Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Cafe Wellington

By NEKO NGERU Cat Cafe

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NZ $20,236 pledged


166 people pledged


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NZ $20,000 minimum target


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This campaign was successful and closed on 25/09/2017 at 9:00 PM.

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About

Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Cafe Wellington

Project 2017-07-27 13:10:54 +1200

What are We Doing?

We want more homeless cats to be adopted into loving homes. For this reason, we are opening Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Café as a place where people and cats can meet over drinks and food to get to know each other and find out if they are compatible. We have also seen that lots of people in Wellington cannot have cats in their homes for various reasons. Our café will provide a place for people to relax and enjoy cats without commitment.

You can learn more about us and see photos of our rewards on our website or follow us on Facebook 

MiTwo

Ken's 1st cat who lived in 5 different

countries with Ken & Richelle and returned to

Japan at the age of 19. She still lives with Ken's best 

friends in Japan and is 21 years old now!     

 

 Who are We?

We are Ken and Richelle Okada originally from Osaka, Japan and San Diego, California. As international school teachers in Japan, Kuwait, Mexico and China we got to travel a lot but, we chose New Zealand as the place we would settle down because we think it is the best. We chose Wellington as our home because we think it is the best place to open our Cat Adoption Café. We chose Petone because it has free parking and an interesting mix of shopping and dining. Our dream to open a cat café comes from experiences working with rescue groups in Shanghai, China and rescuing abandoned cats around the world. We saw a need for a place where people could comfortably and conveniently see those cats that need homes. Our name signifies both where we come from and where we are. Neko is Japanese for cat and Ngeru is cat in te reo Māori. Japan is where cat cafes first became popular and Wellington is where we are going to bring one.

 

Madara (left) and Mao (right)

 Madara is Ken's 2nd cat and

Mao is Ken & Richelle's 1st

cat together. Both traveled

to 5 countries along with

Mi・Two but died in Shanghai. 

 

 

What is a Cat Cafe?

 

Since we will be the first cat adoption café in New Zealand, some people may not know what to expect. They ask if they can bring their own cat as you would at a dog café. The answer is no. Cats are quite territorial and bringing unfamiliar cats together would turn out to be more like a kitty fight club—definitely something the SPCA would not approve. A cat cafe is a cafe...with cats. At Neko Ngeru, we will have 15 to 20 cats living in their own space on the cafe premises. There, you will be able to get all the healing and stress reducing benefits that you need from contact with cats.  

They will be separated from the food service area by walls and double doors. Customers can enter the cat's play room for an hourly fee. If you purchase food and/or drink from us, you can bring it into the cat's area too (just don't let them have any since most human food is not good for them and they will be well-fed anyway).  We will have counter foods, hot and cold drinks and we hope to get a liquor license soon. As well as being open in normal business hours, we will also organize some events after hours and allow bookings for events, parties and functions. We plan to have cat assisted yoga, professional storytelling, quiz nights, art openings, and many other things.

 

Left - a cat we recued in Kuwait

She was at the door of our

apartment on a rainy day.

One of our students adopted her. 

 Right - Rasputin (& Mao)

Stray boy in Mexico.

We took him under

our care and one

of our students adopted him.

Left - Minnaloush

Found in our apartment

complex in Shanghai.

He was so friendly.

An expat family adopted him.

 Right - Bibi

Rescued in Shanghai.

He was so timid. 

Our collegue adopted him. 

Left - Ben

 Ben's neck was so crooked

he couldn't walk straight.

Thanks to Bow Meow

Shanghai who gave him

intensive care for a  month.  

Adopted by a Japanese family. 

Right - Moon Cake  

He was cared for in a vet.   

Adopted by an expat family. 

 

What if I am Allergic to Cats?

If you are allergic to cats, you can still come and get food and drink; we’ll have an area where you can watch people play with our cats. We are fastidious about hygiene and will also control the ventilation so that air from the cats’ area won’t recirculate to the food and retail. 

 

4 kittens found on top

of Ken's family's restaurant

in downtown Osaka.

We waited for their mom

to come back but she didn't

so we bottle fed them.

It was fun!!

 Left - Kiji

 Right - Mike

 

They were FIV positive

so it was difficult to find

homes but eventually all did.

Fortunately, the later blood

test showed they were not

really positive.

It was their mom. 

 Left - Whity

 Right - Kuro-kiji

 

 

 

Where Do the Cats Come From?

