Being thankful and giving back

I've been trying to impart the idea of empathy into my little girls. I want them to have compassion and to think about the needs of others, weighing the impact on others into their decisions.

When I was a kid, my family volunteered, my church volunteered, my girl scout troop was very involved with community service... and I believe it taught me quite a bit about the needs of others. One of the groups I volunteered for when I was about 8 or 9 was PAWS, which keeps adoptable kittens and cats inside of the Petsmart where I grew up. What is awesome about animals is that you learn intuition and routine. Animals have basic needs that must be met in order for them to survive, but they can't communicate it to you the way most humans can. My girls are probably too young to volunteer with the care of pets just yet, so we decided to donate some much needed items.

A facebook event called Thanksgiving for the Animals wrote out a list of most-requested items. A couple pattern makers I know, the lovely ladies behind Aivilo Charlotte and Swoon, were rewarding their customers with free patterns (they speak my language!) so I went off to Dollar Tree with the intention of spending about what I would have spent on two free PDF patterns. Disappointed with the dog food at Dollar Tree, we left with only two gallons of bleach. We went on over to Walmart and picked up 30 pounds of dog food.

The Duplin County animal shelter is closed on Saturdays, so we dropped off our items at the Jacksonville shelter.

My youngest, of course, begged to look at the kitties. And it unfolded a bit like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

If you decide to get some donations for an animal shelter, you'll have to drop them off.

When you drop them off, you'll have to look at the kittens.

Kittens will remind you of how playful your dog was when he was a puppy. You'll want to go look at them.

When you look at the dogs, you'll feel sorry for them and wish they had a home for the holidays.

You'll take your girls to the park nearby and the image of doggies with no homes will play in your mind over and over like the pound scene from Lady and the Tramp. Of course, you'll make your way back to the shelter to meet the pups.

You'll decide to take one home.


Okay, so I'm no Laura Numeroff. My story didn't quite go full circle.
However, the point is that I'm quite happy with the girls' and my decision to give back. I'm so glad that I decided to take a peek at who they had in the back because this little cutie is adorable.

Everyone, meet Nestlé.