and veterinary services continued, new intakes were paused. With new protocols in place along with additional staff, the shelter, located two blocks off University Avenue at 593 N. Fairview Ave., reopened in October after closing for part of the summer.
So far, so good.
"Now we are open and taking cats -- and the waitlist is back," King said.
New to the nonprofit is an outreach program to help people keep their pets, thereby reducing the pressure on local rescues.
"He was connected to us by a family who was looking to relinquish him because he was marking -- spraying -- in the household," Post said. "He had not been neutered yet, which is the primary reason for marking in the home.
"We wanted to do what we could to keep him in the home, rather than the family having to surrender him to us. So we were able to use some of our outreach funds to subsidize his neuter."
With the help of volunteer Jenni Charrier, Feline Rescue's community outreach services spay and neuter coordinator, Sosuke was quickly scheduled for surgery, which resolved the behavior problem.
"He got to stay in his home," Post said.
While early giving started Nov. 1, Give to the Max Day goes for 24 hours on Thursday.
Get info and donate at givemn.org.
To donate to Feline Rescue on Thursday's Give to the Max Day, go to givemn.org/organization/Feline-Rescue-2 or find the link on Feline Rescue's website at felinerescue.org.
Check the organization's social media platforms on Thursday, including Facebook at facebook.com/felinerescueinc, for fundraising updates and more.