We have been working with many of the smaller rescue groups around Wellington to be the sources of our cats.  They will select the most sociable cats for us to adopt and keep at our café. The cats will be de-sexed, microchipped, de wormed and fully vaccinated. Many of the cats will have been abandoned or surrendered to the rescue organizations, but some of them will have been born wild in a colony then socialized so they can live in a home. Every adoption reduces the number of stray cats who must hunt to live. Supporting the rescue organizations in de-sexing as many cats as they can means there will be fewer kittens dying painfully every year. 

 Left - Tonraq

 Right - Zhi li (now Bonnie)

 They were our 1st foster

cats in NZ.   Bonnie was

adopted after 2 months.

Tonraq is so timid

but got attached to Richele 

so we adopted him.  

 

Left - Jesse

 Also from Outpawed

Jesse and Tonraq started

to get along well. 

Then Jesse got sick.

It was FIP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is Every Cat Available for Adoption?

Our cats’ comfort and stability are important to us, so some of our cats will be permanent ‘staff cats’. Finding good homes for as many cats as we can is also a priority with us, so we will have a good ratio of adoptable ‘guest cats’ in our café. We will also advertise cats--through our social media and on video in our café--who are also adoptable and still at the rescue organizations or in foster care. In this way, we will help as many cats find forever homes as we can and take some of the pressure off the rescue organizations so they can work on socializing the more timid cats. We will donate five percent of our profits between the rescue organizations from which we adopt. In short, we want to help cats and the people who love them. 

 

We Fostered three black kitties 

from UHARS around Easter.

Right - Green (Teddy) 

He has a cute face, sweet character

and was first to be adopted.

Left - Red (Bruce)

 Right - Blue (Justine/Justin)

Everyone thought Blue

was a girl, but no!

 Adopted together

and are now Donk and Dink

 

 

What We Have Been Doing

We spent nine months looking for a place to open our cat adoption café. For a while, we thought we would be on Bunny St in Lower Hutt. After spending quite a bit to get designs done and meeting with City Council officials to learn what we had to do to make it a safe place, we decided to look for another. It was just going to be too expensive. We were so grateful to find a good space in Petone. In the meantime, we met with most of the local rescue groups to figure out how we can best help each other now and when our café opens. We set up a social media presence with our Facebook page and website. (We try to keep up with posts and blogs and newsletters to keep our growing crowd informed of what we and the rescue groups are doing. We have more than 700 followers now.)  We have formed a Meetup group for cat lovers and have organized several events. We are doing everything we can to learn about the business of running a café so we can make Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Café a success. Now, we are launching a crowd funding campaign to help pay for better furnishings and renovations.

 

Brett

Brett was a foster cat from Outpawed.

He was a great cuddly cat but

older and stronger than Tonraq.

He was adopted

by a family in Tawa.

 

 

Where the Money Goes

Because the site is currently a gun shop, it will cost a lot to turn it into a café. We will build a food and drink service area; the cat’s room has to be completely divided from the food service and retail area and separated by double doors; ventilation and skylights, openable windows and another restroom will go in. We also want to get the best cat furniture we can, so that means getting it built for us and placing it on the walls and even hanging it from the ceiling so you can watch the cats run, jump and play all over the place. Comfortable human furniture is important and that costs money too.

All in all, it will cost about $200,000.

We have saved our money for over 15 years to make this dream come true. We don’t want to borrow from any bank if we can help it. So far we have spent $60,000 on making our logo and website, hiring a design and project management company, preparing the rewards for our sponsors, purchasing the retail goods, and much more.

Tonraq

 on his adotion day! 

 

How You Can Help

Our goal for this campaign is $20,000. As you can see, that is a small percentage of what it costs. Please help us reach our goal so we can make Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Café a really great place for you to come enjoy cats and possibly find your perfect feline companion.

One of our stretch goals is to provide excellent booth seating inside the cats' play area. If we reach $30,000, we could do that.

 

Cat

display

shelf

designed

by 

Catalyst

A cool item we are calling a 'cat display shelf' which has retail goods on one side and cat climbing features on the other plus a TV and aquarium could be built if we reach a stretch goal of $40,000, we would love that.  

Sharing about our campaign can be just as helpful as donating. Please remember to hit that share button and let your friends know how they can help us too.

Comments

Updates 16

1st anniversary for Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Cafe!

