The 2011 Itty Bitty Kitty Committee Fundraiser!

Pearla Dearborn is standing by!

It's that time of year again! The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee, the web's premiere source of adorable kitten photographs, is holding their annual drive to raise funds for Dog-A-Thon, the Tacoma & Pierce County Humane Society's annual walk for homeless pets, taking place on July 23rd!

Long before I was blogging about cats, I was visiting the IBKC for my daily fix of cuteness. The blog follows the adventures of families of kittens from the Tacoma & Pierce County Humane Society, fostered by Laurie Cinotto and her husband, Craig Miller. Also part of the mix is the irrepressibly floofy Charlene Butterbean, their five-year-old cat who "lends a paw" in raising the fosters, all of which have sweet names to match their whimsical little personalities. Since beginning the blog in 2007, Laurie and her family have fostered over 100 kittens to date!

Charlene Butterbean, "Kitten Kindergarden Teacher"

During the first year of the fundraiser, they were able to raise $23,000 (that's 23 squillion in kitten-speak!), while last year they upped the ante and hauled in an impressive $48,000 for the kitties. This time around, the goal has been set at $50,000, with monies raised going directly to helping cats and kittens through funding foster and adoption programs, shelter improvements, the emergency food bank, medical care, and reduced cost spay and neuter surgeries for cats from low income families (among other things!).

I've been following the fundraiser closely for the past two years, and it continues to impress me how these amazing little kittens have managed to touch people from all around the world, and inspired so many to donate money to this wonderful cause. I also have a deep respect and admiration for Laurie Cinotto, who not only does an incredible job as a cat foster parent, but has also managed to harness the power of creativity and kittens (she's also an excellent crafter), to maintain a blog that brings happiness to so many people, including myself.

In addition to directly making a tax-deductible donation, which you can do by clicking here, Cinotto also keeps things fun by having daily challenges (yesterday's was "Look under the couch and donate $5 for every cat toy you find"), and there will also be auctions, including one for naming a future IBKC kitten, and another for getting the chance to visit Laurie and Charlene in their Washington state home for a real-life tea and kittens party!

Are you excited yet?! Visit The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee for yourself for more information about Dog-A-Thon, and to see squillions of kitten pictures that will keep you busy all day long!