Mary RasuraThe West Palm Beach cat shelter’s $25,000 fundraiser goal will support vet fees, foster programs and operating costs.
Becky Newell was spending the night at the Adopt A Cat shelter, stretched out on a thin mattress and reeling after the loss of a friend.
“Believe me, I have a home,” Newell, a volunteer from Tequesta, said with a laugh. “I’m not homeless. I have a beautiful home, and I choose to sleep with the cats.”
That’s when Sarge, short for Sergeant Slaughter because he’d lash out at volunteers, rubbed against her legs, turning a moment of heartbreak into the beginning of an unexpected bond.
Sarge was one of the rescue cats who roamed the West Palm Beach shelter, a repurposed warehouse full of cat trees but no cages. Some of the felines were more outgoing than others, but they all were in a better place than from where they came.
Adopt A Cat, a free-roaming center that rehabilitates abandoned and at-risk cats, celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. The foundation is still operating but on a budget that is tested by costly medical cases.
The Adopt A Cat Foundation will have its second annual Dinner and Drive fundraiser on Feb. 22 at Nest Par 3 Golf Course Clubhouse in Palm Beach Gardens. All proceeds will support its mission to improve cats’ lives.
Executive Director Debbie Heavey says Adopt A Cat focuses on cats rescued from the street or the county’s euthanasia list. The foundation had slightly fewer adoptions in 2025 than 2024, nearing capacity with 118 cats now in the shelter, and rising vet costs. She says because of capacity limits, sometimes they have to turn away cats.
“It’s heartbreaking. I mean, it is absolutely heartbreaking,” she said. “But you know, we were founded by Inga Hanley, and Inga was a good friend of mine, and she always warned me. She said, ‘You cannot save them all, and if you try to, you’re going to get burned out.’”
The risks of feral cats
Feral cats have effects beyond tugging on the heartstrings of animal lovers. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, they are a major threat to native wildlife and can spread disease.
Heavey says one case stands out: a fluffy cat taken from the county euthanasia list. The cat was drooling and couldn’t eat.
“When we took the cat to the vet, the cat had a little piece of cloth in its stomach. It was so hungry being out on the street, it actually ate a piece of cloth,” Heavey said.
That cat is now named Rose and was adopted by Katherine Mahaffey, who works with racehorses in Boynton Beach. She had lost three cats and says Rose was meant to be hers after she saw her picture while scrolling through social media.
“Rose popped up, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God,’” Mahaffey said. “It looks like all three of my kitties in one.”
Heavey says Rose’s medical bills totaled more than $1,600. And if the shelter’s veterinarian hadn’t waived some of the fees, the cost would have been higher.
For these cats, Adopt A Cat is a second chance at life. And for their owners, a new family member. The nonprofit’s $25,000 goal for the upcoming fundraiser will allow them to continue that mission.
“If we miss the goal, we’re not going to be able to take in any more cats for the foreseeable future,” Heavey said.
She also said the organization wouldn’t be able to expand its foster program for kittens. Their vulnerable immune systems make it challenging for them to live in the free-roaming shelter.
John Wood, foundation president and longtime volunteer, says in addition to kittens, some people can hospice foster, by taking in elderly cats to live out their final days.
“It takes a special person to be able to do that,” Wood said. “Because you have the anticipatory anxiety of knowing our time is limited. But on the flip side, you know that you’re doing such a good thing for that cat.”
Adopt A Cat is also recruiting volunteers. The organization relies on volunteers like Newell to keep running.
“Without them,” Wood said, “we’re nothing.”
Thrift store revenue is key
The shelter receives 75% of its revenue from its thrift store in Juno Beach. Even the shop cat is a rescue, after Wally, the previous shop cat passed away. Joshua is a 10-year-old who needed expensive eye surgery after coming to Adopt A Cat.
Heavey is not expecting Joshua to be adopted because of his age and medical history, making him one of the “lifers” of the foundation.
“It might not be a home, but it’s home, and we’re their family, until they find their forever home, and sometimes it ends up we’re going to be their forever home,” Newell said.
Newell reflected on that bonding moment with Sargent Slaughter during her shelter sleepover. “From then on, I mean, it was crazy, like I get emotional thinking about it, like he could feel my heart,” Newell said, her voice choking up. “Ever since, he takes belly rubs. He hears my voice. He comes out and waits for me.”
She knows the shelter is changing the lives of abandoned animals. “But they’re changing ours as well.”
Tickets for the Feb. 22 fundraiser are $100 and available here. The event is from 4 to 7 pm and includes dinner, live music, access to the driving range, a cash bar, a silent auction, and meet-and-greets with adoptable cats and kittens.