08/11/2018 at 6:41 PM

Dear Neko Ngeru Pledgers,

 

We cannot believe it has been a whole year since you made our Pledgeme campaign fulfilled and we opened the cafe! Let us tell you the summary of the year. Our biggest achievement is the number of adoptions. 41 cats found their new homes! We also kept improving the cafe environment so now we have a flat screen TV which shows a slideshow of our cats. We added more cat furnitures like a bridge so cats can go around the whole cat room without touching the floor. We started events like cat yoga, cat assisted massage, movie night, cat behavior talks etc. We believe we provide a good relaxing atmosphere to people and a happy healthy environment to cats in the cafe!!

 

 

Anyway, our biggest intention of this update is a friendly reminder that we still have some people who have not claimed their rewards. As long as we exist, the rewards won’t expire so you don’t need to worry about it, but we hope you can visit us to see what the cafe looks like and how our cats enjoy their life here. We are planning to do the 1st anniversary campaign - free regular hot drink with paid entry from the 18th of November to the 2nd of December. So invite your friends and family, and visit Neko Ngeru! 

 

 

Inky, the worker cat from FeralNation, trying yoga. (=^・^=)

You need to pledge to see this update.

Yes, we are opening on Saturday the 18th of November!

11/11/2017 at 8:15 AM

 

Dear all,

 

Sorry not to write the update for a while but we have been super busy to make the cafe ready for our pre-open, which is tomorrow! We painted almost all of the walls, ceiling, floors and got some murals done. We have gotten most of the cat and human furniture in place. We are setting up our food and drink service area and organizing our retail stock. Also, even yesterday there were still tradesmen from the construction team doing last minute things for our inspection that is happening this Thursday. 

 

We are also ready to take bookings! If your rewards include One Hour Voucher(s), you can book your space and time by sending us an email to [email protected]. It would be easier for us if you can tell us you have voucher(s) with you or if you asked us to keep them in the cafe. : ) Please don’t try to use the booking system to redeem a voucher. We cannot set it up that way. We will book your voucher spaces and times ourselves. Of course, if you are bringing someone with you who is not using a voucher, please do use the booking system on our website https://nekongeru.nz/ for them.

 

We look forward to seeing you!

We will open on Saturday 18th of November!

19/10/2017 at 9:35 AM

Dear all,

Although the cafe still looks very much underconstruction in the photos, now, officially, we will open our doors on Saturday the 18th of November! Once we set up the booking system, we will make another announcement here and then if you got rewards of "one hour voucher(s)", you can call us to save your space. 

For those people who pledged for "Your name on the wall", we forgot to ask about the other parts of your reward which are One One-hour Voucher, One Hot Drink Voucher and a sticker sheet. So sorry about that! Please let us know if you want us to mail them or keep them in the cafe until you visit us. : ) 

You need to pledge to see this update.

vouchers on their way!

07/10/2017 at 9:33 AM

Finally we got vouchers, so we started sending them out yesterday if you asked us to do so. Some items are already recieved or on their way as well. We use Fastway and the post office, but sometimes it is difficult to know whether the parcel/envelopes are recieved or not. (In one case, a lady called and told us it was the wrong address. When we told her the right address, she offered to take the packet there. What amazing kindness of Kiwis! We love NZ!) SO we would appricate if you can let us know the items/vouchers arrived safely. 

Still about 30 people have not responded to our previous email asking about desired size of T-shirts or colour of cups. If you haven't done it, please do so! We are ready to send all of the items now. : )

And an update of our cafe, even though the Buliding Consent was delayed, we got it and the construction is supposed to catch up. We are aiming to open the doors in mid November! 

You need to pledge to see this update.

You need to pledge to see this update.

Three hours and we exceeded the goal!

25/09/2017 at 6:09 PM

We are jumping up and down with joy. 

We. Are. So. Happy. and THANKFUL to all of you who pledged and helped us reach the goal.

Thank you so much!

This is wonderful and we are looking forward to meeting you in the cafe.

Richelle and Ken

Eleven hours and $1164 to go!

25/09/2017 at 10:15 AM

We are getting so excited about how near we are to reaching our goal. We belive it is completely attainable with your help. Let's use this extra time to give it an extra push accross the finish line so that we can start to send you your rewards.

Please keep sharing

Cait Sith reaches for the light 

One day and $4270 to go!

