Presentations!

Well, the year is winding down, but my club is still keeping very active! A few weekends ago, we set up a fundraiser outside of Walmart for roughly (pardon the pun!) eight hours. I rented two dog costumes, and my sister and friend danced around looking like dalmations! The point of the fundraiser was to raise supplies (and cash donations!) for Animal Allies, a Spartanburg-based spay/neuter clinic. We printed up over 300 flyers detailing Animal Allies' number and information and passed them out to Walmart customers during our collection. We came out with about seven shopping carts worth of donated items, and about $50 in donations.


After going back to Walmart to estimate the worth of the donated goods, we found out the total was about $1,400 with the Bi-Lo goods as well!! Plus, we were also able to get out Animal Allies name, number, and services to hundreds of people, which is another huge step in getting increase spaying and neutering in the area.

Next week, I'm collecting donations to sponsor spays and giving out bags of kisses (for kittens) and hugs (for hounds). I've also asked permission from the principal to show a 5-minute video to classes about major shelter overpopulation and the need to spay/neuter. I'll update as soon as I find out whether or not I can do it!!

It's hard to believe presentations are only a few weeks away- this year has gone by so fast! I've really enjoyed working on this project, and I honestly feel like I've made a difference on this issue.
Update soon!

Spay Day and Upcoming Events!!

Update!! RUFF now has its own website!!


http://www.ruffruff.info


I've been pretty busy since Christmas. I started the Angel Tree campaign, where the club and I raised about $120 and items we are donating to the shelter and spay/neuter facility Concerned Citizens for Animals. I also contacted Bi-Lo to see if we would be able to fundraise outside their stores, so we set up a table and collected over $200 items and over $200 as well! The items will go to Hugs for Hounds, a no-kill shelter, CCA, and Animal Allies, a low-cost spay/neuter clinic.

My club and I were also featured in two local newspaper articles for our Angel Tree projects and for our efforts in aiding animal shelters and spay/neuter clinics.

Last week, a representative from Concerned Citizens for Animals spoke to my club about their Feral Cat TNR program (Trap, Neuter, Return) to kick off our spay/neuter fundraising campaign. We will be focusing our efforts on raising awareness of spaying and neutering animals and the massive effect it has on animal overpopulation, homelesness, and mass killing by shelters.

I have also organized an upcoming fundraiser outside of Walmart in February. We will also collect canned animal food at local elementary schools to donate to the Humane society and other agencies.

We still have a lot left to do before EPL in March, but everything's going well! I finally have time to post my budget:

* Flyers with necessary items to hand out at Walmart fundraiser - $20
* Advertising materials for spay fundraiser - $200
-posters
-flyers
-copies of online literature
...etc
* Bake sale supplies - $80
* Animal canned food collection supplies - $50
* Gas costs in multiple trips to deliver foods to Spartanburg and other shelter locations - $15


TOTAL: $365

I will ask for additional funds if necessary. More info soon!!

Give Us a Home for the Holidays

Time really flies by! Right now I'm working on our holiday Angel Tree fundraiser to raise money and supplies for local shelters and rescue organizations. Sadly, one of the local organizations I've been working with quite closely (Feline Urgent Rescue) has just lost its director and is now also losing its home! So, about 20 cats are now effectively HOMELESS (without even a shelter to hold them) and FUR is down for a while.

My club's fundraiser, however, will be collecting items and money throughout the month to go to FUR and a few other organizations. Hopefully we can help them get back on their feet until they find a permanent residence.

First of all, we're doing the Angel Tree project in local pet stores and businesses as I mentioned earlier. I've also contacted BiLo and Walmart and we're going to sit outside with collection boxes to try and get more items donated. Finally, we're doing a school-wide canned dog/cat food drive with drop boxes located in various areas.

Our holidays are pretty busy. I've also contacted Concerned Citizens for Animals, a local organization that specializes in low cost spay and neuter programs and also runs a shelter, to come and speak to my club in January to help us launch an awareness campaign and 'Spay Day' to attempt to limit the mass numbers of homeless animals in our area.

Budget will be up soon!

Oops!

Wow! It's been awhile since I last posted, but I've still been extremely busy with my project! We've had two meetings since the first one, and we just had a bake sale to raise money for Feline Urgent Rescue, an organization I'm involved with. We raised almost 100 dollars! We're going to have a bake sale every month from now on.

We also got National Honors Society to sponsor a bake sale, and the money from there is going to Hugs for Hounds, no-kill shelter I'm also involved with.

Through the club so far, my members have volunteered at local organizations. We have a lot planned for the holiday season- we're going to do an Angel Trees project, where we drop off mini Christmas trees to businesses with animal shelter wishlist ornaments on them, so that people can pick up the ornaments and donate supplies/money. We're also doing a picture fundraiser to raiser money for animal rescue organizations. In the spring, we're going to focus on raising awareness for spaying and neutering animals and organizing a local 'spay day' to encourage people to have their pets spayed.


RUFF is taking off. We still have about 3o active members, and we just had a yearbook picture taken on Thursday. I still need to get my budget in for the project, but I'll have that posted ASAP!

Success!!!

So. I had my first RUFF meeting on Wednesday this week after school. I was worried no one but my friends would show up, but nearly 30 people came!! I got most of their email addresses and I'm about to start a mailing list to update before our next meeting a week and a half from now.

I also contacted PetSmart, the Holly Tree Animal Hospital, Hugs for Hounds, and Feline Urgent Rescue about helping with fundraisers and possible volunteer opportunities. I'm hoping to start with bake sales and volunteering, then do the pet tag sale to raise more money, and work into my big pet holiday picture fundraiser in December. All of the businesses have really been excited and given me a lot of feedback about how to go about getting money, recognition, etc.

