“Meow! Meow!”

“Yes, I know, I’ll feed you. Stop whining”

“Meow! Meow!”

It’s 6:30 AM on a Saturday, and I’m standing in my pantry with a plate of wet cat food and two hungry cats. Neither cat really belongs to me, but they live in my house and I chose their names. The black and white one is Mittens, the tiny calico is Mandy. I walk into the kitchen with the two animals dancing around my feet, both waiting to be fed. Later that day, I will bring them to Pet Smart, and they will be adopted by a nice elderly couple who live in town. It will break my heart, but I know both animals will be taken care of.

Since elementary school, I have always tried to help when and where I can. I’ve volunteered at camps, soup kitchens, and my favorite, animal rescues. I want the world to be a better place, and I believe only by taking action and helping those who need it makes us and the world around us better.

Since 2007, I have worked with an agency called Save the Cats Inc., a local no kill adoption/rescue agency. It started out as a Bar Mitzvah project, but I stuck around and ended up getting very involved. My duties started off simple: clean the living area for the cats who live in the store, and give them some time to stretch their legs while I worked. Eventually, I took on the responsibility of taking some animals home and “rehabilitating” them. In other words, if they had a problem, my family would give them a loving home to acquaint the cats with living in a real home. I can’t remember how many different animals I’ve had, but each one had a different personality, and each a different story.

It’s the summer time. The year is 2010. We have had upwards of 15 foster animals in our house, each with different needs that have been catered to so they could be adopted.

“This one’s name is Minnie.”

The women who runs Save the Cats shows me a tiny ball of white, brown and black fur curled up in the back of a cat carrier.

“If she can’t stop having accidents, we might have to put her down. I don’t want to have to do that. You know we try to make sure every cat gets their home”.

From the stale smell emanating from the carrier, I’m sure she had an accident inside the carrier. At least there is a towel inside that will catch most of the mess. My mother and I don’t know how to deal with this problem, but we cannot let this animal die because it has potty training issues.

Fast forward to this year. Minnie lays on a couch in my house napping. She has been outside most of the night, and it’s starting to get cold. We decide to keep her and she has become one of the family cats. The other one, a fat tabby cat aptly named Tabby, rumbles like jackhammer while he purrs and snores at the same time. His massive, furry stomach rises and falls with every breath as he sleeps. He was a stray that my family rescued, and has become the big baby of the house.

With every animal I have brought into my house, have helped a life get better. I have not only helped an animal find a place to live, I have given a family a new member to love. By helping, we can spread happiness to parties that we do not initially take count of.

If a person has the ability to help in any capacity, it is up to them to make that change. It does not have to be something huge like saving all the polar bears or getting all the homeless into homes. It just has to be something that will make the world around us a better place. Volunteer at a kitchen or give money to something you care about. I believe we can make a better world by helping those who need it and taking any action that we can to see that change we want become a reality.

So what do you think? Should I stick to one story, talk more about my experiences, or change the script? Comment below!