This Valentine’s Day, not only should we share love with the people around us, but with the animals in the area as well.
The Youngstown Student University Emerging Leaders will be hosting an animal charity drive from Feb. 10-14 to help the Animal Charity Humane Society of Youngstown, Ohio. This is the fourth year for the drive, and graduate assistant Caitlyn Hicks said it is also the most popular.
“We had such a great turnout every year that we continued it, and people keep asking us to keep doing it,” Hicks said.
Recently, the humane society’s Boardman, Ohio location took in 105 dogs that seized from a home in Smith Township. This has resulted in a shortage of supplies and space available. The 105 dogs are in foster care or being adopted at this time.
“There’s always a good that comes out of the bad,” Jason Cooke, vice president of the humane society, said.
The Humane Society is still in desperate need of food and other items the dogs use while in its care. Other items needed to help the society are common office supplies — such as paper, pens and pencils — and cleaning supplies.
YSU Emerging Leaders choose the Fluffy Valentine Drive because they feel it is one of the most popular and it helps an organization that truly deserves the donations.
“It gives people the opportunity to connect to outside resources, and they connect well with animals. We do a drawing so that they can go see the animals when they pick up their prizes. To me, they get excited about it,” Hicks said.
The Animal Charities Humane Society enjoys doing events with YSU and is always open to university-sponsored events or fundraisers.
“In the future, certainly, I would encourage anybody in a class that has to do volunteer hours or wants to put together a fundraiser to get in touch with me or the Animal Charity. We love doing that,” Cooke said.
