Pets Alive: Build-A-Bear Youth Humane Education Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
This grant is being used for expansion of our Humane Education Program, now called the Pets Alive Kids Team, or PAKT. We are currently in Phase 2 of the project. Phase 1 was completed in Q1 2018, including creation of the expanded program, finding suitable space to hold the education sessions, and marketing/awareness-raising. A graphic-designer volunteer created a new logo for use with our marketing materials that utilized our regular logo. Through a partnership with our local community, a nursing facility that's both close to our shelter and centrally located – Glen Arden in Goshen, NY – has agreed to host our program by donating conference-room space for our monthly sessions. Over time, we may expand locations as the program matures.
To date, we have spent $1,000 of the $3,045 awarded. We purchased books to be used with the participants; marketing materials at events to advertise the program; a laptop computer to use at the sessions; and supplies that are used in the sessions. The remaining grant money will be used to procure an overhead projector for use with the classes (to project what's on the laptop) and additional class supplies. Each session has a theme; for example, during the last session, the kids made dog toys out of various materials.
We held our inaugural Humane Education session on April 29 and had our second session on May 27, 2018. We will be holding future sessions the last Sunday of each of the month. During our first session, 36 people attended, an equal mix of adults and children. Since we held the session in a nursing facility, a number of residents attended along with their grandchildren. After a book reading, the participants engaged in an activity and made shelters out of Styrofoam boxes to provide a warm and safe home for community cats. The shelters were then presented to one of the staff members at the nursing facility who cares for community cats on the nursing-home property. A short slide show of the event is shown here: https://youtu.be/13Q5SYlvxYs
During the second session, the two dozen attendees made more than 50 dog toys that will be used at our shelter to provide enrichment to the animals as they await adoption. The classes will help the pets in our care through the increased visibility of the program and its connection to our organization and helping attendees understand compassion for animals. Several attendees expressed an interest in volunteering at our shelter to help the animals in our care. We anticipate this will be another avenue to widen our volunteer reach; we depend upon volunteers to help us care for the animals.
How many pets did this grant help?
250
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
At Pets Alive, 250-300 animals are living at our facility at any given time, reaping the benefits of the kindness of our community. Recently, attendees from our Pets Alive Kids Team (PAKT) humane-education program made more than 50 dog toys to provide enrichment for our dogs as they await their forever homes. One in particular is Chico, a young 2-year-old dog who recently came to Pets Alive. He loves to run around in our play yard, fetching a dog toy and playing catch! He is one of the many recipients of the dog toys recently made by PAKT team members. Here is his Petfinder story: www.petfinder.com/petdetail/41524758