24/09/2017 at 1:53 PM

Our goal is within sight and we have been given an extension till Monday! It is reachable with your help. Please share the campaign again and encourage prople to pledge. Together, we can make it1

The video is Cait Sith working on overcoming her fears. After being rolled over by some un-leashed dogs at the Korokoro dam last week, she was afraid to go down the stairs. But now she came down half of the drive. We hope she will fully recover her bravery and be climbing trees along the trails again soon.

In hope,

 

Richelle and Ken

Two days and $6,715 to go

23/09/2017 at 4:23 PM

We have made an amazing jump so we are a lot closer to the goal. But we can only reach it with your help. Please continue to encourage people to pledge. The rescued kitties of Wellington thank you.

Three days and $14,000 to go

21/09/2017 at 3:42 PM

There is still time for a miraculous flood of pledges and you could be part of it. If you all share the campaign page again and enourage friends to pledge, we can reach the goal. We cannot do it without your help.

Thanks!

Richelle and Ken 

Neko Ngeru Update #3

09/09/2017 at 10:48 AM

Half way through and 65 pedgers have put $5551. As you can see, there is quite a way to go still. That's why we need your help to share the campaign again and encourage other people to donate. We are doing a raffle on Sunday in which you can win a party at Neko Ngeru. Spread the news, please.

Neko Ngeru Update #2

29/08/2017 at 4:45 PM

One week down and 34 pledgers have put $2331. Twelve percent is less than what we had hoped for at this point in the campaign. That's why we need your help to share this crowdfunding campaign link as often as you can. If people don't see it, they won't have a chance to join in and we can't send you any rewards. 

On the bright side, construction started Monday so this cafe is really happening. We have had great discussions with the suppliers of Petcube and Monkeetree to feature their products in the cafe. We took a food safety course, so you know that's going to be handled well. And we are talking to caterers and juice companies to make sure we get the best for you. 

Feel free to let us know if you have any ideas of how we can pubicise this campaign more. Meanwhile, keep sharing!

 

Richelle and Ken

 

Neko Ngeru Update #1

24/08/2017 at 4:16 PM

Thank you so much!

You are the first 20 people to pledge to our campaign. We have reached $1,181. We had hoped to be further along by now, so we ask you to please share the link again.

https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/5319-neko-ngeru-cat-adoption-cafe-wellington

We did get interviewed today for the Wainuiomata newspaper. Cait Sith was very cooperative and we got some good pictures. When we get the links to the published article, we will share them with you all. 

We also met with our landlord on site since he is clearing out most of the things from the Petone Gun Shop. Some things we will recycle, though. I wonder if you will recognise them when you come visit?

cleaning the gun shop

Until the next time,

Richelle and Ken Okada

    Pledgers 166

    Jeremy Chang
    24/09/2017 at 7:28pm
    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 6:57pm
    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 6:55pm

    "XL size T-shirt, please"

    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 6:53pm

    "Large size T-shirt, please"

    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 6:27pm
    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 6:25pm

    "Small women's T-shirt, please"

    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 6:15pm
    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 6:13pm
    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 6:07pm
    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 6:03pm
    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 5:59pm

    "XL T-shirt, please"

    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 5:55pm
    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 5:52pm

    "Large Men's T-shirt, please"

    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 5:49pm

    "2XL T-shirt, please"

    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 5:48pm

    "3XL T-shirt, please"

    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 5:44pm

    "Small women's T-shirt, please"

    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 5:41pm
    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 5:33pm
    Fumie Onodera
    24/09/2017 at 5:30pm

    "Good Luck!!"

    Christopher Nimmo
    24/09/2017 at 4:34pm
    Cathi Napp
    24/09/2017 at 4:24pm
    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 3:39pm
    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 3:08pm
    Hiria Te Rangi
    24/09/2017 at 2:20pm

    "LOL I pledged twice so I could visit cats once by myself and once with family BWAHAHAHAH CATS!!"

    Hiria Te Rangi
    24/09/2017 at 2:17pm

    "<3 your work!! and my family will LOVE this!!"

    Anonymous pledger
    24/09/2017 at 1:57pm
    Matthew D McCallum
    24/09/2017 at 12:10pm
    Anson Hing
    24/09/2017 at 12:09pm

    "I pray for God to show you favor."

    梅野忠光
    24/09/2017 at 11:52am
    Daisy Schatz
    24/09/2017 at 11:34am

    "Good luck"

    Followers 8

    Followers of Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Cafe Wellington

    Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Cafe Wellington

    Project 2017-07-27 13:10:54 +1200

    What are We Doing?