Everything's starting to get going, and I'm wayyy excited! Update soon!

Score! Last week I spoke to my principal about getting RUFF approved as a club at my school. Right now I'm typing up a schedule of what exactly we're going to do and handing it into the office. After that, we're homefree!

My first RUFF meeting is scheduled for around next week. I've already seen a lot of interest from people I've spoken to, and I'm really excited about getting started! My first goal is to start bake sales for local shelters and get groups of people to volunteer at Hugs for Hounds. I'd also like to get some sort of Halloween fundraiser started.

I also went to an Interhigh student council meeting with the co-president of my school. At the October meeting, I'm going to speak to all of the student council leaders from high schools around the city to get involved with some of my fundraisers and my spay day in January. It should be a great community effort if it works out.

!!!!

Rrrruff!

Today I spoke with Stephanie Hill, the director of our local no-kill shelter right near my high school. She seemed really grateful and willing to work with me, and I'm ridiculously excited about getting this thing off the ground.

I think I might rewind a little bit and do some more of my justification for this project. I'd already researched animal shelters in the region near Greenville, and what I found was heart-wrenching. Although large shelters like the Greenville Humane Society have nearly 350 adoptions a year, only 28% of the animals that come in go out. That means that 72% - three out of every four animals - are euthanized in the shelter. No-kill shelters, however, keep their animals until they are adopted (unless the animal must be euthanized for health purposes). These no-kill shelters also take animals from overcrowded animal shelters that would otherwise euthanize them if they remained there.

Overpopulation is also a huge problem that further bleeds into the massive overcrowding of animal shelters. Although there are low-cost spay/neuter clinics locally, thousands of strays still roam the streets without homes or loving families, because many people simply do not take the time to neuter their pets.

Both of these problems can be alleviated through active service and advertisement. I plan to address these issues and others concerning animal welfare.

TENTATIVE TIMELINE

September
-Organize contacts with Hugs for Hounds, local animal rescue associations, local no kill shelters, spay/neuter clinics
-Get club approved by principal
-Talk to NHS, Beta, Environmental, Youth Court organizations for volunteer/fundraising opportunities
-Set up first meeting
-Plan on fundraisers for donations to different agencies

October
-Plan first bake sales through Beta and NHS service clubs
-Volunteer activities for animal rescue clinics
-?Halloween fundraiser through Hugs for Hounds?
-Begin letter writing campaign to local/state legislatures
-Contact spay/neuter clinics to set up free spay day, etc
-Contact other local high school students to join a community effort
-Look for sponsors for possible holiday fundraiser for toys, treats, etc, for shelter animals; encourage adoption in holidays
-?Animal foster care?

November
-Bake sales for fundraising
-Continue working on free spay clinic at high school, local community center, etc
-Continue letter writing to state legislature
-Schedule meeting with city/county council members to discuss current funding, etc, for animal shelters and state-led low-cost spay clinics
-Follow up on sponsors for holiday fundraiser
-Plan holiday pet picture taking fundraiser; find central location
-Have joint meeting/service activity with other high school students
-Continue animal foster care through shelters

December
-Bake sales for fundraising
-Work on free spay clinic
-Holiday fundraiser
-Holiday pet picture fundraiser
-Continue letter writing to state legislature
-Follow up on meeting with city/council members
-Plan high school joint fundraiser/animal shelter volunteer day
-Continue animal foster care through shelters

January
-Bake sales for fundraising
-Continue encouraging volunteer opportunities for local shelters, etc
-Free spay day
-Meeting with city/council members
-Rescue mission fundraiser


February
-Bake sales for fundraising
-?Valentine's fundraiser; love your pet day? possible pictures/sale, proceeds to shelters/rescue missions
-Adopted animal/foster care appreciation day? Possible luncheon for all involved, speakers on merits of adopting, etc

March
-Finish up project
-Gather all data
-Find underclassmen to continue club; set up through student council, etc?
-Present!


Okay. Tentative schedule, I know. I also have a possible name for the club/project: RUFF: Rescuing Unloved Furry Friends. What do you guys think? :D

Update soon!!

Here we go!

Okay. Whew! It's definitely been awhile since EPL's ended, but I'm finally getting the ball rolling. After creating multiple blog accounts, the website finally decided to recognize my existence and allow me to get back to my first blog. Score!


After thinking a lot about my former project idea (human rights awareness), I've decided the project is a bit too much for me to handle in just a couple of months. So, I've decided to work on something that I care a LOT about, can effect change locally with, and even begin a statewide letter-writing campaign to actually make a difference in policy locally.

What is it? An animal rescue foundation that works to fundraise, spark volunteering, raise awareness, and change POLICIES concerning animal welfare and overcrowding in shelters in Greenville County and South Carolina.

My vision is to harness the power of passionate youth in order to effect change concerning animal welfare issues. I want to not only aid struggling no-kill shelters by bringing their problems to the forefront, but I also want to affect the problematic issue of large shelters, their lack of county/state funding, and consequential downfalls.

This is a niche in my community that must be filled. In the past, the Greenville Humane Society has been shut down due to unacceptable conditions for the animals, and recent news releases and owner reports have strengthened this notion. Many of the shelters are overcrowded, putting as much as six animals in a single kennel. These shelters also spread disease through such close contact of animals, further causing misery, pain, and suffering in these already lonely animals' lives. No-kill shelters, however, (like the shelter right down the street from my high school!) allow animals to be given a loving environment until adoption. Both of these types of shelters need monetary aid and volunteers in order to become more stable, healthy environments.


I'll be setting up a timeline tomorrow, after I speak to the director of the local no-kill shelter and to my school principal about setting up the club. Update soon!