Student proves Christmas spirit is alive and well
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PABLO — A teenage visitor to the Mission Valley Animal Shelter last Thursday reminded workers of the true meaning of Christmas.
“I’m trying not to cry,” said operations manager Brenda Jones, but she soon gave in to the tears as she explained what had happened.
Mission High School junior Rose Bear Don’t Walk had just delivered a carload of cat and dog food, treats, toys, blankets and cleaning supplies to the shelter, but the girl wasn’t acting for any service organization or school group. She organized and ran a supply and fundraising drive for the shelter all on her own, touching many hearts in the process.
“It’s the true meaning of what Christmas is all about; it’s (about) giving of ourselves,” Jones said. “She did an amazing thing.”
As Rose explained it, the drive was just an idea that popped into her head last month. An animal lover, Rose was pondering what happens in animal shelters around Christmastime since animals still need caregivers even on the holidays.
“So I was thinking, ‘Maybe (the workers) need a little help,” she said.
A few phone calls and “tons” of printed flyers later, Rose began collecting donations of food, money and supplies for the animal shelter in boxes placed in the St. Ignatius School and at Rod’s Harvest Foods in St. Ignatius. The drive ran from Dec. 3 through Dec. 19, because, as Rose’s flyers read, “Everyone deserves to have a Merry Christmas.”
Donations trickled in at first, with one or two bags of dog food appearing in each box over the first week or so.
“And then finally, about two weeks ago, it just blew up,” Rose said.
An employee at Rod’s called Rose to tell her that her box was overflowing, and when she went to get it she found several bags of dog food stacked next to the box.
“The cutest thing was in the elementary school … down at the bottom of the box, there was this little crumpled-up dollar that some kid put in there,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.
Rose ended up with about 15 bags of food, around 15 cans of dog and cat food, two bags of treats, a bunch of toys, several blankets and some cleaning supplies, as well as $61 in cash to donate to the shelter. She had planned to leave the donations at the shelter anonymously, but her mom Eldena, bursting with pride, called Jones to tell her what Rose had accomplished.
“She did it because she wanted to, and because she has a great love for animals,” Eldena said of her daughter’s project.
Everything Rose brought will help make the stopping point of the animal shelter a little bit better for the eight dogs and 33 cats currently housed there, Jones said.
“Every penny means something,” Jones said. “There’s days when we don’t have treats to give to the dogs, when we don’t have treats to give to the cats … It’s amazing to me how one little person can make such an impact on so many people.”
Rose plans to make the animal shelter drive an annual event, if not even more often, she said.