    We want more homeless cats to be adopted into loving homes. For this reason, we are opening Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Café as a place where people and cats can meet over drinks and food to get to know each other and find out if they are compatible. We have also seen that lots of people in Wellington cannot have cats in their homes for various reasons. Our café will provide a place for people to relax and enjoy cats without commitment.

    You can learn more about us and see photos of our rewards on our website or follow us on Facebook 

    MiTwo

    Ken's 1st cat who lived in 5 different

    countries with Ken & Richelle and returned to

    Japan at the age of 19. She still lives with Ken's best 

    friends in Japan and is 21 years old now!     

     

     Who are We?

    We are Ken and Richelle Okada originally from Osaka, Japan and San Diego, California. As international school teachers in Japan, Kuwait, Mexico and China we got to travel a lot but, we chose New Zealand as the place we would settle down because we think it is the best. We chose Wellington as our home because we think it is the best place to open our Cat Adoption Café. We chose Petone because it has free parking and an interesting mix of shopping and dining. Our dream to open a cat café comes from experiences working with rescue groups in Shanghai, China and rescuing abandoned cats around the world. We saw a need for a place where people could comfortably and conveniently see those cats that need homes. Our name signifies both where we come from and where we are. Neko is Japanese for cat and Ngeru is cat in te reo Māori. Japan is where cat cafes first became popular and Wellington is where we are going to bring one.

     

    Madara (left) and Mao (right)

     Madara is Ken's 2nd cat and

    Mao is Ken & Richelle's 1st

    cat together. Both traveled

    to 5 countries along with

    Mi・Two but died in Shanghai. 

     

     

    What is a Cat Cafe?

     

    Since we will be the first cat adoption café in New Zealand, some people may not know what to expect. They ask if they can bring their own cat as you would at a dog café. The answer is no. Cats are quite territorial and bringing unfamiliar cats together would turn out to be more like a kitty fight club—definitely something the SPCA would not approve. A cat cafe is a cafe...with cats. At Neko Ngeru, we will have 15 to 20 cats living in their own space on the cafe premises. There, you will be able to get all the healing and stress reducing benefits that you need from contact with cats.  

    They will be separated from the food service area by walls and double doors. Customers can enter the cat's play room for an hourly fee. If you purchase food and/or drink from us, you can bring it into the cat's area too (just don't let them have any since most human food is not good for them and they will be well-fed anyway).  We will have counter foods, hot and cold drinks and we hope to get a liquor license soon. As well as being open in normal business hours, we will also organize some events after hours and allow bookings for events, parties and functions. We plan to have cat assisted yoga, professional storytelling, quiz nights, art openings, and many other things.

     

    Left - a cat we recued in Kuwait

    She was at the door of our

    apartment on a rainy day.

    One of our students adopted her. 

     Right - Rasputin (& Mao)

    Stray boy in Mexico.

    We took him under

    our care and one

    of our students adopted him.

    Left - Minnaloush

    Found in our apartment

    complex in Shanghai.

    He was so friendly.

    An expat family adopted him.

     Right - Bibi

    Rescued in Shanghai.

    He was so timid. 

    Our collegue adopted him. 

    Left - Ben

     Ben's neck was so crooked

    he couldn't walk straight.

    Thanks to Bow Meow

    Shanghai who gave him

    intensive care for a  month.  

    Adopted by a Japanese family. 

    Right - Moon Cake  

    He was cared for in a vet.   

    Adopted by an expat family. 

     

    What if I am Allergic to Cats?

    If you are allergic to cats, you can still come and get food and drink; we’ll have an area where you can watch people play with our cats. We are fastidious about hygiene and will also control the ventilation so that air from the cats’ area won’t recirculate to the food and retail. 

     

    4 kittens found on top

    of Ken's family's restaurant

    in downtown Osaka.

    We waited for their mom

    to come back but she didn't

    so we bottle fed them.

    It was fun!!

     Left - Kiji

     Right - Mike

     

    They were FIV positive

    so it was difficult to find

    homes but eventually all did.

    Fortunately, the later blood

    test showed they were not

    really positive.

    It was their mom. 

     Left - Whity

     Right - Kuro-kiji

     

     

     

    Where Do the Cats Come From?

