Humane Society of Missouri: Build-A-Bear Youth Humane Education Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
We applied this generous grant to our Humane IQ program for at-risk youth. Thanks to private support from funders like the Petfinder Foundation, we are able to offer this program free of charge to the St. Louis City and North St. Louis County school districts. In January we mailed a report packet to Toni Morgan that included a list of expenses the grant funding covered, HSMO’s promotion of the Petfinder Foundation on Facebook, Twitter and in our e-newsletter, pre- and post-program survey results from 447 students who participated in the program at HSMO last semester and a few of our favorite thank you letters from participating students.
The HIQ program helps create kinder children. Our goal for the student participants is that they will develop into kinder adolescents and adults, and help stop the cycle of violence against animals that they are exposed to. In turn, HSMO can spend fewer resources on rescuing and rehabilitating abused, neglected and abandoned animals.
How many pets did this grant help?
N/A
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Now in its 21st year, the Humane Society of Missouri’s Humane IQ for At-Risk Youth program (HIQ) is offered to grade-school students from St. Louis City, Jennings, Normandy, Riverview Gardens, Hazelwood, Ferguson and Florissant school districts. The HIQ program helps children build broader empathies in high-risk areas of St. Louis. These elementary-school students are demographically more at risk to witness and execute animal abuse, and to be exposed to serious animal neglect. Over 70% of calls into our Animal Cruelty Task Force originate from these neighborhoods. These students are at a pivotal age to act and make decisions that can help or harm their community. Our knowledge that violence directed against animals is often a precursor of violence towards humans is the driving factor for the HIQ program.
