The Ruff Start Rescue

 

When approaching her project, Jennifer first narrowed down her ideas by focusing on the aspects in her life that were important to her, personally. She then decided animal welfare was a significant cause, and one that she could support.

She then contacted the Ruff Start Rescue organization, having heard of them through a family member. The Ruff Start Rescue is a no-kill animal rescue organization that uses foster families instead of shelters. 100% of the foster families are volunteers are there is always a need for help.

 Jennifer informed them of her project, and asked how she could help. After communicating    with people at Ruff Start, she was able to begin planning the most achievable tasks she  could accomplish.

She came up with a series of goals: create a Facebook page inviting friends and family to  attend events, create flyers and brochures to post and hand out, sew “Adopt Me” bandannas  and leash wraps to donate, and gather a group to accompany me to a chosen adoption day in  the Twin Cities.

Jennifer needed to think through the following logistical aspects: What will the flyers look  like and where would they be printed? Where can they be posted or handed out? What type  of page could be on Facebook, and how would she spread the awareness of this page? All of  these points had to be considered.

She created an event page for Ruff Start Rescue and chose to highlight the Online Silent Auction taking place at the end of the month. Because an event page would send periodic notifications to the invited group, making it more visible for a longer amount of time. She invited all of her friends and family to this event.

Jennifer then worked for several days to design flyers and brochures using Microsoft Word templates. She had someone at Ruff Start proofread and consent.

She looked up local printing companies and contacted Minpack in Pine City, MN. She asked Minpack for a quote on professional printing and if they ever considered donations to charitable causes. Jennifer was pleased to find that they would donate printed materials. She sent them the proofs, approved them, and picked up the order a week later. She also made sure to add Minpack’s support to the Facebook event page.

Jennifer posted flyers at her place of employment, and handed out brochures to coworkers that showed interest in the project. She gave brochures to her son’s Boy Scout troop and Martial Arts studio. She also kept a few of the half page flyers in her car and placed them on windshields in appropriate locations, such as animal hospitals and schools.

After getting fabric from family members, she began sewing the bandannas and leash wraps. It took Jennifer and her mother several hours a day, for two days, to complete this area of the project. The most time consuming part was designing the “Adopt Me” lettering and getting the format correct to print on fabric transfers.

When finished, she shipped them to Ruff Start in time for an adoption event.

To wrap up the project, Jennifer, once again, reminded friends and family about Ruff Start and of what she was trying to accomplish by messaging many of them and asking them to consider supporting the organization by attending an event or checking out the silent auction.

 “Overall, my goal is to bring awareness to this outstanding organization by  encouraging the public to attend an adoption day, to donate their time, money or  goods, and to promote the adoption or fostering of a rescued animal.

“We need to teach the next generations to also be compassionate about all of the  creatures on our Earth. We do this by teaching ethics. Performing volunteer work or  giving of oneself to another living being fosters a feel-good feeling and it can  snowball into even more support and help from others. I believe this is how our  world should live.” – Jennifer