For Alyssa O’Connor and Nate Ball, life is pretty purrfect (pun intended).
The couple own and operate the Catnap Café in central Christchurch, which opened its doors in 2018 following a successful crowdfunding campaign.
While coffee and food are on the cafe's menu, napping on the job isn't — the pair are kept on their toes, thanks to their rescued furry companions.
Happiness, for Ball and O'Connor, is fostering and rehoming dozens and dozens of cats. To date, they've successfully enabled the adoption of 182 felines.
For their dedication to down-on-their-luck cats, the couple has been named the latest ASB Good As Gold recipients.
It was a big night at Catnap Café when Seven Sharp's Michael Holland popped by to deliver the good news. A quiz (solely about felines, of course) was underway to raise much-needed cash for the business.
Describing Ball and O'Connor's love of cats, nominator Beki Milligan said: "Nate and Alyssa's hearts are huge. Their passion is unbelievable.
"They absolutely love what they do; it's like a dream come true for them. They are making a huge difference to homeless cats in Christchurch."
Another nominator, Caitlin Stent, echoed: "They have a love for cats, a crazy love for cats. They make sure the cats come first in every way possible.
"They are just so hardworking; they are always stressing about money. I want them not to be so stressed."
When told the ASB was giving them $10,000, the news surprised high school sweethearts Ball and O'Connor who was busy as usual running a fundraising quiz at their café.
"I didn't quite expect TV to turn up [at the quiz]," said Ball.
"Very much appreciated; I don't know what other words to say. We're incredibly grateful.
"I think it's really cool seeing big corporations helping out the little guy — or the little cat, I suppose — and helping us to keep doing what we're doing."
The couple said they already have plans for how to spend the money.
"There are always things we want to do around here that we can't. We want to build more intake rooms so we can take in more cats and adopt more cats," said Ball.
"We've got plans. We've wanted to do this for a couple of years and did not have the resources to do it, which now we do, which is amazing."
Reflecting on the number of cats they've rehomed to date, O’Connor said: "We are really proud of it, but it's only a pretty small portion of the number of cats that need help.
"It's bittersweet because you get to fall in love with a whole bunch of cats, and then you have to say goodbye to them, but we know they're going to good homes and can be well looked after."
While most of the café’s cats are there temporarily, some have become permanent residents.
"Mave is one of our cats who has been here a little while. She's pretty good," said Ball.
Two other felines, Suzy and Gizmo, are also permanent residents and have been at Catnap Café since the business opened almost six years ago.
The crew of cats will be getting a share of the award.
"They get half, I think," said Ball with a smile. "That's a legal contract we have with them. Yes, the cats get half."
Thanks to ASB Good as Good, there's a larger share in the kitty to go around.
If you know a deserving New Zealander you'd like to nominate for ASB Good as Gold, click here.
SHARE ME