Sydney Kopnitsky, PALCS junior from Punxsutawney, has credited PALCS to making it possible for her to pursue her passion for fostering cats from all over the area and giving them a second chance. Sydney is 17 years old and has been a PALCS student now for the past 7 years.
Sydney has been fostering cats for the past 2 years and to date has fostered/rescued 73 cats from all different types of situations such as owner surrenders, neglect cases, and hoarding houses. Sydney’s rescue is called “Tiny Inspirations,” because she wanted a name that would not only honor her current foster cats but also the past ones. Currently, Sydney has 11 foster kittens and 4 adult cats that have decided to call her rescue home. The kittens in the article image are some of her foster cats.
Sydney’s parents are very supportive of her passion for rescuing cats. They bought her a shed for the cats, which was then converted into a cozy environment that is kitten friendly. They even insulated the walls and put electricity in not only for lighting, but also for a heater in the winter and air conditioner/fans during the summer so the cats are always comfortable. Fostering cats is not just a hobby for Sydney; it is a passion that she has had to make sacrifices for in order to give the kittens better lives. She has mentioned how emotionally and financially draining it can be, being a foster to these animals, but also how she would not be who she is today without them. As far as she is concerned, when the cats are in her care, they are family. While in Sydney’s care, every cat is vaccinated and spayed/neutered before being adopted out into forever homes. They are welcome to stay with her for as long as it takes to find a forever home that will treat them with the same love and respect that Sydney shows each and every one of them.
Some may ask how PALCS has contributed to making Tiny Inspirations possible, but for Sydney PALCS is the reason she is able to be home with the cats and have more flexibility and freedom to take care of them. Sydney has said that it would have been an impossible task had she been enrolled at a brick-and-mortar school, especially when it came to the kittens she fostered that had to be bottle-fed every two hours. Sydney is able to give her foster cats the tender love and care that they need and is still able to attend her classes and stay on top of schoolwork because being a student at PALCS has made that a possibility for her.
PALCS is proud of the work 11th grade student Sydney Kopnitsky has done to give these animals a second chance at life! For more information about her program can be found on the Tiny Inspirations Facebook page.
