Roberta Best holds a photo of the late Rita Long, the friend in whose memory Best founded Rita’s Rescue, a nonprofit dedicated to the rescue of cats. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)

Roberta Best holds a photo of the late Rita Long, the friend in whose memory Best founded Rita’s Rescue, a nonprofit dedicated to the rescue of cats. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)

<p>Rita’s Rescue volunteer C J Oates holds Callie, a three-year-old calico who is one of dozens of cats currently available for adoption through the organization. (Roberta Best|Courtesy photo)</p>

Rita’s Rescue volunteer C J Oates holds Callie, a three-year-old calico who is one of dozens of cats currently available for adoption through the organization. (Roberta Best|Courtesy photo)

<p>Travis Oates, grandson of Rita’s Rescue founder Roberta Best, is the organization’s official cat-petter. He’s shown here with Storm, who is available for adoption. (Roberta Best|Courtesy photo)</p>

Travis Oates, grandson of Rita’s Rescue founder Roberta Best, is the organization’s official cat-petter. He’s shown here with Storm, who is available for adoption. (Roberta Best|Courtesy photo)

<p>Rita’s Rescue volunteer C J Oates is looking for a ‘furever’ home for two-year-old Oliver, who must be an only pet. (Roberta Best|Courtesy photo)</p>

Rita’s Rescue volunteer C J Oates is looking for a ‘furever’ home for two-year-old Oliver, who must be an only pet. (Roberta Best|Courtesy photo)

<p>Rita’s Rescue founder Roberta Best is shown here with brother and sister, Wolfie and Carolina. These ‘teen-age’ cats are available for adoption. (Roberta Best|Courtesy photo)</p>

Rita’s Rescue founder Roberta Best is shown here with brother and sister, Wolfie and Carolina. These ‘teen-age’ cats are available for adoption. (Roberta Best|Courtesy photo)

<p>Rita’s Rescue, a nonprofit cat rescue organization, currently has dozens of cats and kittens available for adoption. Here, volunteer C J Oates holds Surry, who is described as a ‘very loving girl.’ (Roberta Best|Courtesy photo)</p>

Rita’s Rescue, a nonprofit cat rescue organization, currently has dozens of cats and kittens available for adoption. Here, volunteer C J Oates holds Surry, who is described as a ‘very loving girl.’ (Roberta Best|Courtesy photo)

One evening, with a storm looming on the horizon, Roberta Best brought her car to a quick stop when she came upon a lonely, velvety-black kitten. Best stopped her car, scooped up the tiny ball of fur, took him to a vet and had him neutered, and has been caring for him ever since. She christened him Storm and she’s praying for the day when the right person will adopt him and give him a loving home.

Rescuing cats and caring for them until they’re adopted is something Best does regularly in fulfilling the mission of her nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization, Rita’s Rescue. On its Facebook page, the nonprofit states, “Our mission is to spay and neuter as many cats as we can. Reduce the population of unloved cats.”

Best named the rescue for her late friend, Rita Long, owner of Rita’s Place restaurant and a lifelong animal lover and champion. “Rita had been saving animals all along, even when she was younger,” she explains. “She had horses, dogs, cats, rabbits; she saved two squirrels that I know of. And I started helping her when I retired from my job.”

Long lost her battle with cancer in February 2022 and Rita’s Rescue officially opened one year later. Helping Best with the rescue organization are her daughter C J Oates and her friend Chris Cherry, with whom she has divvied up the duties: Best bottle-feeds motherless kittens and cares for teenagers (six months to a year old), Cherry cares for kittens that are old enough to eat on their own or are being nursed by their mothers, and Oates cares for adult cats. Between the three different locations, Rita’s Rescue is currently caring for about 100 cats and kittens.

There are various ways in which kittens and cats make their way to Rita’s Rescue. Sometimes, it’s happenstance, as was the case when Best found Storm. Other times, Best will get a call from someone alerting her to a situation where a cat-owner has died, leaving a pet (or pets) without a home. Or, she says, “Somebody’ll call and say, ‘I found this cat; it showed up at my house, can you take it?’”

Also, Best, knowing of many areas in town where feral cats roam, catches them with traps. (Sometimes these cats can be acclimated to humans and are then available for adoption; other times, they’re returned to where they were caught — but only after being spayed or neutered.)

When Best and Long were catching cats together, they’d take them to a SNAP (Spay Neuter Assistance Program) mobile unit that operated in Goldsboro on Wednesdays, but that service closed down. Now, says Best, “There’s no place in Wayne County that is low-cost spay and neuter.

“So,” she continues, “I was taking cats to a place in Winnabow, in Brunswick County; it’s called Fix A Friend, and it’s really inexpensive.” Unfortunately, that clinic flooded during a storm and is currently operating on a limited schedule.

With each cat they rescue, the hope is that it will be adopted — but adoptions don’t happen as often as rescues, and at this point, Rita’s Rescue simply doesn’t have the space to accommodate more adult cats (although there is still room for more kittens).

Cats available for adoption are shown on Rita’s Rescue Facebook page and also on the Facebook page for NC Kittens & Cats for Rehoming and Adoption. In the past, the rescue has held three adoption events, one each at The Warehouse, Mount Olive First Pentecostal Holiness Church (during the church’s fall bazaar), and, fittingly, at Rita’s Place. Best is planning more adoption events in the future, including at this year’s Pickle Festival.

A challenge for any nonprofit is raising the money it needs to operate, and, for Rita’s Rescue, operational costs cover taking care of homeless felines and also helping cat owners with major expenses, when possible. For example, in three different instances, the rescue has helped cat owners who’ve had to take their pets to Dr. Sasser at Waylin Animal Clinic to have a leg amputated.

Rita’s Rescue tackles fund-raising in a number of ways. Almost every month, the rescue runs an online auction (via its Facebook page), usually tied to a holiday or upcoming event (for example, later this month, there will be an auction for an item or items appropriate for Valentine’s Day, and after that will come an auction related to March Madness).

“We have Bingo twice a year,” reports Best. “That’s very successful.” It’s a time when many individuals and businesses come together to help the organization. The use of Bobby Denning’s Community Rental Building is provided for free, and Wayne County Clerk of Court Julie Whitfield often acts as MC. Local businesses — including Mt. Olive Pickle Company, Southern Ground Coffee Shop, Jones True Value Hardware, and Ashley Nichole — donate prizes for the event.

Other businesses — Yummy Orient, Maya Bistro, Tacos & Wings, and Rita’s Place — have donation jars.

The organization has also been fortunate to receive two grants (one for $500 and one for $1000) from the Animal Welfare League of Wayne County.

Anyone interested in helping Rita’s Rescue in any way or in adopting a cat or kitten is encouraged to visit the organization’s Facebook page or to call Best at 919-581-7989.

Running a rescue organization is a lot of work, but Best is driven by the memory of her friend. “I do this because of Rita,” she says. “She’s my friend, and I miss her… It soothes my grief.”