Teeny next to the toy drive
About 5 years ago, Katy McDougall adopted an abused dog. I won’t go into the details here, but I’m sure you can imagine some of the issues an abused animal could bring along with it. She spent the first few months fattening him up and nursing him back to health, and when he was back to normal, Katy realized that it was up to animal lovers like her to be advocates for them when they are unable to speak or defend themselves.
It was during this time that she realized how happy Teeny could be with something as simple as a small toy. For his “birthday,” Katy and her husband threw a big party for him, and had all the guests bring a pet toy to be donated to needy animals – those in shelters or lower-income families. The donation party was a big success, and they wished they could do something like that every month. So they did.
Each month Teeny’s Friends holds a toy drive at an animal-related organization. It could be a shelter, a lower-income-focused healthcare establishment, a toy store . . . anywhere that’s pet-centric. (Their current toy drive is being held at Emancipet, a low-cost pet healthcare center.) They put up bins for the first two weeks of the month and allow patrons to donate as they come and go, so there is no pressure. At the end of the month they collect the toys and hand them out to pets in need around the area.
I asked about the lives that have been touched as a result of her efforts, and Katy replied, “As cliché as it sounds, the biggest lives that have been touched are mine and my husband’s.” I nodded to myself in agreement when she answered that question, because it’s one I’ve heard time and time again from people who do things to help others. In fact, I’ve said it many times about what I do here on this site — at the end of the day, I feel like I’m the one that’s been touched the most.
It seems that no matter who I talk to or what they do to help others, there’s always a common thread running through the story: it feels great to go out and make a difference, but the unexpected side benefit is that it changes your way of thinking. You begin to realize that charity isn’t a one-time action; it’s a state of mind.
So as you go through life, begin to look for opportunities to make a difference in the lives of those around you. As Katy said, if you want to see a change in this world, the responsibility belongs to the people who care. It starts with us.
And once in a while, it starts with our pets.
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