Limestone County 4-H helps animal shelter
Published 9:51 am Monday, December 19, 2016
- Athens-Limestone Animal Shelter Director Priscilla Blenkinsopp, kneeling, accepts more than 600 pounds of dog and cat food and assorted treats from Limestone County 4-H. The organization takes on a community service project each year, and the shelter was selected this year.
Christmas is the season of giving for a wide range of nonprofit charities, but four-legged friends can often get lost in the shuffle.
That’s not true for the Athens-Limestone Animal Shelter, however, which was the recent beneficiary of more than 600 pounds of food and treats. The items were collected by Limestone County 4-H, which adopted the shelter as one of its community service projects.
The 4-H’ers, staff and volunteers dropped off the donation on Saturday, Dec. 10. Collected items included 370 pounds of dog food, 250 pounds of cat food, 166 snack items and 62 pounds of Milk Bone dog biscuits.
Limestone County Extension Coordinator Chris Becker said the 4-H members collect items for charity each year. It was the Ronald McDonald House at Children’s of Alabama last year.
“We collected dryer sheets and soap and things like that and we would drive it down a couple of times each year,” Becker said. “It was a great charity, but the kids never got to see what their donations did because it was in Birmingham.”
An office administrator suggested the donations stay closer to home this year, while another staff member suggested the animal shelter.
“This allows (4-H’ers) to collect these items and take it somewhere local and they can see what their hard work does,” Becker said.
The project is focused on fifth-and-sixth-grade 4-H’ers, but junior and senior members also wanted to get involved. Becker explained giving back to the community is a large part of what being in 4-H is all about.
“We want these kids to be community oriented and help folks in need,” he said. “It helps build leaders in the community and that’s where the community service aspect comes in. It’s important to get the kids giving back at a young age.”
It didn’t seem like many items had been collected until 4-H staff began pulling everything together to make the first delivery. For weeks, the food and treats had been stored in an office at the Extension building on Market Street.
“The food took up half the office,” Becker said. “We’re very proud of the kids’ generosity.”
The animal shelter takes in about 3,000 animals each year. On the day the 4-H’ers delivered the food, Becker said a couple surrendered a litter of nine or 10 puppies.
Delivery day also gave the kids a chance to play with some of the dogs in the shelter, assist the shelter staff and learn about volunteer opportunities.
The club will continue to collect items for the shelter, though it will now focus on collars, leashes, blankets and toys. The next donation will be made after the Limestone County 4-H Roundup, scheduled for March 31.
“It’s really amazing what they did,” Becker said the 4-H’ers efforts. “I can’t wait to see how much we deliver next time.”