The Live Civilly Community Service Club has been meeting now for three years, and with each session come new experiences, new opportunities and new connections for the students involved. During the Fall 2016 session, the club had the opportunity to complete one of their favorite projects, the “Dog Toy” project and donate the finished toys to the Burlington County Animal Alliance. This was particularly important since club member, Grace Roth and her family have been involved with BCAA for a number of years. Grace educated club members on the mission of BCAA and helped to facilitate not only the toy making but also the delivery of the toys. And if that were not enough, Grace offered to write a blog for Live Civilly!
Thank you Grace Roth for not just participating in the club but for being service leaders and helping to facilitate this project!
I’ve always wondered what Live Civilly was when I would see the stickers on car bumpers around town or the collection bin at the library. Then as a 5th grader at the UES, I was able to join the Live Civilly club that met once a week after school. Not only did we talk about how we can make a difference in the community, but we actually DID stuff to make a difference! We collected new and used books for the Code Blue shelter and we donated a “new home” care package to a deserving family from Habitat for Humanity. One day our club made homemade dog chew toys, and it dawned on me that I could bring my passion for animals to my Live Civilly club.
For the past two years, I have been a part of another organization called the Burlington County Animal Alliance. There I foster dogs in my home and help them find their forever home. New dogs are brought up to the Centerton Square PetSmart from North Carolina every Saturday, and I am always there to help the dogs get matched with their fosters or adopted parents. I asked my Live Civilly club if I could distribute the toys to these precious dogs that are coming off the transport vans, often very scared because they are coming from bad situations. My club said yes, and let me tell you the dogs loved it, almost every single dog got a toy, and even the dogs that were getting adopted that day got to bring home a dog toy too.
It didn’t stop there though. I was able to walk in the Moorestown holiday parade on behalf of the BCAA and distribute the remaining dog toys along the parade route. We walked the parade with some foster dogs that still need to be adopted and actually had a couple people inquire about them! I’ve really enjoyed merging these two great organizations to work towards one great cause!