Helping Others...including animals

While we were down in North Carolina for the Thanksgiving holiday, Mom and Bill took Olivia shopping to pick out pet/cat food/toys to bring to the animal shelter to give to all the homeless animals. Olivia loved the idea and was excited to bring all the animals their presents. Luckily there weren't any puppies that she totally fell in love with and insisted on bringing home, because I don't think Dan or I would have been strong enough to resist. Although the whole visit got us thinking more seriously about getting Olivia a puppy soon.


The first stop was to visit all the cats and kittens. We bought a bunch of cat nip toys for them and they all went wild for it. That was very sad to see all the cats locked in their little cages and they all were meowing like crazy for a little attention. We spent a lot of time with the cats.


After the cats, we went to visit the dogs. Olivia was a bit overwhelmed and frightened at first because the cages were filled with very large dogs. However, she did find one cage filled with 8 puppies - so sad, I think they were a little too young to have been separated from their mother and they were all wet from being outside in the morning. They looked cold, so the lady who worked there got some towels and we helped dry them off.

The dog stories were so sad! The lady who worked there told us how they found some of the abounded dogs....heart breaking!

Once Olivia got used to the loud barking, she went up and down the rows three times giving the dogs each a bone...and sometimes two bones if they were really 'good'. They were wild for the little bit of treats and attention they were receiving from her.





















After the animal shelter we went to deliver some coats we bought at Wal Mart to a homeless shelter. Olivia helped to carry in the two child size coats...and she kept asking questions about why they needed coats, did they not have any clothes...where they 'naked' inside the shelter, LOL.

After that, we went home to fill a little shoe box of goodies we bought for a the "Meals on Wheels" organization that Mom and Bill are a part of. Olivia filled her shoe box with toiletries and goodies we bought that morning, she also made a little card to put on top.

I'm glad that we were able to incorporate into our holiday ways to help others and to start to expose Olivia to those who are less fortunate and give her a chance to 'give back' at an early age.