Fixing Cats, Feeding Communities: How One Woman Sparked a Movement

“If you can’t fix ’em, don’t feed ’em. You may think you’re being kind, but make sure you do the responsible thing and spay and neuter.”

Listen to episode #610 now, featuring Wednesday Hugus, founder of Wednesday’s Community Cat and Kittens.

This episode is sponsored-in-part by Maddie’s Fund.

What started as a COVID-era effort to help feed pets in need has transformed into a full-fledged nonprofit tackling the staggering population of community cats in Orlando, Florida. In this powerful conversation, Wednesday Hugus shares how her organization evolved from a pet food pantry into a multifaceted rescue operation focused on TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return), medical advocacy, and grassroots community support.

Wednesday, founder of Wednesday’s Community Cats and Kittens, pulls back the curtain on what it takes to coordinate a network of trappers, feeders, and fosters — all while navigating limited resources, volunteer burnout, and systemic challenges. With a sharp eye for strategy and deep compassion, she’s proving that a small-but-mighty group can make a real dent in a county with an estimated 90,000 community cats.

From leveraging Nextdoor for real-time outreach to raising over $375,000 for medical cases, Wednesday shows what’s possible when you combine hustle, heart, and hyper-local focus. This episode is an inspiring blueprint for turning personal passion into community-wide impact.

Press Play Now For:

• How Wednesday built a nonprofit from her garage — no website required!
• The power of using Nextdoor for local cat rescue and real-time response
• Wednesday’s take on what Orlando gets right (and wrong) about TNR
• The critical importance of spaying and neutering—including owned cats
• How to prevent burnout in volunteer-heavy operations
• Why feeding cats must go hand-in-hand with fixing cats
• Navigating limited veterinary access and thinking creatively about care

Resources & Links:

• Wednesday’s Community Cats and Kittens on Nextdoor (https://tinyurl.com/38ajp4un), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/WednesdaysCommunityCats), and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/wednesdayscommunitycats/)
• Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando (https://petallianceorlando.org/)
• Franklin’s Friends (https://franklinsfriends.info/)
• Community Cats Podcast’s Community Cat Pyramid (https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/cat-pyramid-2/) and Cat Calculator (https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/community-cat-calculator/)
• Pawsitive Pantry Pet food bank in VT & MA (https://pawsitivepantry.org/)

Sponsor Links:

• Maddie’s Fund (https://www.communitycatspodcast.com/maddies609)

Follow & Review

We’d love for you to follow us if you haven’t yet. Click that purple ‘+’ in the top right corner of your Apple Podcasts app. We’d love it even more if you could drop a review or 5-star rating over on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-community-cats-podcast/id1125752101?mt=2). Select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” then share a quick line with your favorite part of the episode. It only takes a second and it helps spread the word about the podcast.