DIXFIELD – Six-month-old Sophie and Buster were found as kittens nearly eaten to death by fleas, abandoned behind a local ice cream stand. Four adorable gray kittens were abandoned in a barn. And 17-year-old Gram, a fluffy black cat, has found a peaceful home to live out her days.

These are a few of the hundreds of Dixfield cats and kittens that have over the years found a clean, warm place to live with plenty of food, water, toys and medical attention thanks to their two loving “moms,” Brenda Jarvis and Caroline Smith.

The two women, sisters, devote untold hours each week, and their own money, to the care of unwanted felines.

They have done this for 16 years, in an immaculately clean and neat mobile home on Pine Street that was once the home of their parents, Beryl and Buster Stewart.

Sometimes, the community helps out. Sometimes it doesn’t.

This year, Norine Clarke, a small-business owner and community activist, is sponsoring Christmas for Kitties, a community appeal for wet and dry cat food, litter, kitty toys and cash to help with medical needs and utilities to maintain the mobile home.

“Barbara and Caroline can really use the help, and most people appreciate what they do. I admire them for what they do and their personal sacrifice,” Clarke said Wednesday afternoon from her craft store, Log Cabin Craftworks. “It was so successful last year and Brenda and Caroline needed it.”

Contributors may drop off items at the town office, or starting on Dec. 1, at the craft store. For those who drop off items at the craft store, Clarke will take 25 percent off any one item purchased at the store.

Last year, both Clarke and the women at the town office organized a similar collection that netted the sisters about six to eight weeks worth of food, litter and cat treats, and some money to help with other cat-related expenses. The two women also received homemade scarves.

Jarvis, a recent Volunteer of the Year honoree by the town, also feeds two groups of feral cats – those that cannot be domesticated – at two sites in the town. They also help people who own too many cats to properly care for them.

Right now, the two sisters care for 17 cats and kittens. That number may soon change since at least two of a litter of four have found homes and will soon leave. Most, though, do not leave. If they’ve been there for a year or more, the women do not look for a new home since the cats get used to the women and the cat family.

The sisters make sure every cat is neutered so there won’t be any more kittens to add to the many that need homes. They also take them regularly to the veterinarian, and feed them well. Both spend many hours at the mobile home with the cats, before returning to their own homes, with husbands and pet cats. Jarvis has three cats at home and Caroline has two.

Sometimes, finding the money to care for the felines is difficult.

“But whenever we’re running behind, there’s always someone watching over us,” said Jarvis. “When I got back here today (Wednesday), I found bags of litter and cat food.”

Clarke remembered her friend, Barbara Thorpe, who loved cats.

“I like cats, too. This is in memory of Barbara,” she said.

Thorpe died in 2002 at the age of 76. In her will she established a trust fund to care for stray cats in town.