Kidz 4 Katz

Saving the Cats in Ukraine

Peter & Yanina Vanwonterghem

Since the start of the war in the Ukraine, Felinus International (a Belgian CFA club) started a rescue project for abandoned and injured cats in this war-torn country, together with two local organizations: Dobrokit and Vetexpert, and in conjunction with financial help from the CFA Breeder Assistance-Breed Rescue Program as well as many individual CFA breeders and exhibitors

Last August, Felinus and Dobrokit organized a drawing session with a group of twenty Ukrainian children, ages four to fifteen. This session took place at the “boarding house” where Dobrokit cares for rescued cats that are ready to go to a new, loving home. People who want to adopt a kitty come here where they can meet the available cats in a home-like atmosphere. They play with the cats and can choose the one they “click” with.

These twenty children were given drawing paper, crayons, markers, and paint, and were asked to make a drawing that had to reflect cats and the Ukraine. A graphic arts teacher and some parents helped keep them focused. Peter and Yanina Vanwonterghem participated in this session as silent observers, along with several rescue cats that were giving their love and attention to the kids while walking over their drawings and giving head bumps to all junior artists as they were at work. After a couple of hours, the kids were treated to pizza and Belgian chocolate; the artwork was collected, and photos were taken of the children with their creations for their sponsors.

These were generous sponsors in the USA and Europe who donated $50/€50, and in return they were sent an original painting directly from the Ukraine by snail mail adorned with a beautiful, original Ukrainian stamp. As you can imagine, under the current circumstances, it took many weeks before these original drawings finally reached their sponsors.

All the kids agreed that one of the paintings should be sent to the CFA president, Rich Mastin, as after all, “He is the big boss of CFA and a powerful man that can help!” The chosen drawing is by the hand of a bright young twelve-year-old man, Volodymyr Vorona, who all told made three fantastic drawings. This is the one he wanted us to send to the CFA president.

Shortly after the war started, Volodymyr, his two-year-old brother and his mother fled the Ukraine in search of safety. They ended up in Europe where they stayed for eighteen months without their father/husband, an officer in the Ukrainian army who was not allowed to leave the country. Volodymyr and his brother, Sasha, went to a local school where his artistic talent and sport skills were noticed by his schoolteachers.

A year and a half later when the war in the Ukraine seemed to be slowing down, Volodymyr, Sasha, and their mother returned to Odessa to be reunited with their father. Sadly, just a few months after their return, a missile struck the playground next to their apartment. All the windows were shattered, and the home was damaged to the extent that they could no longer live there. Luckily, the kids were still at school when this terrible event took place. As a result, Volodymyr and his little brother were moved to their grandparents’ home in Greece, while their parents remained in Odessa to repair their apartment.

Last July, the family was reunited once more in Odessa, and Peter and Yanina had the incredible luck of meeting them in Cherkasy, where the drawing session with the Ukrainian children was planned. Both Volodymyr and his brother participated in this small but productive event.

Aside from the excitement and fun that was generated, all of these Ukrainian children who participated in this drawing event are living a war-dominated life, with the air raid alarms going off a dozen times day and night, day after day after day. There is no doubt that their generation has been traumatized by this war, which will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

As the day of the drawing event drew to a close, taking a look at all of these original drawings brought wonder to the observers’ eyes. They were all little jewels, showing the kids’ hope, hunger for life, and their love and deep affection for their country and smiling cats – all heavily inspired by the rescued cats that kept them company while they were making their works of art.

Before sending the original drawings to the sponsors, a strict jury of elderly Ukrainians picked the twelve best drawings which were then digitalized and printed in postcard format. There are two sets of six cards, available for $12/€12 each. 100% of the revenue from the sales of these cards will go back to the Ukraine to save and help more cats. When asked if it would be OK if CFA prints and publishes his drawing, Volodymyr (and his mom) answered resoundingly, “Of course the president can use it!”

Thank you, CFA, for helping to make this project a success, although there is so much more to do … CFA truly is an organization for all cats.

The postcards currently have very limited availability due to the difficulty of sending mail from Ukraine, however, donations for this effort are gratefully appreciated and may be made using this link: https://catalog.cfa.org/donations.shtml#assist and indicate it’s for Kidz 4 Katz.

PS: for 2025 look out for our project “Ukrainian Kidz, Katz and Kristmaz”