Why I Spent a Saturday Being Craftsy for Animals I've Never Met

It was an oddly warm Saturday morning in September, and I was trekking to the same neighborhood that my 9-5 office was in. What was wrong with me? No, this had nothing to do with my career. This was something completely new, and entirely because I'm a sucker for animals in need (but let's be honest, who isn't?). Let's back it up a bit.

I'm a right-brained kinda guy. If I create something, it's either digital, or a haphazard home improvement project that likely won't last more than a week. Yet here I was, walking into a church basement in order to work with an organization called Pillows For Paws (PFP).

About Pillows For Paws

PFP is a 501c(3) non-profit volunteer-run organization that specializes in providing essential comfort items like beds and toys for New York City's kill shelters. See, there are a ton of animal shelters in NY, but many of them try their best to be non-kill shelters. The problem with this is that not all animals end up in these locations, and if they did, these sites would have more animals than they could handle. What Pillows for Paws does, then, is provide comfort items for our furry friends that allows them to be more engaged both with humans and while alone in their cages. This makes them happier, more comfortable, and therefore less stressed, which all equate to making them friendlier and more adoptable. Pillows for Paws' mission is a task in improving the little things, which impacts the lives of these beautiful creatures.

That's why, on a Saturday morning, while I could've been sleeping in, I was instead hanging out in a roomful of wonderful ladies. (I was, indeed, the only male present for the majority of the event.)

The whole process was very much free-spirited and quite enjoyable. I was hesitant to attend such an event because I thought of all the other things I could be doing with my time (sleep, laundry, more sleep...). This, however, was a truly fun and rewarding experience. Very few organizations go out of their way to encourage arts and crafts in a situation where the volunteer doesn't get to keep the creations, and yet here I was looking forward to that part. See below to check out some of the items we made that day.

It is truly heart-warming to create something that you know will be used with unabashed enthusiasm. Imagine that lonely dog in a cage, unaccustomed to prolonged human interaction. Now picture it excited and playful. That's what Pillows for Paws does. They create an engagement medium for the animals who need it most, which, in turn, makes each animal more friendly and more adoptable.

You kind of have to be a monster to not want to be a part of that.

Please contact me directly if you're in the NY Tristate area and want to come down for one of our monthly events. It really is a wonderful time and you can stay as long as you want.

If you do not want to come by but still want to donate, you can do so directly at the Pillows for Paws website, either by donating directly, purchasing a RescueMen calendar, or purchasing supplies directly through their Amazon wishlist: http://www.pillowsforpaws.org/.