Kids Can Help Homeless Pets This Holiday Season for Big Rewards and Little Cost

Santa Fe, New Mexico (PRWEB) November 13, 2008 -- Kids can share their holiday spirit with the increasing number of homeless pets in animal shelters throughout the US whose donations have dwindled drastically. The economic downturn with home foreclosures and job losses has placed pets in peril. Owners are giving them up since they can no longer afford to care for them. Parents and animal shelters can use this time of economic downturn to help kids include homeless and needy pets on their gift list. What child wouldn't enjoy the satisfaction of providing food for needy pets or helping to sponsor a pet in need?

A few examples from "Twenty Ways Kids Can Share the Holidays with Homeless Pets" (http://www.animalsheltertips.com/holidays_for_kids.html) include:

--- Help Kids Set Up Pet Food Banks.

Work with schools, churches, or local youth groups to set up a pet food bank to feed hungry pets in the community. Work with local programs in the area such as Meals on Wheels or other services for homebound citizens to deliver food to their pets. Include the kids on these deliveries. Or partner with a local food bank already established for needy citizens to contribute pet food for pet owners.

--- Encourage Kids to Have Home Holiday Parties on Behalf of Shelter Pets.

Kids can have home parties with friends bringing gift from the shelter wish list. Take the kids and gifts to the shelter as part of the party so they can see how their gifts will be used.

--- Include Kids on Outreach Programs for the Elderly and Infirm.

Include kids in activities or programs in which animals are taken to nursing homes, assisted living facilities, or homebound citizens' homes to provide companionship and therapy. Take a treat for the pets, the kids, and those you're visiting for a very special holiday celebration.

--- Set Up a Drive to Gather Items for the Local Animal Shelter's Wish List.

Often the wish list will include items such as trash bags, paper towels, detergent, paper, kitty litter, cat and dog beds, etc. Kids can set goals or compete with each other to bring the most items from the list to school, church, kids' after school groups, etc.

--- Kids Can Coordinate a Book Sale.

Ask for donations of kids' books, cookbooks, art books, landscape books, and any books that would be good holiday presents. Ask local bookstores or big box discount stores to donate what they can. A book sale could be done at a library, school, church, etc.

--- Kids Can Sponsor a Pet at the Local Animal Shelter.

Partner with local schools. Use an approach similar to what's used for giving to needy families, perhaps a Christmas tree with photos of pets hanging from the branches. Attach a note to each photo using clever copy to describe each pet. "I'm Sam. I thought I had my forever home, but that fell through. While I wait for my new humans, I'd really love to have my favorite food every day."

Take the sponsorship idea one step further and make it a contest between classes, such as which class can bring the most food, donate the most money, etc. Have a celebration when the gifts are presented to the shelter. Bring some homeless pets to the classroom or take the kids to the shelters.

Additional ideas for helping homeless pets are available at the website, including ideas for fundraising, finding grants, being an animal advocate and more.

About Animal Shelter Tips (http://www.animalsheltertips.com)

Website author Cathy Grace was inspired to launch Animal Shelter Tips by the homeless pets she's adopted. Her work background is in marketing and publishing, but her passion is her animals. She's welcomed into her home cats from the Santa Fe New Mexico Animal Shelter and Humane Society, the no-kill shelter Operation Kindness in Carrollton, Texas, as well as a kitten appearing at her doorstep in Evergreen, Colorado.

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