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Service Projects for Kids Who Love Animals

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If your child loves animals and would like a volunteer project, where do you start?

Of course, there is fundraising. Animal shelters and conservation organizations are always in need of money. Instead of simply collecting or donating money for the organization, your child could make something that is connected. Perhaps he can paint beautifully and could sell hand-painted dog bowls. Perhaps she loves to bead and would like to create beaded leashes or hand-beaded turtles for backpacks. This is an opportunity to create a small business and to raise money for a worth-while organization.

Another way to fundraise is to center it around a trip. If you are going on a vacation, research the wildlife in the area and find a small nature center or conservation organization that you would like to support. Your child does the research about the trip, then raises money for the organization. You can visit the organization and participate in their programs, all with a much deeper appreciation of what they do due to your research and fundraising. This is what we are going to do next year when we take a vacation to Costa Rica – we are going to raise money for one of the bird sanctuaries in the area, because my daughter is fascinated with birds.

Of course, you can also move far beyond fundraising. If you have a child in the mid-teens, your child might be able to start volunteering at an animal shelter or hands-on at a conservation organization. Some start at 16, others wait until 19 due to concerns about liability.

If your teen can’t help with the animals, perhaps he has some graphic design skills or wants to get some experience as a receptionist? Designing brochures, web sites, and answering phones don’t always seem thrilling at first, but there are valuable contributions to the day to day running of an organization.

For your younger child, ask if there are any opportunities to build things or collect objects for the organization. Maybe she can collect old towels for the animal shelter – they use them to line cages and dry off animals. Maybe she can build bird houses for a nature reserve that lacks old trees, like we plan to do this spring.

Has your child done a volunteer project with an animal-related organization? What did you do?

Image courtesy of mat-c at stock exchange.