Philanthropic Friday: Animal Shelter
For quite some time, I’ve been wanting to create a feature on SAHM Reviews that focuses on philanthropy. My thought process was for “Philanthropic Friday” to be a regular feature that posts on Fridays because that is when most people receive their paychecks. Unfortunately, just as most people do when it comes to such matters, it just didn’t become a priority. Whether I was busy with other commitments online or something offline, my “Philanthropic Friday” feature never managed to make its way to the top of the priority list.
Well, thanks to my very thoughtful 9-year-old daughter, I now have a reason to feature it. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m beaming proud and want to share. Whatever the reason, today is the first Philanthropic Friday post. For now, I hope to continue this on the last Friday of each month and if opportunities arise, more often.
To really get the feel for this story, we need to go back a few months when the Christmas wish list catalogs started showing up in the mail. My daughters both sat down and wrote a list of the things they wanted. They have so few wants and needs that the items on their list were pretty simple. When DH and I sat down later to look at the list, we were pleased and surprised to see an unexpected item on the list.
“Donations to give to the animal shelter”
Yes. One of my daughter’s Christmas gift wishes was to receive food, treats, toys or whatever so she could deliver them to the local animal shelter.
During Christmas with my extended family, after all the gifts with names on them were opened, my daughter was told by her uncle and his fiancée that there was an extra one for her. As a mom, I cringed. What would the other nieces and nephews think? Everything needs to be equal. Until, of course, she opened it to discover a box filled with dog and cat treats and toys along with a small dog bed. They told us there was a large bag of dog food in the garage, too. It was a pretty cool gift.
In the days that followed, we spent a lot of time surfing the internet to research the local shelters and their needs. Ultimately, Miss K decided that she wanted to donate her Christmas gift to the Scott County Humane Society. We confirmed that they accepted donations and set off to deliver them.
When we arrived, we left our box with the staff then proceeded to visit all the animals. It always makes me sad to visit a shelter because these creatures have no control over their fate. After losing the last of our dogs just over a year ago, I’m not ready for another pet. I’m still heartbroken about losing the companions we had since many years before the kids were born.
But another part of me knows these animals still need attention so away we went. First we visited the cats. There were a lot that seemed so sweet that it’s hard to imagine why they lost their prior home.
Of course, we had to check out the bunnies, too. It was discouraging to see that one had been there since last Spring. My guess is that someone thought a bunny would make a great Easter gift for their child then discovered that bunnies don’t stay small and aren’t exactly social. It’s just my opinion but in the same way that black cats shouldn’t be adopted before Halloween, bunnies shouldn’t be allowed to be adopted before Easter. I had a bunny when I was a kid, have always loved the fluffy creatures and am always happy just to cuddle them up.
Ultimately, we needed to meet the dogs. I have a special place in my heart for dogs since we used to do rescue work. One request that Miss K had was that the donation of the bed go to one of the dogs. The staff said that wouldn’t be a problem and even asked if there was a dog in particular she wanted to receive it. After walking through and ‘meeting’ all the dogs, she decided that one little dog named Dallas could use the extra love. She wanted him to have it.
It was a small bed but he would fit in it just fine. Miss K let the shelter staff know and they immediately brought the bed to the kennel. He hopped right into it and laid down like he knew exactly what it was for. Our best guess is he had something similar at his last home. It felt good to give it to him but knowing there was some history made it bittersweet.
Before we left, he came running to the front of the kennel barking. Not mad. Just talking. It was like he was telling Miss K thank you for the gift. He is still listed as an available pet so he hasn’t found a new forever home yet. At least he has a new bed to keep him comfy while he waits.
If you have space in your home or your heart to adopt a pet, I encourage you to contact a shelter near you or visit Petango. No room at the inn? Most shelters eagerly accept donations of bedding, food, treats and toys. Contact your local shelter to assess their needs.
For more information on the Scott County Humane Society, visit their website or connect with them on Facebook.
I have such a soft heart for animals… I always want to take them all home. I love that you are instilling this love with your children.
We donate to our local animal shelter all the time. I am a huge animal lover. I’d bring them all home if I could.
I am so incredibly proud of your daughter! I do some volunteer work for our local shelter. We are always in need of food, treats, towels and blankets, paper towels, etc. It’s hard to see so many come in and stay for so long, but it is truly a wonderful day when we see them find new fur-ever homes!
oh how sweet. bless her little heart. my brownie troop is very excited to help out some local animals without homes in the next few months. love seeing kids give back!