    We have been working with many of the smaller rescue groups around Wellington to be the sources of our cats.  They will select the most sociable cats for us to adopt and keep at our café. The cats will be de-sexed, microchipped, de wormed and fully vaccinated. Many of the cats will have been abandoned or surrendered to the rescue organizations, but some of them will have been born wild in a colony then socialized so they can live in a home. Every adoption reduces the number of stray cats who must hunt to live. Supporting the rescue organizations in de-sexing as many cats as they can means there will be fewer kittens dying painfully every year. 

     Left - Tonraq

     Right - Zhi li (now Bonnie)

     They were our 1st foster

    cats in NZ.   Bonnie was

    adopted after 2 months.

    Tonraq is so timid

    but got attached to Richele 

    so we adopted him.  

     

    Left - Jesse

     Also from Outpawed

    Jesse and Tonraq started

    to get along well. 

    Then Jesse got sick.

    It was FIP.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Is Every Cat Available for Adoption?

    Our cats’ comfort and stability are important to us, so some of our cats will be permanent ‘staff cats’. Finding good homes for as many cats as we can is also a priority with us, so we will have a good ratio of adoptable ‘guest cats’ in our café. We will also advertise cats--through our social media and on video in our café--who are also adoptable and still at the rescue organizations or in foster care. In this way, we will help as many cats find forever homes as we can and take some of the pressure off the rescue organizations so they can work on socializing the more timid cats. We will donate five percent of our profits between the rescue organizations from which we adopt. In short, we want to help cats and the people who love them. 

     

    We Fostered three black kitties 

    from UHARS around Easter.

    Right - Green (Teddy) 

    He has a cute face, sweet character

    and was first to be adopted.

    Left - Red (Bruce)

     Right - Blue (Justine/Justin)

    Everyone thought Blue

    was a girl, but no!

     Adopted together

    and are now Donk and Dink

     

     

    What We Have Been Doing

    We spent nine months looking for a place to open our cat adoption café. For a while, we thought we would be on Bunny St in Lower Hutt. After spending quite a bit to get designs done and meeting with City Council officials to learn what we had to do to make it a safe place, we decided to look for another. It was just going to be too expensive. We were so grateful to find a good space in Petone. In the meantime, we met with most of the local rescue groups to figure out how we can best help each other now and when our café opens. We set up a social media presence with our Facebook page and website. (We try to keep up with posts and blogs and newsletters to keep our growing crowd informed of what we and the rescue groups are doing. We have more than 700 followers now.)  We have formed a Meetup group for cat lovers and have organized several events. We are doing everything we can to learn about the business of running a café so we can make Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Café a success. Now, we are launching a crowd funding campaign to help pay for better furnishings and renovations.

     

    Brett

    Brett was a foster cat from Outpawed.

    He was a great cuddly cat but

    older and stronger than Tonraq.

    He was adopted

    by a family in Tawa.

     

     

    Where the Money Goes

    Because the site is currently a gun shop, it will cost a lot to turn it into a café. We will build a food and drink service area; the cat’s room has to be completely divided from the food service and retail area and separated by double doors; ventilation and skylights, openable windows and another restroom will go in. We also want to get the best cat furniture we can, so that means getting it built for us and placing it on the walls and even hanging it from the ceiling so you can watch the cats run, jump and play all over the place. Comfortable human furniture is important and that costs money too.

    All in all, it will cost about $200,000.

    We have saved our money for over 15 years to make this dream come true. We don’t want to borrow from any bank if we can help it. So far we have spent $60,000 on making our logo and website, hiring a design and project management company, preparing the rewards for our sponsors, purchasing the retail goods, and much more.

    Tonraq

     on his adotion day! 

     

    How You Can Help

    Our goal for this campaign is $20,000. As you can see, that is a small percentage of what it costs. Please help us reach our goal so we can make Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Café a really great place for you to come enjoy cats and possibly find your perfect feline companion.

    One of our stretch goals is to provide excellent booth seating inside the cats' play area. If we reach $30,000, we could do that.

     

    Cat

    display

    shelf

    designed

    by 

    Catalyst

    A cool item we are calling a 'cat display shelf' which has retail goods on one side and cat climbing features on the other plus a TV and aquarium could be built if we reach a stretch goal of $40,000, we would love that.  

    Sharing about our campaign can be just as helpful as donating. Please remember to hit that share button and let your friends know how they can help us too.

    Comments

    1st anniversary for Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Cafe!

