The Taft Animal League is hosting a holiday donation drive from Nov. 27 through Dec. 8 to donate to local animal shelters.
Taft Animal League is a community service club that donates recycled crafts to animal shelters. The students that are members of the club create upcycled crafts that are donated so that the students are able to learn the importance of shelters and what they do.
Donating is very important for the shelters because that is their main source of funding. “Donations are a crucial part of supporting animal shelters as increasing demands for goods severely outweigh the funds/resources available,” said Antonio Castillo, club sponsor and Taft Chemistry Teacher.
“It is important to donate because there is a current overpopulation in stray animals and shelters don’t have enough resources to keep up with the amount of pets coming in, versus the amount getting adopted,” said Club President and Taft junior, Xela Chamorro.
The TAL has been a very hard working club at Taft and they send donations made by members of the club throughout the year. Upcycling objects to donate is both a good way to help out the stray animals, as well as, reduce large amounts of waste.
Donations are definitely not the only way to support. A member of the club and Taft junior, Ava Ayala, said, “Other ways to support shelters is by volunteering your time to help shelters and other foundations in need of support.”
Chamorro included, “Other ways to support animal shelters could be anything as simple as a social media post to spread awareness, donating any amount of money, or even volunteering for local shelters.”
Because donating can be done in so many different ways, it is much easier for people of all different lives to pitch in. Donating doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming. Taking a few minutes out of your day to post a picture or taking a few hours to give away some old toys can go a long way.
Volunteering and spreading awareness for local shelters and any donations they may be having can be beneficial to not only the animals in the shelters, but it can just as easily be beneficial to the people who choose to donate.
For this donation, they are looking for canned dog or cat food, treats, towels, paper plates, animal beds, blankets, toys, dish soap, detergent, bleach jugs, leashes/collars, and sugar/spice free pumpkin cans. For people who donate, they’ll be entered into a raffle where they have a chance to win a giant stuffed animal as well as possible extra credit.
The TAL does have some other drives still being worked out. “Events for the spring are still in the works but we will most likely be running a summer donation drive closer to the end of the school year,” said Castillo.
Nothing new is confirmed, but these donation drives help many animal shelters, especially during the holiday season when they need it most. Donating doesn’t only help the animals in the shelters, it gives the donator a sense of happiness and fulfillment.
