Pack 35 Cub Scouts Shoe Collection

As Development Director, I’m responsible for fundraising and community outreach for Karma Cat + Zen Dog Rescue Society. One of my passions is encouraging children to take an interest in pets and animal rescue. I believe we can change the world’s view of animal rescue through our children; it’s called humane education and it is a fun undertaking.

The basic idea behind humane education is to teach and encourage empathy in children towards both animals and people. I was lucky enough to combine both a fundraising event and community outreach event by working with the Cub Scouts of Pack 35 in Spotswood, NJ. The boys created posters to advertise our shoe drive fundraiser with their family and friends, and posted them on social media.

I attended their Halloween carnival on October 30 to meet the boys and pick up the shoes. The boys were dressed in their holiday finest, so I had all manner of superheroes, commandos and characters dropping off shoes in our large donation boxes.

By the end of the evening, the boxes overflowed with shoes! The boys rallied family, friends and neighbors to donate over 130 pairs of shoes to our fundraising event. That’s enough to feed one of our cuddly kitties healthy, high quality food for over a month! Toward the end of the meeting I had the opportunity to tell the boys what a success the collection was, that, in fact, the boys had been able to collect the largest amount of shoes in a single event!

As a thank you, I gave the boys each a copy of our own KCZD Activity book. I thoroughly enjoyed my night with the Cub Scouts, and I look forward to many more opportunities to change the world one youngster at a time!

~Rebecca