    08/11/2018 at 6:41 PM

    Dear Neko Ngeru Pledgers,

     

    We cannot believe it has been a whole year since you made our Pledgeme campaign fulfilled and we opened the cafe! Let us tell you the summary of the year. Our biggest achievement is the number of adoptions. 41 cats found their new homes! We also kept improving the cafe environment so now we have a flat screen TV which shows a slideshow of our cats. We added more cat furnitures like a bridge so cats can go around the whole cat room without touching the floor. We started events like cat yoga, cat assisted massage, movie night, cat behavior talks etc. We believe we provide a good relaxing atmosphere to people and a happy healthy environment to cats in the cafe!!

     

     

    Anyway, our biggest intention of this update is a friendly reminder that we still have some people who have not claimed their rewards. As long as we exist, the rewards won’t expire so you don’t need to worry about it, but we hope you can visit us to see what the cafe looks like and how our cats enjoy their life here. We are planning to do the 1st anniversary campaign - free regular hot drink with paid entry from the 18th of November to the 2nd of December. So invite your friends and family, and visit Neko Ngeru! 

     

     

    Inky, the worker cat from FeralNation, trying yoga. (=^・^=)

    You need to pledge to see this update.

    Yes, we are opening on Saturday the 18th of November!

    11/11/2017 at 8:15 AM

     

    Dear all,

     

    Sorry not to write the update for a while but we have been super busy to make the cafe ready for our pre-open, which is tomorrow! We painted almost all of the walls, ceiling, floors and got some murals done. We have gotten most of the cat and human furniture in place. We are setting up our food and drink service area and organizing our retail stock. Also, even yesterday there were still tradesmen from the construction team doing last minute things for our inspection that is happening this Thursday. 

     

    We are also ready to take bookings! If your rewards include One Hour Voucher(s), you can book your space and time by sending us an email to [email protected]. It would be easier for us if you can tell us you have voucher(s) with you or if you asked us to keep them in the cafe. : ) Please don’t try to use the booking system to redeem a voucher. We cannot set it up that way. We will book your voucher spaces and times ourselves. Of course, if you are bringing someone with you who is not using a voucher, please do use the booking system on our website https://nekongeru.nz/ for them.

     

    We look forward to seeing you!

    We will open on Saturday 18th of November!

    19/10/2017 at 9:35 AM

    Dear all,

    Although the cafe still looks very much underconstruction in the photos, now, officially, we will open our doors on Saturday the 18th of November! Once we set up the booking system, we will make another announcement here and then if you got rewards of "one hour voucher(s)", you can call us to save your space. 

    For those people who pledged for "Your name on the wall", we forgot to ask about the other parts of your reward which are One One-hour Voucher, One Hot Drink Voucher and a sticker sheet. So sorry about that! Please let us know if you want us to mail them or keep them in the cafe until you visit us. : ) 

    You need to pledge to see this update.

    vouchers on their way!

    07/10/2017 at 9:33 AM

    Finally we got vouchers, so we started sending them out yesterday if you asked us to do so. Some items are already recieved or on their way as well. We use Fastway and the post office, but sometimes it is difficult to know whether the parcel/envelopes are recieved or not. (In one case, a lady called and told us it was the wrong address. When we told her the right address, she offered to take the packet there. What amazing kindness of Kiwis! We love NZ!) SO we would appricate if you can let us know the items/vouchers arrived safely. 

    Still about 30 people have not responded to our previous email asking about desired size of T-shirts or colour of cups. If you haven't done it, please do so! We are ready to send all of the items now. : )

    And an update of our cafe, even though the Buliding Consent was delayed, we got it and the construction is supposed to catch up. We are aiming to open the doors in mid November! 

    You need to pledge to see this update.

    You need to pledge to see this update.

    Three hours and we exceeded the goal!

    25/09/2017 at 6:09 PM

    We are jumping up and down with joy. 

    We. Are. So. Happy. and THANKFUL to all of you who pledged and helped us reach the goal.

    Thank you so much!

    This is wonderful and we are looking forward to meeting you in the cafe.

    Richelle and Ken

    Eleven hours and $1164 to go!

    25/09/2017 at 10:15 AM

    We are getting so excited about how near we are to reaching our goal. We belive it is completely attainable with your help. Let's use this extra time to give it an extra push accross the finish line so that we can start to send you your rewards.

    Please keep sharing

    Cait Sith reaches for the light 

    One day and $4270 to go!

