Kira Serisky July 9, 2003 – February 7, 2021
Kira Serisky was 14 years old in April of 2018 when she began her mission to save kittens and educate while doing so. Her motto “If I Can Do It You Can Too” spoke to her belief that no matter how small the act, everyone is capable of pitching in to help cats and kittens in some capacity. Dealing with many health challenges due to Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Kira stayed grounded by rescue work. She loved taking on the tough cases and had shared that fostering was the most rewarding and fulfilling thing she had ever done. Kira utilized her experience from her own medical care and participated in a volunteer internship at River Cover Animal Hospital to further advance her skill and hands-on knowledge of kitten care. Through Kira’s efforts, she was able to save and re-home around 40 at-risk kittens through the fall of 2020, despite her chronic illness.
Kira had plans to save many more kittens and to expand her platform to educate others. While she left us far too soon, Kira’s Kitten Fund will carry forth her legacy by providing support for youth programs in animal shelters and rescues across the United States.
Our Summer 2021 grant cycle was dedicated to Kira’s memory and focused on helping young people become engaged in kitten welfare just like Kira.
Here are some of our Kira’s Kitten Fund Grant recipients
“If We Can Do It, You Can Too”
Our partner, Love Your Feral Felines, created project-based curriculum packets to help bring Animal Welfare into the classroom entitled “If We Can Do It, You Can Too”. These packets have been specifically designed for different age groups and are broken down by grade levels including Kindergarten through 12th grade. Inspired by Kira Serisky, these curriculum packets offer teachers, home school parents, and tutors the opportunity to introduce Animal Welfare Education into their classrooms. The curriculum is free, fun, and focuses on fostering compassion and encouraging youth to advocate for animals in their community. This San Diego organization is offering a free, digital version of its curriculum on their website. As this program expands, LYFF will also be offering in-person workshops and seminars about feline-focused topics for youths.
Kitten Youth Directive
Our partner, Six Kittens Rescue, in Bryan, TX received a grant to fund their Kitten Youth Directive to help empower youth in their community to advocate for change! The goal of this program is to help youth become familiar with rescue work and instill animal compassion and advocacy in their everyday lives by educating them about kitten care and animal welfare issues. Six Kittens Rescue used this funding to hold multiple sessions with feline focused curriculum for ages 3-18. These sessions included making cat toys, cat trees, no-sew kitten blankets, cat coloring books, creating feral dens, and other educational activities. We are so proud to support this program and inspire future animal advocates!
Margaret & Lilah
Our partner, Little Orphans Kitten Rescue in Louisville, KY received a grant to invest in the foster space of two of their most dedicated youth fosters, Margaret & Lilah. This grant has enabled them to involve two very enthusiastic and active young fosters and grow their lifesaving capacity. Both Lilah and Margaret have younger siblings who have also benefitted from participating in the care of orphaned kittens! This grant provided lifesaving foster supplies including bedding, high-quality wet food, kitten formula, playpens, climbers, and toys for enrichment! Margaret has been an excellent foster for kittens going through weaning and learning socialization skills. Lilah has taken on the challenging role of caring for some kittens under 2 weeks of age and has been doing a wonderful job.
Lilah recently fostered a newborn kitten named Gibbs. Sadly his little tail was had been injured about halfway down and the tip of his tail was necrotic. Big-hearted Lilah was undeterred by his condition! Their veterinarian cleaned his wounds and removed the dead part of his tail. Lilah took Gibbs home and under her care, Gibbs thrived! You can see Gibbs all grown up in the far right image.
Kathryn’s Kitten Kasa for Kira
Our partner, Laramie Animal Welfare Society in Laramie, WY received a grant to invest in the foster space of one of their most dedicated youth fosters, Kathryn. Kathryn is a 15-year-old superstar who volunteers her time helping LAWS in numerous ways, including fostering neonatal kittens. She is dedicated to helping kittens in their community and LAWS wanted to recognize her hard work by decking out her foster room called “Kathryn’s Kitten Kasa for Kira”. This grant purchased an incubator, playpen, formula, tubes for tricky bottle babies, high-quality wet food, and other life-saving supplies.
Kathryn was so excited about this grant and responded with this beautiful statement:
“My goal was to help to create a more functional space to do what I love to do. What I’m called to do. That’s rescuing the tiniest and most fragile kittens in need. So, I created a “Kitten Lady Nursery” and dedicated it to Kira, who was such a powerful voice for youth rescuers. So many people tell me that I can’t do things because I’m ‘just a kid’ but I don’t want to be seen like that. I want to be seen like any other person who can do whatever they set their mind to. Kira felt similarly, she didn’t let her physical challenges or age get in the way. She knew what was really important and I do too.”
Club K.I.R.A
Our Partner, Planned PEThood of GA, created a program to engage local youth members called Club K.I.R.A (Kids Interested in Rescuing Animals). This program provides classes for different age groups of adolescents who want to learn how they can help animals. These classes will offer bottle feeding demonstrations, interactive discussions about how they can get involved, and will send home materials with each of the children outlining how they can help animals, especially kittens! Planned Pethood already has 35 kids and teens who are helping foster animals with their families. These helpers will be invited to join upcoming meetings & will receive a special Kira’s Kitten Fund t-shirt. We are so proud to support this program and inspire future animal advocates in this community!
