Students’ money goes to the dogs
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The club raised over $1,800 – more than quadruple its goal – for the Warren County Humane Society, making it the largest single donation ever received by the animal shelter, officials said.
“We are in awe of what you guys have done all on your own,” Humane Society treasurer Roxanne Redmon told Youthact officers yesterday. “You can really pat yourselves on the back.”
Youthact, like its high school counterpart Interact, is an arm of Rotary International. The organization shares Rotary’s emphasis on working in a world fellowship dedicated to service and international understanding. The local club is one of only three Youthact clubs in the state.
Club vice president Jessica Ware said the decision to help the animal shelter for its first community service project was made by the club’s 30 members.
“We chose the animal shelter because animals need just as much help as people do,” she said.
Using catchy posters and collection jars, Youthact members asked their fellow students to donate their soft drink and snack money to the worthy cause last week. The club’s fundraising goal was $400, or 50 cents from each of the approximately 800 students at the school. As an incentive, the club made a competition of the fundraising drive, pitting the school’s homebases against each other.
In the end, middle school students donated a total of $1,801.66.
Rewarding the students for their generosity, Prater’s BBQ owner Gary Prater donated 25 pounds of pork to the three homebases – those of teachers Debbie Barnes, Amanda Gibbs and Farrar Griffith – that each donated over $200.
Youthact treated the school’s top fundraising team, Crockett’s Rockets, to an afternoon ice cream party. The seventh-grade team raised $399.
Animal shelter manager Beth Farmer said the students’ generous donation will go into the cash-strapped organization’s general fund. In addition to helping buy such staples as food and litter, the money will also be used to help provide spay and neuter programs and education programs.
While the money will go a long way, Farmer noted the shelter still has to euthanize approximately 90 percent of the 4,000 to 5,000 animals abandoned locally each year. She encouraged all who have pets to have them spayed or neutered.
PHOTO INFO:
These friendly canines join their human counterparts yesterday as the middle school Youthact Club donates $1,800 to the local animal shelter. Pictured are, front row, from left, Katie McCorkle, Jessica Ware, Gracie Harvey, John Newman and Emilie Jones. Second row, animal shelter manager Beth Farmer, shelter treasurer Roxanne Redmon, Youthact Rotary sponsor Susan Barrett, club president Lacy Pack, school sponsor Kevin Dunlap and school principal Betty Wood. (Will Stewart photo)