The ARM & HAMMER™ Feline Generous Program Launches "Unsung Heroes" Awards to Celebrate Staff and Volunteers at Cat Welfare Organizations and A Chance for Shelters to Win $30,000

EWING, N.J., Oct. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of National Cat Day, the ARM & HAMMER™ Feline Generous program today announced it will host the 'Unsung Heroes' Awards to recognize the most inspiring staff and volunteers at cat welfare organizations who have gone above and beyond to help purrfectly impurrfect shelter cats this year. One winner will be selected from each of the following categories: Compassion, Creativity and AdvoCAT of the Year. A total of $30,000 will be awarded to the winning shelters, plus each unsung hero will receive an award and a year's supply of ARM & HAMMER™ cat litter.

Shelter cats are often overlooked for adoption because of their age, appearance or misunderstood personalities. In many cases, the staff and volunteers work behind the scenes to perform miracles and make sure these purrfectly impurrfect cats have their physical, medical and emotional needs met.

"Typically, purrfectly impurrfect cats spend more time in shelters before being adopted, so they rely on the kindness of the shelters' staff and volunteers to make them comfortable," said Pam Johnson-Bennett, Certified Cat Behavior Consultant. "It's amazing how a small gesture can make a huge difference to a cat who may be struggling with a physical, medical or emotional challenge. Making sure their favorite toy is easily accessible in their cage, giving them extra attention and affection or creating a positive bio to help people see beyond a cat's impurrfections are all great examples of how unsung heroes at shelters go the extra mile."

One winner will be selected from each of the three Unsung Heroes Awards categories:

• Compassion (Prize: $7,500) – A staff or volunteer who showed tenderness, patience and extra care to purrfectly impurrfect cats to make sure they received specialized comfort and attention. Examples include; helping physically challenged cats to access items in their cage without difficulty, educating other staff/volunteers on ways to provide comfort, focusing on building confidence within the cats through extra playtime and affection, etc.
• Creativity (Prize: $7,500) — A staff or volunteer who executed the most creative solution to comfort a purrfectly impurrfect shelter cat or to find them a forever home. Examples include; customizing a cage or designing an addition/toy/object, creating a sensitive and positive bio to help potential adopters see beyond the "imperfections," hosting a creative adoption event or social media campaign, etc.
• AdvoCAT of the Year (Prize: $15,000) — A staff or volunteer who exemplified BOTH compassion and creativity towards purrfectly impurrfect shelter cats and served as an outstanding advocat for this cause beyond their shelter. Examples include; educating other staff/volunteers, as well as their greater community about how lovable and adoptable purrfectly impurrfect cats are, playing a big role in finding forever homes and continuing to follow up after adoption, hosting community adoption events focused on purrfectly impurrfect cats, etc.

"Our mission for Feline Generous is to raise awareness around why purrfectly impurrfect cats make such wonderful pets to help them find furever homes," said Rebecca Blank, Group Brand Manager, ARM & HAMMER™ Pet Care. "We are thrilled to acknowledge and celebrate the unsung heroes who have enormous advocat hearts and day after day show their love for purrfectly impurrfect cats even after their shift is over. They deserve recognition and we hope by sharing their best practices it will inspire others to help overlooked shelter cats in their community."

Meet Our Award Judges
In early December, a panel of cat experts will help select the three winners for the ARM & HAMMER™ Feline Generous Unsung Heroes Awards:

• Rhonda Heath, Board Member and Past President of Colonial Capital Humane Society - Shelter winner for the 2020 Feline Generous 'Purrfectly Impurrfect' Campaign. CCHS is committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment for abandoned, abused and neglected animals while they wait for their forever homes.
• IIona Rodan, DVM, Certified Feline Specialist and Cat Behavior Consultant, Director of Cat Behavior Solutions - Ilona is a cat veterinarian and international speaker and author and the co-editor of a veterinary behavior textbook, "Feline Behavioral Health and Welfare."
• Pam Johnson-Bennett, Certified Cat Behavior Consultant - Pam is a best-selling author of 8 books on cat behavior. She starred in the Animal Planet series Psycho Kitty and has been featured as an expert contributor on Yahoo, iVillage, Modern Cat, The Daily Cat, Cat Fancy and more.

The ARM & HAMMER™ Feline Generous program is an online platform that easily connects people to a network of local cat shelters across the country to help increase adoption and generate product and monetary donations, with a specific focus on cats who tend to be overlooked due to age, illness, appearance or misunderstood personalities. If you're a cat welfare organization interested in joining simply email your contact info and the shelter's logo to: [email protected].

For Rules & Regulations of the Unsung Heroes Awards and to learn how shelters and cat lovers can nominate as many unsung heroes as they would like, please go to FelineGenerousHeroes.com and complete an application by November 20, 2021. Winners will be announced in December 2021.

To follow the conversation use #FelineGenerous #UnsungHeroes.

About ARM & HAMMER™
For more than 170 years, ARM & HAMMER™ Baking Soda's familiar orange box has been a trusted fixture in both the refrigerator and home. The brand was founded in 1846 when Dr. Austin Church and John Dwight began to produce and sell sodium bicarbonate under the ARM & HAMMER™ brand name. Today, Church & Dwight, Co., Inc. manufactures a variety of cleaning, freshening and deodorizing products for the home, family, pets, and body under the iconic ARM & HAMMER™ brand name. For more information visit http://www.clumpandseal.com/. Follow @armandhammercat to learn more or check out www.facebook.com/ArmandHammer.

About Church & Dwight Co., Inc.
Church & Dwight Co., Inc., headquartered in Ewing, NJ, manufactures and markets a wide range of personal care, household, and specialty products under the ARM & HAMMER™ brand name and other well-known trademarks like OxiClean™.

SOURCE Church & Dwight Co., Inc.