Children start fund-raiser for Last Hope Cat Kingdom

When the nonprofit Last Hope Cat Kingdom in Atwater suffered a fire Dec. 31, the community stepped up to help the no-kill animal shelter.

Now even the littlest residents of the community are working to get the shelter back on its feet.

The preschoolers at Bear Country Preschool in Merced are selling Marie Callender's pies to help rebuild the sanctuary, which is owned by Renate Schmitz.

According to Regina Wolf at the preschool, the children are studying about animals. They learned about Schmitz and her shelter.

Schmitz's daughter, Mona Schmitz, had the idea to start the shelter. After she was killed in 2008, Renate Schmitz decided to keep the shelter going in her daughter's honor.

Susie Chanterie, a teacher of 3-year-olds at Bear Country, said the pies will be sold April 10-16, the Week of the Young Child.

The Week of the Young Child is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the world's largest early childhood education group, with nearly 90,000 members and a network of more than 300 local, state, and regional affiliates.

The week's purpose is to focus attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs.

"It's also about honoring the kids in the community," Chanterie said.

The 90 preschoolers who attend Bear Country started selling pies March 14, and will sell them through April 1. Profits will help rebuild the cat shelter.

Schmitz said the work at the shelter is almost finished. "We are furnishing the inside rooms again," she said. "We got some office furniture adopted and are starting working on the adoption room."

Schmitz said she is taking some animals to the preschool April 11. "I am going to talk to them about how to treat animals. It's so important to learn young," Schmitz said.

Reporter Carol Reiter can be reached at creiter@mercedsun-star.com or (209) 385-2486.