09/09/2026
Joint Public Statement Regarding Fundraising for Alfred’s Cats
9/9/2026
Aloha from the leaders of Good Cat Network, Honi Honi Cats Maui, The Rusty Maui Cat Collective, Surf Cat Ranch Maui, Rescue Kitties of Hawaii & Kitty Charm Farm ~
We decided collectively to make a statement regarding the fundraising efforts and food distribution for Alfred’s colony cats.
When Alfred passed, Sarah created a fundraiser with Alfred’s sister, Valerie, to cover final expenses. Thanks to supporters of Alfred near and far, this fundraiser went very well. It was important to us that Alfred’s family use that fund for their own needs.
Sarah then set up a second fundraiser just for the cats, and asked if one of us from the other rescues would be willing to accept and manage the funds. We all declined due to our histories with some of the feeders we knew were involved and our concerns that there would be difficulty with dealing with them after the funds were raised. The very difficulties you may have seen on display on social media for the past few weeks.
Sarah decided to take on the job of raising funds and distributing food despite knowing she may face some of the challenges we were concerned about, and is now sadly dealing with EXACTLY what we all saw coming.
Over $11,000 was raised to help Alfred's cats which is AMAZING, but also won’t last long. Sarah intentionally used ONE PLATFORM to raise the money so the public could see how much was coming in and have full transparency. While our names were not on this fundraiser, most of us have been involved in the decision-making process of how the food would be distributed. We base the amounts on actual counts of cats that each person reported feeding during the first 2 weeks of feeding. We all agreed with the quantities being distributed – enough to sustain the cats while also making the money last as long as possible. Receipts for the purchases of the food are also readily available for full transparency.
The feeders who participated in covering Alfred’s colonies chose how they wanted to receive the food donated – some pick it up, some get it shipped, etc. They were warned that sometimes box stores take orders, then end up low on stock by the time the pick-up date occurs. Twice this has happened (one order was filled ½ way, another was not delivered at all). Instead of communicating to problem-solve, 2 of the 7 feeders resorted
to lashing out at Sarah both through messaging her directly and by posting on social media claiming she was withholding food. This has caused other members of the community to lash out at Sarah as well, not understanding what was happening on her
end and just jumping to conclusions.
The behavior we have witnessed is both ugly and defamatory. We know how exhausting this has been on the feeders who are out 7 nights a week. We are very thankful to those who have stepped up to help. But this does not give a blanket permission slip to bully the person managing the food supply. We also have seen OTHERS being bullied who are in rescue. Trappers, feeders and others who speak up - too many people have been
effected by this bad behavior. All helpers — all trying to make things better. We should be better than this. Alfred would be disappointed to see this happening.
Although we initially declined to be involved for the very reason you see playing out now, yet in the end we are involved anyway because we cannot stand by and allow this treatment
to continue against Sarah. The purchases are being made. The food is getting distributed. We have access to the receipts. There are occasional hiccups as expected. But to say that Sarah is doing anything nefarious is an outright lie.
We would like to thank Sarah for her efforts to TRY to get this fund handled. Sadly, we also recommended that she close the fundraiser because the harassment needs to come to an end. That’s a painful decision - we are the main cat charities on Maui and we want to do our part to sustain these cats. This decision was discussed with Alfred’s family who have also had problems with the same individuals and they agreed this needed to stop saying “Helping shouldn’t hurt”
Sarah will be setting up a separate account for the food money already raised and we will collectively establish a project manager to see through its distribution which should
last through the end of the year, as long as feeders continue to feed. We encourage the feeders to create their own fundraisers that should also operate with full transparency to continue thereafter.
Mahalo from the leaders of Good Cat Network, Honi Honi Cats Maui, The Rusty Maui
Cat Collective, Surf Cat Ranch Maui, Rescue Kitties of Hawaii & Kitty Charm Farm See less
