Donation Dive for Arrow’s Heart Animal Rescue

Sara describes her project in her own words:

What I Did

For my Organize an Activity project I chose to collect donations for a local animal shelter, Arrows Heart Rescue.  I got my boyfriend involved to reach out to the community because I felt like together we could make more of an impact on getting the word out.  He was all in. One way I collected donations was by making a Facebook post reaching out to family and friends.  I was taken back at the response.  So many people wanted to donate.  When I got to work the next day there were bags and bags of donations by my locker and that was just the start.  All week people texted me wondering when I needed the donations by.  The second part of organizing a way for people to donate was doing a charity event with my boyfriend’s food truck.  We got a hold of the PetSmart in Elk River to see if we could hold the event in their parking lot.  They were more than happy to have us.  We also got in contact with Arrows Heart rescue to talk to them about being the rescue that we donated all the supplies to.  After that we were able to advertise properly and also find out what things they were most in need of.  We set out a box for donations outside the food truck and my boyfriend, being the amazing soul that he is, donated 10% of what he made selling food to the rescue also.  We advertised on 4 different groups on Facebook to reach out to as much of the community as possible.  From there our post was shared 26 times and seen by almost 7,000 people.  The outcome was better than I ever imagined!

 

The project was a great experience for me.  I find a lot of joy being able to do things that help out our community and world, but sometimes life gets so busy I don’t think I have time.  This project helped me to see that you can build things into your everyday life.  I thought about how Aristotelian taught about flourishing.  Living Well, being fully engaged in our functions. I was able to take things that were already in my tools box, so to say, and extend them even farther to reach the needs of others.  It definitely felt like I flourished.  Choosing to donate to an animal shelter was not just for the care of the animals but also for those that care for the animals.  Thinking about care ethics is having compassion, understanding, generosity, sympathy, helpfulness, and willingness to assume responsibilities.  The people that care for these animals put a lot of time, love and care into each pet.  Having what they need to care for these animals I am sure helps take some of the stress off that could sometimes be there, as they wait for each pet to find their forever home.  Also, just them knowing that we support what they are doing and our willingness to help is most likely up lifting.  I give this project a 10/10 meaning, I will do again.

 

Are you interested in organizing something like Sara? Here are her tips for YOU:

1. Do not be afraid to ask for help. Having the support of family and friends makes it all that more enjoyable.
2. Do not be afraid to reach out. This was a part that was uncomfortable for me but honestly the worst thing that could happen is they can just say no.  I was pleasantly surprised how much people wanted to help.
3. If you do more of an event, it might be helpful to have someone to photograph your day. I was so busy serving people that it was hard to take moments to make sure that I had proper documentation for the project.
4. Don’t wait until the last minute to start your project. It took me a few times reaching out to the rescue center to get a response and also to get a list of things that they are in need of.
5. Be convinced that what you are doing is making this world a better place. If you don’t really want to be doing this project it will give off that vibe and no one is going to want to be involved and it will not be very successful or fulfilling.
6. Make realistic goals and do not set yourself up for failure. At one point I wondered if my idea was not going to work but then it all came together. Most of us live busy lives with work, families, and then being in school. Set something up that will fit into your lifestyle.