Blog #3: Making a Change

Hello fellow readers and welcome to my last and final blog. As you know from my last two blogs, my topic is on the issue of Animal Cruelty in America. If you’re a new reader, please read by first and second blog to know about previous information.

In my previous blog, I interviewed staff members at the Francisvale Home for Small Animals and asked the question, “ How can I prevent animal cruelty?” The staff said that I could teach others own on to treat animals with respect and volunteer at animal shelters. After reading that answer, a lot of possibilities rolled into my mind on how I could give back to solving this problem to serve as my Agent of Change part of my You and the World project. I’ve have heard of fundraisers to raise money, but I find it hard to believe that people can donate to a charity or fund, but not know any knowledge on the topic. I wanted to create a fun and profitable way to raise money to donate to shelters who have financial problems. I decided to not only have a bake sale to raise money, but to have some type of information on animal abuse to be given to the buyer, so they walk knowing exactly what the problem is.

My partner, Kara, and I bought donuts and cheesecake to sell to students at our school, Science Leadership Academy, but not only did we just sell it to them, we told them facts about animal cruelty like the fact that last year there were almost 20,000 cases of reported animal abuse  and that some ways animals are abused could be by hanging or burning. Several students were surprised by the ways that the reported abused animals were treated and even more surprised by how many cases there were. Many asked me about ways they could help with fighting against this problem. With the advice from Francisvale, we told students that they could help by volunteering at a local shelter and educating others by telling them the correct ways of handling an animal with respect and dignity. We afterwards donated all the money to PAWS, an animal shelter that is in danger of staying open, since it runs out of money and supplies from time to time.

The fundraiser was a success! We wanted to raise at least 50 dollars and we came close with 38 dollars. We both agreed that if we had brought in more food, then we would have exceeded our total amount earned. It felt great to raise this money,as it was my first time conducting a fundraiser, and the fact that it was for such a great cause as well. I can’t help but get excited when I think about all the animals that we’ve helped out. I learned that there are people who genuinely care about animal abuse and cruelty. It was actually surprising to see students who were  interested in learning more and it made me feel proud that I was able to accomplish my goal on educating others on the evils of animal abuse.

Us giving the PAWS staff the money. Look at the kitten!

Me selling our last donut

Although I am happy with the amount of money Kara and I made, I still do wish that we could have raised more. Next time, I believe that I should bring in more baked goods to sell, that way we earn more of a profit. Although shelters do appreciate the money, they also look for supplies, as it can run out very quickly and the animals are most dependent on it.  I wanted to have a towel drive at school, but there wasn’t a sufficient amount of time that I had on my hands, and I was afraid that the expectation of towels that I wanted wouldn’t be met. want to hold more bake sales and fundraisers. Right now, I feel that all that is left is to just educate more. This time, I educated people at my school, but next time around, I want to educate people throughout Philadelphia.

I enjoyed this project with all my heart. I picked a topic that I felt strong about, and in return, I received an amazing experience with fighting for a change. I hope at one point, animal abuse and cruelty won’t be as much of a problem it is today and I’ll continue to make a change. I’d like to thank Kara for joining me in fundraising for the help of animals who were victims of abuse. Without her, the outcome wouldn’t have been as grand as it was. I’d also like to thank Ms.Dunn, my English teacher, for always being there and for guiding me through this project. Last, I’d like to thank all my readers who followed me throughout this journey of my blogs. It was nice to receive feedback, and it made me feel 100 percent better about the change that I was making. Thank you.

Go and visit Kara’s blogs!