Hearts to Homes Feline Rescue and Sanctuary hosted its eighth annual “Crazy Cat People” Pawsta Dinner and Comedy Show fundraiser on Saturday, February 7, 2026.
Hearts to Homes is a foster-based, volunteer-run cat rescue that was first started in 2016, after Pat Kawamoto and her husband had begun fostering animals, and soon realized that the volume of stray cats was far too great.
Now a decade later, Hearts to Homes works alongside 40 to 60 volunteers and foster homes to help care for 125 to 150 cats at any given time, and focuses on three main goals: providing vet care and finding forever homes for stray or abandoned cats and kittens; helping colony caretakers to feed and put community/colony cats through the “Trap Neuter Return to Field” (TNR) program; and helping families with spay, neuter and vaccinations when they cannot afford it.
The volunteer-run organization hosts the fundraiser event every year in order to help to raise awareness and the monetary funds that are necessary to be able to provide care for the rescue’s various felines.
“Our vet bills were around $167,000 last year alone and that covers everything from food and litter to spay and neuter operations, general veterinary care and crisis situations,” said Julie Hunt, a director with Hearts to Homes. “But on top of that, it’s also about raising awareness and letting people know how much it costs to do this work. A lot of the people that came out tonight are cat people and know how much it costs for veterinary care, but some of them don’t, right? They came because they were told it was going to be a fun night, so this is a great time for me to get on stage and tell them.”
During the event, the nearly 100 guests in attendance had an opportunity to browse the 55 silent auction items. From cat trees to calming blankets, treat baskets, coffee makers, a pizza oven and more, there were plenty of items to bid on and support the cause.
Following a dinner of pizza, pasta, salad, garlic bread, and dessert, Chris Jarvie, the evening’s master of ceremonies, kicked things off by interacting with the crowd.
After sharing a few jokes about his own felines, the comedian welcomed Timmy Boyle to the stage for something new.
While the event has previously featured a line up of comedy sets, this Boyle hosted a family-friendly game show called “The Feud” or “Stirlin’ Says.”
“Stirling is the city that I live in, and I asked 100 people in my village these questions, so when you’re answering these questions, understand that you are not getting regular people answering these questions; you are getting 100 people from a town of 1,000 who volunteered to quickly give an answer,” explained Boyle.
The game had six teams of five facing off in the “Family Feud” inspired game, many of their answers leaving the nearly 100 people in attendance in stitches.
From unexpected answers from two eight-year-olds to downright funny answers from others, the game garnered steady laughter throughout the night.
Hunt later said she was thrilled with the event.
“This is the first time we’ve done a game show format, I myself went on stage, and it was just a blast. It was so much fun to have something interactive like that,” she said. “I hope we do it again next year because it was just spectacular. It turned out so wonderful, everyone was so positive and we got a lot of great bids on all of the silent auction prizes too, so it was great.”
Brantford resident Ken Wight said it was his first time attending the fundraiser and that it wouldn’t be his last.
“This was awesome, it was just fantastic; we brought friends and everything so there were four of us all together and it was great,” he said. “I’m glad we could come and support a cause like this.”
Wight, who was one of the game show contestants, said he had a blast.
“It was so fun, I thought it was just great,” he said with a smile.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
