Residents Make Cat Toys to Help Local Shelter
For almost two decades Marilyn Swick has dedicated her spare time to helping local stray cats. The retired teacher’s love of animals and helping the community inspired her recent Humane Society of Wayne County fundraising project at the Hawthorne at St. John’s Meadows.
![](https://cdn-ilcomid.nitrocdn.com/GwspTTsaqMgCqdemSttZnGSwVAFENeAO/assets/images/optimized/rev-0c0d6e0/www.stjohnsliving.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/8-300x173.jpg)
Marilyn moved into the Hawthorne in 2024, but has kept strong ties to her hometown of Palmyra.
“We are making these [catnip] toys to be sold in the Briarwood Market,” says Marilyn. “And the money raised will go to the shelter in Wayne County, where I am from.”
Marilyn retired from the Newark Central School District in 2003, and from then on, she devoted her time and home to helping the cats of her community. She converted an outdoor shed to house and care for stray cats and would often volunteer at the Humane Society of Wayne County.
Marilyn approached St. John’s Community Life Specialist Michael Noble-Rosema with her idea of making and selling catnip toys to benefit the shelter this past December.
Michael says, “It was all her (Marilyn’s) idea, and it is a great one — the world needs more people like Marilyn.”
With the assistance of St. John’s Meadows Volunteer Services Coordinator Marie Kamin — Marilyn and Michael were able to form a group of Hawthorne residents to help with the project. Residents gathered and created an assembly line of sorts to make the toys. Each catnip toy consists of batting and catnip encased in a new sock and sewn with a ribbon.
The toys will be sold in the Briarwood Market for $3 starting January 30. Marilyn says she is hopeful to continue her philanthropy with fellow residents and possibly work with other animal shelters in the future.