Helping Shelter Animals Find Their Furever Homes

 

I’m a big animal lover, and my love for animals has inspired me to branch out and help the animals within the Bloomsburg community. I’ve been a part of the Students Saving Shelter Animals (SSSA) Club at Bloomsburg since the first semester of my freshmen year. As I was walking through the Student Involvement and Activities Fair, I came across the SSSA table and couldn’t believe that such an organization existed. I was so happy to know that there are other college students out there like me who want to help animals in need. We meet on a bi-weekly basis, and our meetings are always centered around animals and coming up with new ways we can help the animals within our community. Our executive board team is senior heavy, so we could really use younger members to keep the SSSA Club thriving for years to come.

That's a call for you, the reader, to join!

I wanted to be as involved as possible within the club, so when the executive board elections came around, I was excited to have been nominated for a position. Last year I was elected the new Event Coordinator for the SSSA Club! I pitched a new idea that has been quite successful. I suggested that each club member or Bloomsburg resident donates any new or lightly used towels, blankets, or sheets to the Danville SPCA. That way they are not wasting their blankets and towels and are putting them to the best use possible. There are donation boxes in most of the residential dorm halls at Bloomsburg for students to put their towels and blankets.

We also collaborated with the Honors College, and they’re allowing Honors students to get service hours for their donations. It’s a win-win situation all around! The shelter animals depend on our love and affection to get through their time at the shelter. Unfortunately, some animals are there a lot longer than others, and those are the animals that need the most love and support.

I’ve been volunteering at the PSPCA Danville Center for over a year now. I go to the shelter monthly to help staff with whatever they need for the day. I usually spend time taking the dogs on nice long walks and playing with the cats in the cat room. The dogs do not care what the weather is; they’ll happily walk even in rain or snow. There are also gated yard areas at the shelter where I take the dogs to let them run around and play and have more space. It always fills my heart to see them happy. They are so desperate to get outside of their kennels and get some fresh air. Investing my time in them is the least I can do. If I can make even one animal’s day and time at the shelter a little better, then my time there is worth it. I love going into the shelter and seeing all of the animals’ names fill up on the adoptions for the month. That’s how it should be. I hope that each animal in the shelter finds their furever home with the best family!

— Lillie Corino, a senior business administration and communication studies major at Commonwealth University-Bloomsburg with an emphasis in management and organizational communication, is interning with the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications this fall. She's a native of Bucks County who enjoys spending time with her family, pets, ESA, watching Friends, seeing Morgan Wallen in concert, playing lacrosse, and going shopping with her mom.

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