Charity Corner

In addition to supporting local businesses, I feel we are also called to support people in need. I am pleased to spotlight a local charitable organization in each issue of the Office Express Press.


Michigan Animal Rescue League (MARL)     
Story by Sharon Horger

Our last charity event that we sponsored was for the Adopt-A-Family program and was done in December 2010.  We have been wanting to do another event for a while now.  On Wednesday, June 8th, something happened that touched our hearts and brought us to our next event.

On Wednesday morning, Lisa Mahon, our Purchasing Manager, stepped outside for a break.  She thought she heard a cat meowing and tried to pinpoint the location of the sound.  She figured it came from our cardboard dumpster.  She came up to my office to tell me what had happened.  When we went back down, we didn’t hear any more sounds.

Later that day, Lisa was outside again and distinctly heard a cat this time.  She came back and told me what had happened again.  When I went down this time, I heard the cat too.  It was crying quite a bit.  Lisa climbed through the dumpster trying to locate the cat but with no luck.

If you recall, June 8th was one of those days where it was almost 100 degrees.  We knew the cat probably needed some water.  With the help of Anna, our Warehouse Assistant, we figured out how to open one end of the dumpster.  We started removing some of the flattened cardboard from inside.  As the crying grew louder still, we realized that it was a kitten. 

Steve, our Furniture Specialist, came to the rescue when he came back from his    installations.  He climbed through the dumpster and pinpointed the noise.  It now sounded like the kitten was underneath the dumpster.  Steve looked and spotted the kitten.  When he crawled on his back to try and reach it, it took off running.  We caught the kitten and brought it inside.  The poor thing was scared to death. 

We found a furniture box to use as a cage.  We gave the kitten some water and I ran to the store to get food and litter.  The poor thing was still crying pretty loud.  He was probably crying for his mama.

Everyone that came into the warehouse fell in love with the little guy immediately .  The next morning when the drivers came in, they all gave him lots of attention.  We joked about what his name should be … Rambo, Scrapper, Oscar, Workstopper.  Now we needed to find him a home.

Everyone thought I should take him home since I already had 2 cats.  Well, that is exactly what happened. We chose Oscar for his name.  He is named after Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street (who lived in a garbage can).

Oscar was given a clean bill of health from the veterinarian (pictured to the left).  The doctor said he was 6 weeks old (as of 6/10).  He also believes that someone dumped him off since he did not seem feral. 

Oscar loves his new home.  Our other cats, Jesse (below) and Codie still need to warm up to him.    I forgot how much fun it is to have a kitten around.  I had a hard time getting Oscar to sit still long enough to get a picture.  The picture on the right is a current one of Oscar.  He is starting to get big already!!