The Magnolia Chapter of the Humane Society of Louisiana is busy this month, with a variety of fundraising projects and a community cats project underway.

The community cats project is an attempt to trap, neuter and release stray cats in an area. The first area the group will tackle will be Northside, though the project will grow to other areas.

Kay Grantham, the secretary of the Magnolia Chapter, said volunteers will begin walking through that neighborhood in the coming days.

“We’re hoping to find some people in the Northside area who are worried about free roaming cats and who can trap them to be spayed or neutered,” she said.

Volunteers will need to trap the animals, deliver them to the doctor’s office and care for them after the procedure. This could take a day or more.

“Male cats are easy,” she said. “You hold them overnight from the surgery and then you release them the next day.”

Grantham said the group already has enough funding to begin the project, and she hopes they’ll raise enough to cover the whole city.

“We’ve got a little bit of money to start our project,” she said. This is our first project like this, so well be learning as we go.”

The program is currently seeking funds for the program through a “cans for cats” can drive and a “coins for cats” coin collection. The cans can be dropped off at Magnolia Thrift on Highway 59 in Abita Springs, or Grantham said she can coordinate a can pick up.

“They can message me or call me and I will figure out the best way to get their cans,” she said.

The Coins for Cats is just a coin jar wherein Grantham hopes members of the community will deposit lose change. So far, the only jar is at Dr. Charles Mehle’s dentist office at 310 Mississippi Ave. However, Grantham said anyone who owns a business and would like to volunteer to take a jar should contact her.

“If any businesses out there are interested in supporting this, they can go ahead and give me a call,” she said.

The group is also raising funds to benefit the Magnolia Chapter’s foster program through a T-shirt sale. The Magnolia Chapter does not currently have a brick-and-mortar facility to care for animals, and so they depend on foster families who volunteer with the foster program agree to care for a cat or a dog that has been rescued by the Magnolia Chapter.

The fundraiser will help pay for medical costs as well as cover litter and food and ancillary care. To buy a T-shirt, visit the website booster.com/petfoster. The shirts are $15 and they will be on sale until Sept. 30.

If anyone would like to foster a homeless pet, call the chapter at 985-241-4290, choose option 5 and leave a message.

Finally, the chapter is also organizing its 2017 Pet Photo Calendar.

Everyone in the community who has a pet is asked to enter their pet’s photo and vote on their favorite photo. The entry is $10 and equals five votes and each vote is $1 per vote. This is the group’s third calendar, and the contest wraps up Sept. 30. To enter, visit gogophotocontest.com/magnoliachapter. The winning pets will receive prizes. Besides entering, anyone can pre-order calendars, too.

“Every pet that is entered will be in the calendar somewhere, but the top 12 will be the cover page for the month,” Grantham said.

This is the third year the organization has held a calendar, and Grantham said she hopes it’s a fun way for the community to donate money.

“We’re always fundraising, so we try to do it in fun ways,” she said. “The calendar contest to me is fun and I hope other people think so, too.”

However, even if people cannot afford to give to the organization, Grantham said they can still do something.

“If everybody spays and neuters their own pet, then they’re part of the solution and they’re getting ahead of the game. If they can’t do anything else, just spay and neuter your pet.”

For more information about any of these projects, call Grantham at 985-335-0758.