There are around 35 clubs at Floyd Central. Each club caters to a different group of people, whether a student is interested in learning, creating, or volunteering. Paws for a Cause is a new club where every Tuesday, students can volunteer at the Jeffersonville Animal Shelter to walk the dogs, play with the kittens, or clean.
Junior Paige Middleton founded the club with the help of the teacher sponsor Randy Hein. The shelter takes up to five volunteers at a time, but Hein hopes they can broaden that amount in the future. Hein also is the sponsor of two other clubs: Garden Club and Environmental Sustainability Club.
Paige had wanted to volunteer before, and when she realized other students were also interested, she thought of the idea of creating the club so the shelter could have as much help as possible.
“I hope to help out the shelter with their needs by providing weekly volunteers, doing pet supply drives, and possibly even doing fun activities with the club to make enrichment toys for the animals. The purpose of Paws for a Cause is to help animals. There are so many in need, and we should do anything and everything to help them any way we can,” said Middleton.
When arriving at the shelter, all the students have to do is check-in, and they are off to the animals. The dog walkers can walk the dogs around next to the road or set them off their leashes in the large, open-caged fields outside. Volunteers can also give attention to the cats. They have various cat toys and activities in their rooms to keep them entertained.
“I volunteered to be a dog walker, so we got to pick whatever dog we wanted out from there and take it outside to play and get some love. It was fun to meet the new dogs and hang out with ones that don’t get the attention they deserve,” said junior Presley Fuller.
The cleaners can clean cat and dog kennels, clean the outside cages, and bag dog food. This club does count as volunteer hours for specific high school diplomas. However, while some students seek volunteer hours, others just want to be around the animals.
“The good thing is that there does seem to be an interest in volunteering. Hopefully, it will help the shelter meet their goals of helping, cleaning and maintaining the animals,” said Hein.
With the smaller number of people volunteering, students can get to know each other better or go with one or two of their friends. Three students can volunteer to walk the dogs, which gives them a chance to mingle while letting the dogs socialize with the outside world.
“Even though the weather was quite cold, we kept the fun going by playing with the dogs and cats indoors. All the animals were incredibly sweet, and it was heartwarming to see how much joy they brought to everyone, including me. It felt great to give them some attention and affection, knowing that they’re all looking for a loving home,” said junior Shalee Moss.
There is a risk when getting involved with animals, so before they can go to the shelter, the students must sign a form that says that any mishaps that happen while volunteering are not to be blamed on the shelter. Each student needs to be careful around these animals because they are more vulnerable than others.
“There’s training involved that a lot of people don’t think about. Of course, you know, we wouldn’t want anybody to accidentally harm an animal in efforts to volunteer,” said Hein.
According to Hein, the shelter was more than happy to take in more volunteers. They needed all the help that they could get without overwhelming the animals. The animal’s playful energy and sweetness spread contagiously to the shelter and students like Moss, making it all worth it in the end.
“It was also incredibly rewarding to see how grateful the shelter staff was for our help. Knowing that our presence made a positive impact on both the animals and the team made the experience even more fulfilling and meaningful,” said Moss.
The shelter is also constantly pushing adoption, so Middleton also hopes she can use the club as a way to help get more animals adopted.
“Animals have this effect on people; just being in their presence can relieve so many stresses,” said Middleton. “And these animals cannot speak for themselves, they need help. It is up to us to dictate how their lives go. Will they be amazing and happy and healthy, or will they be forced to suffer?”