Ghost of Midnight

Oliver the Cat… Rethinking the Concept of Community in Jonesville

#VT – Gary shared the following on the Richmond Front Porch Forum last week…

If you ever go to the Jonesville post office, you’ve noticed a friendly cat there the last few months. Oliver was a stray who started hanging around and the folks in the post office and the antique store kindly started feeding him and giving him a place to rest.

Unfortunately one day recently it was noticed that Oliver was limping badly. He was taken to the vet and discovered he had broken bones, most likely from being hit by a car.

The McEvoys from the Antique store have been caring for him. He now has a cast on his leg, and a huge bill at the vet. If a bunch of people contribute a little cash to help Oliver out, that would be great.

The post office building has daily updates and photos of Oliver’s condition and progress. I took snapshots of the updates and posted them here:  http://solarbus.org/oliver

And today Thom weighed in with…

Oliver is very thankful for the many generous donations we’ve accepted on his behalf. In addition to a shopping bag full of food and treats, a large stash of home-grown catnip and a few toys, we’ve raised $824.06! Dozens have given.

Gary’s webpage on Oliver has hugely expanded the population of those who know about Oliver. Just today, while returning from a visit with her father in Bennington, Hallie received two calls from out-of-state folks asking how they could donate to ‘The Oliver Fund.’ And more than a few others showed up at the store with donations.

In all honesty I’ve never been much of a ‘community-oriented’ person (although I am a sucker for pets, especially cats). But the response to Oliver has been so overwhelming it has forced me to rethink the concept of ‘community,’ especially when one of its own is in need…