Area Students Help Out the Animals

Over the past few weeks the animals of  have been helped by the generosity of numerous young people in our community.  These various groups of students, who range from 3rd graders to college seniors, are a great asset to our community and we are so lucky to be surrounded by these caring individuals and thankful that they are committed to a cause which helps those who cannot speak or care for themselves such as the homeless animals at PEHS.  We thank the students who have spent time raising funds through various projects and volunteering their time, but we would also like to thank the parents, teachers, professors and mentors who have instilled in these young people the commitment to their community and the importance of volunteering.  Whether they continue to volunteer for Prairie’s Edge Humane Society, an animal shelter or rescue organization in another community or another type of non-profit organization, the importance of giving back to their community will hopefully stay with them wherever their future may take them

The funds raised by these young people whether large or small, help the animals at PEHS in various ways, from purchasing vaccines, food, cat litter, cleaning supplies and medical care to paying for the electricity and sewer and water for the shelter building; every cent helps.   These necessities will be paid for with help from the Special Ed class who raised funds by hosting a “Coffee Time Shop” for the school staff, as well as funds raised by students from Cindy Green’s 3rd Grade class bake sale at  and a fundraising project by Students Andrew, Zane, Nate, Theo and Nick. 

Students from and regularly volunteer at the PEHS shelter to walk dogs, go running with dogs, play with the cats, do laundry, help with events and anything else that is needed.  They also hold bake sales, stand outside local grocery stores collecting supplies for the shelter, work with area businesses to hold fundraisers and host events such as “Puppies on the Bald Spot – Finals Stress Relief” at Carleton College to provide a break for the students during finals and raise funds for the shelter at the same time.  The St. Olaf President’s dog Macey, who is a PEHS alumni, even traveled across town to provide some “stress relief” to the Carleton College students!  The animals at PEHS bring everyone together!

Veterinary Technician students volunteer to help at the shelter on surgery days and with spay/neuter clinics.  We have 10-12 vet tech students who regularly volunteer their skills and time.

Emmy’s Beads, a handmade bead necklace and bracelet business, run by 12 year old Emma from Lakeville, donates a portion of her proceeds from her necklace and bracelet sales on a regular basis to the shelter.

Each year Elizabeth Larson’s 3rd Grade class at not only hosts a large garage sale to raise funds for the PEHS shelter ($3000 raised in the past 3 years) but they use the shelter animals as a project throughout the year in their various studies.  They chart the length of time animals are at the shelter, following each animal daily and its story, they produce commercials for their garage sale, create posters for the adoptable animals, do the work of collecting garage sale items, setting it up, waiting on customers and taking care of the sales.  They apply for a grant to pay for a bus to bring them to the PEHS shelter for a tour at the end of the school year for their class trip and with a portion of those grant funds they shop for items for the shelter which we use on a daily basis such as bleach, laundry detergent, dish soap, paper towels, treats for the animals and toys for the animals.  On their way to the shelter for their tour their teachers take them to Target to purchase the items.  Each student figures out the best deal in order to get the most for their money.  They then come to the shelter with the items they have purchased and present us with the funds raised from their garage sale.  This year’s total was over $1100.00.  They tour the shelter and ask wonderful questions.  This year 38 students and several parent volunteers visited the shelter.  When they leave the shelter we feel we have sent 38 ambassadors for the homeless animals out into the world!  We love having them visit the shelter!  This is a great program and these kids will use the skills they have learned throughout their lives.

The Shattuck School students from Faribault as well as the Bethlehem Academy students regularly volunteer their time to help with events, spring and fall cleanup projects at the shelter and anything else that we may need.  The Big Giants 4-H club also recently provided volunteers for our Walk for the Animals. 

The Faribault High School Special Ed class along with their job coach Judy, provides help at the PEHS shelter every Friday afternoon while school is in session.  They help with laundry, socializing cats, putting together adoption folders and various other duties at the shelter.   There are numerous Girl

Scout and Boy Scout groups who volunteer their time to help with various projects, as well as the kids who man the numerous lemonade stands who raise funds throughout the summer for the shelter. 

We could not care for all of these animals who need our help without support from these students and their advisors.  We love working with them, we are proud to work with them and we hope they get as much in return from their volunteer time with PEHS as we get from them.   We enjoy having them come to the shelter for tours or to help out, the animals love their companionship and it’s a win/win situation for everyone.  We know that these young people will go out into the world and continue to be caring individuals in whatever community is lucky enough to become their home.  So to all of the students, in all of these schools, clubs and programs, the animals at Prairie’s Edge Humane Society say…”Thank you."