Gust wipes out fundraiser for cats
BUTLER TWP — Officially, it was a gust front on the leading edge of convection — but for a local animal charity, it was a devastating financial loss.
Homeless Cats of Butler, a nonprofit that helps 400 feral and colony cats get spayed and neutered each year, had organized and priced the thousands of donated items it received for its annual yard sale.
The sale, which was to have been held from Thursday to Wednesday, is the group's largest fundraiser.
Three 10-by-30-foot party tents, one carport-sized tent and five 12-by-12-foot canopies covered the items, which were set up at the home of Homeless Cats administrator Christine Coblentz on Evans City Road.
Although the rains of Thursday and Friday had stifled sales, Saturday was a busy day with many shoppers.
The group had lowered the canopies, covered tables with tarps late Saturday afternoon and generally had everything ready to go for Sunday morning when disaster hit.
“All of a sudden, one of the canopies went sailing past me — so close that I couldn't even see it,” Coblentz said. “You could just hear 'pop, pop, pop' where the canopies were being lifted up and sent airborne. The whole thing might have taken 20 seconds.”
Coblentz screamed at the 18 volunteers, who were frozen in shock at the furious wind, to get in the basement immediately.
“There was almost no reaction time,” she said. “It happened so fast.”
After about three minutes, Coblentz told the volunteers to remain in her basement, while she went outside to check out the situation.
There, she witnessed the chaos the tempest had caused, with many items smashed or blown away completely.
“Most of the tables were tipped over, but another canopy was not even touched and it looked like nothing had happened,” Coblentz said.
The strange weather brought with it only a powerful wind gust and no precipitation.
Heiki Olesnevich, also of Homeless Cats of Butler, takes weather classes and was familiar with the startling event.
She said warm air coming into contact with cold air ahead of a thunderstorm caused the gust front, which affected an area of about a square block.
“If it would have wiggled a little to the left or right, we would have been fine,” Olesnevich said. “I'm just glad no one got hurt because those canopies and all those items went flying over people's heads.”She said gust fronts aren't all that rare, but are only noticed if they happen in a populated area where items can become airborne.“It happens, but it's sheer dumb luck that we were in the way,” Olesnevich said.Coblentz said the group had earned about $5,000 and planned to make about $7,000 more before the weather changed their plans and ended the sale.“That means that's approximately 70 to 100 fewer cats that we can help,” she said.The 2019 sale was the biggest in the three years the fundraiser has been held, as mountains of items were donated to the group by the community.“The outpouring from the community was amazing,” Coblentz said. “We could not do what we do without their donations.”After stuffing salvageable items into boxes and placing them in her house on Saturday night, Coblentz and 20 volunteers spent all day Sunday cleaning up, wiping items and boxing them up for storage or to donate to other organizations. Broken items were discarded.The clothing from the sale will be donated to New Beginnings Free Methodist Church in Butler for its clothing drive, while other items will be given to St. Vincent DePaul or the Salvation Army.Still others will go into the group's storage facility for next year's yard sale.Coblentz still can't believe that a seconds-long wind could completely derail an event that was going so well.“My concern was to make sure the other ladies who were volunteering were safe and got to the basement,” she said. “It was the most bizarre thing I have ever witnessed.”To help Homeless Cats of Butler make up for the funds it lost due to the storm, checks can be mailed to Jody Snodgrass at 607 W. Penn St., Butler, Pa. 16001. “Homeless Cats of Butler” should be written in the memo line.Cat litter, cat food, kitten milk replacement and puppy pads can also be dropped off at that address.PayPal donations can be made at homelesscatsbutler16001@gmail.com.Those who want to help can also attend one of the group's upcoming fundraisers, including a Purses for Paws bash at noon on June 29 at American Legion Post 778 in Lyndora and Litterbox Bingo on Aug. 24, also at the Lyndora American Legion.More information on the group and its activities is available by searching “Homeless Cats Butler” on Facebook.
