Hanna Reps, an 8-yr old student at Sandy Hook Elementary School, recently had her dream come true when her parents, Steven & Hilary Reps surprised her by adopting a mama-cat and her offspring from Kitten Associates.
“Hanna had been asking for a kitten for the past two years.” says Steven Reps. “My wife and I hadn’t planned on adding a cat to our family, but we realized nothing would be better than to make our daughter’s dreams come true. We knew we wanted to adopt a kitten locally, instead of buying one from a pet shop, so we were happy to find Kitten Associates.”
Kitten Associates Founder and President, Robin A.F. Olson, along with her Vice President, Sam Moore, personally delivered the cats to Hanna’s family. Hanna, only knowing she was getting a cat named Mochachino, was shocked to see Mocha’s son, a little gray and white kitten named, Pizzelle, pop out of the cat carrier moments later.
“For the weeks prior to the adoption, we just told Hanna that she’s getting ‘a cat.’ She was totally surprised when she realized she got not one, but two cats.” says Hilary Reps.
Hanna has spent the last few weeks feeding, playing and snuggling with her new family members. As her 8th birthday arrived, Hanna realized the best gift she could get was not one for her. So she asked her friends to bring, instead of presents, donations of food, cat toys and funds to help Kitten Associates continue their life-saving efforts for cats in need.
“Many parents who dropped off their kids for the party provided very positive feedback on this idea. I know many of them will do something similar when their children have birthday parties.” says Steven Reps.
“This adoption was one of the most poignant and meaningful we’ve ever done. It was an honor to be able to be there the moment Hanna saw her cats for the first time.” said Moore. “For her to choose to spend her birthday helping our rescue shows great maturity and compassion for one so young.”
“Steven and Hilary lead by example, showing their daughter how important it is to give back, by volunteering for our local elementary school and now helping us. When they arrived at our home with their arms filled with gifts and food for our foster cats, I couldn’t help but be deeply moved.” Olson explains. “After spending time with her, it was easy to see that Hanna already has what it takes to be a GREAT “cat-mom,” too. She reminds us how one person can make a positive impact on the lives of others and for that reason everyone here at Kitten Associates is truly grateful.”
