Episode 121: Kindness Is Saving 25 Cats From Qatar

Filmmaker Mye Hoang joins Anitha to talk about her latest documentary, 25 CATS FROM QATAR.

Mye is a cat lover who shares her home with five cats so it makes sense that a visit to a cat café in Milwaukee, USA lead to her filming a documentary about the owner of the café, Katy McHugh. Mye films Katy’s rescue mission to Qatar where she brings 25 cats back to the US and finds them their forever homes.

Mye shares what it was like being a part of this incredible journey to Qatar, a country with so much wealth yet at the same time filled with so many suffering animals. The cats are not native to Qatar. They were brought in years ago to help control the rat population. Sadly, the cats weren’t spayed or neutered and their numbers increased to the point that local rescuers are overwhelmed and cannot care for all the cats.

This was such a privilege for Anitha to speak with Mye, who donates profits from the documentary and from the sale of merchandise to local rescues.

The film is being shown throughout the United States and Mye hopes to take the film to other countries.

To learn more about 25 CATS FROM QATAR and find out when it’s coming to your area, check out their website and these social media links.

25 Cats From Qatar website

Instagram

Trailer on YouTube

As a thank you to Mye for sharing her story, Anitha donated to 25 CATS FROM QATAR so Mye can continue to support local rescues.

To hear the full episode, please click here:

Episode 108: Kindness Is Staying With Good Will Good Karma

Anitha chats with 15-year-old Will Finch. Will and his sister Jada appeared on the podcast back in 2021 to talk about their incredible efforts to help stray dogs and cats find forever loving homes. The siblings created an organization called GOOD WILL GOOD KARMA. Will returns to talk about all that been happening with their non-profit animal rescue—including birthday fundraisers, starting a clothing line to raise money for animal rescue, heartwarming stories of dogs and cats they’ve helped, AND, that to date, GOOD WILL GOOD KARMA has raised a whopping $1 million for animals in need!

An episode full of heart and inspiration of what it means to create GOOD WILL and GOOD KARMA for all beings.

To learn more about Will and all he is doing to help animals, check out these links:

Instagram:  GoodWillGoodKarma

Facebook: GoodWillGoodKarma

As a thank you to Will for sharing his story, Anitha donated to Autism Dog Services. This charity, provides service dogs for individuals over three years of age who have autism and related disorders in most parts of Southwestern Ontario.

To learn more about ADS, check out their website: autism dog services

To hear the full episode, click here:

Episode 62: Kindness Is Rabia Reads

For the first episode of 2024, Anitha chats with educator and education and equity consultant, Rabia Khokhar.

Spurred by her desire to showcase diverse stories, Rabia created Rabia Reads, her Instagram account where she recommends picture books with diverse main characters.

Anitha and Rabia chat all about books, including her current favourite book. Hair Oil Magic by Anu Chouhan

If you’d like to learn more about what Rabia’s reading check out her Instagram page:

https://www.instagram.com/rabia_reads/

Authors/publishers interested in submitting a book to Rabia for a review can contact her through her Instagram account or by email:  rabia91k@gmail.com

As a thank you to Rabia for sharing her story, Anitha donated to North Toronto Cat Rescue, the only No-kill, No-cage shelter in the GTA. This volunteer run, registered charity is committed to rescuing, rehabilitating, and re-homing ailing and abused stray cats and kittens.

To learn more about this rescue, check out their webpage: https://www.northtorontocatrescue.com/

Episode 44: Kindness Is Sharing Birthdays

Ten-year-old Isla Spisani talks to Anitha about the special way she has been celebrating her past few birthdays.

As a thank you to Isla for sharing her story, Anitha donated to the Burlington Humane Society.

To learn more about the Burlington Humane Society and the work they do to help animals, check out their website: https://burlingtonhumane.ca/

Episode 19: Kindness is Music and Lego

Fourteen-year old Annora Wu and her eleven-year old brother Andrew join Anitha to share their stories of kindness.

A talented musician, Annora talks about what it was like performing for residents of nursing homes and the joy she felt knowing she was making a positive difference in their lives.

Not to be outdone by his older sister, Andrew shares his amazing initiative of combining his love of Lego and animals to create Lego For Charity.

Andrew collects donated sets of Lego. He spends time sanitizing and sorting the pieces, and then puts together ‘new’ sets that he sells. The funds raised are donated to the SPCA.  

This is a wonderful episode for everyone who loves music, animals and of course stories of kindness.

To learn more about Lego For Charity, please click on this link: http://legoforcharity.com/

To learn more about Explore Hop, the organization that provided Annora with the skills to create the Lego For Charity website and promote its goals, click here: https://explorerhop.com/

As a thank you to Annora and Andrew for sharing their story, Anitha donated to the SPCA. For more information about all the wonderful work the SPCA does to help animals, please check out their website: https://spca.bc.ca/locations/vancouver/

Episode 14: Kindness Is Creating Good Karma

Eleven-year-old Will and seventeen-year old Jada Finch share their inspiring story of turning personal heartache into helping animals. When Will was 7 and Jada was 12, the family adopted an adorable puppy they named Karma Rose. Sadly, within a few short weeks, Karma died from canine parvo-virus. Despite being devastated at the loss of his beloved puppy, Will decided to honor Karma on his 8th birthday. In lieu of gifts, he requested donations of money and pet supplies to donate to a local animal rescue. And soon after, Good Will Good Karma was born.

Will and Jada talk to Anitha about their amazing initiative to raise money and awareness to help animals. This podcast is a must for anyone who loves animals and wants to hear uplifting stories of how this incredible brother and sister team have dedicated their lives to helping animals.

As a thank you for sharing their story, Anitha donated to All Paws Cat Rescue. To learn more about this rescue, click here: http://allpawsrescue.weebly.com/

To learn more about Will, Jada and Good Will Good Karma, and all the kind and wonderful things they do, click here: https://www.facebook.com/goodwillgoodkarma/

Will and Jada spoke about several animal rescues they are involved with. To learn more about these rescues, click on the links below:

Northern Connection Rescue: https://www.facebook.com/northernpaws18/

Fetch & Releash Dog Rescue: https://www.fetchandreleash.ca/