    24/09/2017 at 1:53 PM

    Our goal is within sight and we have been given an extension till Monday! It is reachable with your help. Please share the campaign again and encourage prople to pledge. Together, we can make it1

    The video is Cait Sith working on overcoming her fears. After being rolled over by some un-leashed dogs at the Korokoro dam last week, she was afraid to go down the stairs. But now she came down half of the drive. We hope she will fully recover her bravery and be climbing trees along the trails again soon.

    In hope,

     

    Richelle and Ken

    Two days and $6,715 to go

    23/09/2017 at 4:23 PM

    We have made an amazing jump so we are a lot closer to the goal. But we can only reach it with your help. Please continue to encourage people to pledge. The rescued kitties of Wellington thank you.

    Three days and $14,000 to go

    21/09/2017 at 3:42 PM

    There is still time for a miraculous flood of pledges and you could be part of it. If you all share the campaign page again and enourage friends to pledge, we can reach the goal. We cannot do it without your help.

    Thanks!

    Richelle and Ken 

    Neko Ngeru Update #3

    09/09/2017 at 10:48 AM

    Half way through and 65 pedgers have put $5551. As you can see, there is quite a way to go still. That's why we need your help to share the campaign again and encourage other people to donate. We are doing a raffle on Sunday in which you can win a party at Neko Ngeru. Spread the news, please.

    Neko Ngeru Update #2

    29/08/2017 at 4:45 PM

    One week down and 34 pledgers have put $2331. Twelve percent is less than what we had hoped for at this point in the campaign. That's why we need your help to share this crowdfunding campaign link as often as you can. If people don't see it, they won't have a chance to join in and we can't send you any rewards. 

    On the bright side, construction started Monday so this cafe is really happening. We have had great discussions with the suppliers of Petcube and Monkeetree to feature their products in the cafe. We took a food safety course, so you know that's going to be handled well. And we are talking to caterers and juice companies to make sure we get the best for you. 

    Feel free to let us know if you have any ideas of how we can pubicise this campaign more. Meanwhile, keep sharing!

     

    Richelle and Ken

     

    Neko Ngeru Update #1

    24/08/2017 at 4:16 PM

    Thank you so much!

    You are the first 20 people to pledge to our campaign. We have reached $1,181. We had hoped to be further along by now, so we ask you to please share the link again.

    https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/5319-neko-ngeru-cat-adoption-cafe-wellington

    We did get interviewed today for the Wainuiomata newspaper. Cait Sith was very cooperative and we got some good pictures. When we get the links to the published article, we will share them with you all. 

    We also met with our landlord on site since he is clearing out most of the things from the Petone Gun Shop. Some things we will recycle, though. I wonder if you will recognise them when you come visit?

    cleaning the gun shop

    Until the next time,

    Richelle and Ken Okada

      Jeremy Chang
      24/09/2017 at 7:28pm
      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 6:57pm
      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 6:55pm

      "XL size T-shirt, please"

      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 6:53pm

      "Large size T-shirt, please"

      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 6:27pm
      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 6:25pm

      "Small women's T-shirt, please"

      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 6:15pm
      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 6:13pm
      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 6:07pm
      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 6:03pm
      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 5:59pm

      "XL T-shirt, please"

      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 5:55pm
      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 5:52pm

      "Large Men's T-shirt, please"

      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 5:49pm

      "2XL T-shirt, please"

      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 5:48pm

      "3XL T-shirt, please"

      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 5:44pm

      "Small women's T-shirt, please"

      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 5:41pm
      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 5:33pm
      Fumie Onodera
      24/09/2017 at 5:30pm

      "Good Luck!!"

      Christopher Nimmo
      24/09/2017 at 4:34pm
      Cathi Napp
      24/09/2017 at 4:24pm
      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 3:39pm
      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 3:08pm
      Hiria Te Rangi
      24/09/2017 at 2:20pm

      "LOL I pledged twice so I could visit cats once by myself and once with family BWAHAHAHAH CATS!!"

      Hiria Te Rangi
      24/09/2017 at 2:17pm

      "<3 your work!! and my family will LOVE this!!"

      Anonymous pledger
      24/09/2017 at 1:57pm
      Matthew D McCallum
      24/09/2017 at 12:10pm
      Anson Hing
      24/09/2017 at 12:09pm

      "I pray for God to show you favor."

      梅野忠光
      24/09/2017 at 11:52am
      Daisy Schatz
      24/09/2017 at 11:34am

      "Good luck"

      Followers of Neko Ngeru Cat Adoption Cafe Wellington

      This campaign was successful and got its funding on 25/09/2017 at 9:00 PM.