In addition to accepting donations and roles for adults, our local cat shelter offers a volunteer spot for kids – reading to the cats! They do this to help socialize their rescues and get them ready to move to their forever homes. All of them come from high kill locations or are found in the wild and are desperate for attention. On top of it all, it is an ingenious way to get the kids to do a little extra summer reading!!
If you’ll remember, Whit, Jay and CeeCee held a lemonade and popsicle stand to raise money for the cat shelter. The ended up with $50 and were as pleased as punch to do the honors of putting it in the collection bin at the shelter. The staff and volunteers made a huge deal of it with claps, photos and having them tell their story of how they raised the money.
After a brief orientation, Jay and Whit met their first cats that were in private suites. (CeeCee was not old enough, much to her dismay.) One thing that is unique about this shelter is that nearly all the cats roam free! There are no cages. Some must be separated in suites due to medical or dietary issues, and these were the ones we visited with first. Jay read to Victoria and Whit had Jupiter and Mercury.
After a while they rotated out to the main room where there were so many cats lounging, playing and prowling around. It really was incredible to see the cats walk right up and lay down to hear a story!
At the end of their reading, they got to go in and play with the kittens, which was so much fun. They were so vivacious and absolutely adorable. It is a real miracle that we didn’t leave with one :-)
I know that cats may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think that you must follow your servant heart wherever it leads. And these cousins love cats! We often stop our car when we drive by so that Whit can just watch them through the window. He loves animals so, so much. These two young boys felt so proud and fulfilled – both by giving their time and money – that I feel certain this is just the beginning for them. I am honored to be their mama and aunchie.
DIXIE DELIGHTS DELIVERED
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