Nice article sis.. your kids have the best uncle (and Holly) in the whole world.. which is fitting because we have the best nieces and nephews in the world too. 🙂
This is so heartwarming! You must be one heck of a Mom for your kids to wish this for their Christmas gift. Imagine if every family gave up one Christmas gift each year, and instead donated an item to a pet shelter. That would be awesome!
I know you must be so proud of your daughter. How sweet that she does this. I’m a huge animal lover and supporter of our local animal shelters, too.
Our kitty ran away a few weeks after Halloween and we went to the shelter daily for about 2 weeks afterwards. You will be surprised to how many of the stray cats were black!! I personally love black cats, I think they are awesomely cool!
It was so nice of your daughter to think of others ahead of herself. You have raised her well 🙂
That is so sweet! What a wonderful, kind-hearted little girl you have. I’m so proud of her and I know the animal shelter appreciates all she gave to them, I know you are proud of her, too!
I’m afraid to go to one. Doubt I could leave without someone.
That is such a wonderful thing for your daughter to do. We donate to our animal shelters too. My daughter is even a cat butler!
That is so awesome! We have a local shelter that runs a lot on donations. That is where we got our cat from.
That is just the sweetest thing to do, and it was really nice of them to let her decide which dog she’d like to give the bed to.
We adopted our dog from the pound nearly four years ago. He was very sick and had been abused. It was so heartbreaking to go and know that we didn’t have room for all the animals.
Love seeing kids get into the philathrophic spirit! I used to be very involved with pit bull rescue, so it warms my heart to see a new generation helping animals.
Animal shelters break my heart! We help foster kittens for the humane society but I wish we could do more!
what an awesome post. we are big animal lovers and visit the shelter on Saturdays sometimes to play with those waiting for a home. it’s a great experience for kids!
That’s a great reminder. We don’t have any animal shelters in our little town.
What adorable dogs!
I am a big supporter of the ASPCA and my local shelters. In my area there is a real need for more free and low cost spay and neuter programs for cats and dogs.
I have so much respect and appreciation for people who care about animal welfare. All of our pets have always been rescues and we donate money and supplies to our local shelters several times each year. I’d love to be able to go in and donate time, but it’s honestly so heartbreaking for me to leave the animals there that I have a really hard time with it. I’m so thankful for others that are able to do it.
You and your daughter must be very special and kind people. 🙂
How sweet! We visit the shelter here since losing our elderly 14 year old cat and it just breaks my heart. We just adopted 2 more kittens. I can’t go there and not bring something home. You should be so so proud!
I can’t handle a pet, too many kids. But my boys have been asking one. This would be a great idea to let them help and interact with a dog without having to actually own one!
So sad, I hate seeing animals in cages. Very sweet what your family did!
We have 2 dogs and I AM BEGGING to rescue one more. Anytime I donate it’s to animals. I seriously want to own a rescue one day. I just hate seeing so many homeless pets!!
Just last year we were in a position where we were going to have to surrender our dog. Luckily we were able to find a loop hole and were able to keep her! 🙂 My parents got their new puppy from a local shelter, it was so nice!
All of our pets have been adopted. I am such a softy for animals.
We have two rescue dogs. What a great post!
I love that you researched the local shelters. Sad to say, they’re not all great places. 🙁
I have adopted a couple cats in the past from shelters. Sometimes these pets are the best pets.
We also volunteer locally, i think its very important that we raise more animal awareness! SPAY AND NEUTER PEOPLE!
I love this! All 3 of our cats and dog are rescued animals as far as saving them from going to a shelter. It’s so hard for me to visit and just leave.
Thanks for a great post… shelters always break my heart… I have 3 and one is a rescue and I wish I could do more.. my 3 are amazing and our little rescue is just so loving and affectionate, always look at him and wonder why he ended in a rescue… thanks for all you do, your daughter is amazing and I bet the little extra love for Dallas is going a long way.
I use to volunteer at a shelter and they really do appreciate (and need) the help anyone can give. Besides money they also need your time. It was nice of you to visit with the cats and dogs at your local shelter.
I love that your family does this. What a great thing to encourage your kids and also so good to help the pets and the community. SITS luv.
Nicole,
What a great heart warming post! Animal shelters are a great place to find a loving healthy pet! Your daughter’s heart of giving and care for animals is tremendous. What a great example. Thank you for such a great post.
Thank you! We’re very proud of her for thinking of this on her own. We did dog rescue and rehabilitation until we rescued one that we couldn’t part with. We just fell in love with her and she filled the quota allowed by the county we lived in at the time. It’s difficult to see animals in need but amazing to see how well these animals are able to say thank you when they are helped.
What a super sweet thing for your daughter to get started. People tend to forget that shelters could use donations too.
Great animal shelters! This is the sweetest thing I found today.