Last Sunday we got together with a whole gaggle of Girl Scouts to make winter shelters for community cats!
My co-workers Diana Cruz, Stephanie DeMoss, and I, met up with 21 Girl Scouts, a few younger siblings, and lots of crafty parents at the
Showing the scouts our Cat Tips video.
Girl Scout Camp Brighton Woods in Burtonsville, Maryland to get their hands dirty and help cats. The scouts represented Troops 1067, 808, 2397, and 2672 from Service Unit 31-2, which is part of the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital (GSCNC), but they worked together like one big family throughout the event!
After welcoming everyone and introducing ourselves, Diana and I talked a bit about community cats and took questions from the girls. We were impressed by their knowledge and interest in both Alley Cat Allies’ work and cats in general. Before we started crafting, everyone enjoyed watching our DIY Outdoor Cat Shelter video.
The Girl Scouts brought donated styrofoam coolers, so we substituted those for the small plastic tubs we recommend in the video. After all, like we told the girls, there’s more than one way to build a great winter shelter!
The girls (and parents) were divided up into ten stations and the shelter-making began.
Girl Scouts are great builders!
I was amazed by the intensity and concentration in the room! Once the crafting started, everyone’s focus was on shelter-building. How often do you have a room full of tweens all concentrated on a collective goal?
All 10 teams had very little trouble with the shelter assembly and, before we knew it, were busily decorating and putting their own personal touches on the shelters. We stopped them for a moment to talk about the importance of camouflaging the shelters to keep the cats safe.
The scouts put their personal touch on each shelter.
Just before the shelter decorating was finished, Frank the Feral (Daniel López Breña) made a surprise appearance. All the girls were so excited to see Frank and he was more than happy to get on all fours to play with everybody.
#FranktheFeral paid a visit!
At the end of the day, we had ten gorgeous shelters to distribute to community cat colonies in the area. Plus, a whole bunch of Girl Scouts are now more educated about cats and Alley Cat Allies. I call that a win-win!
We’re looking forward to building shelters with the Girl Scouts again next year!
Until next time,
Joanne Correira
Outreach & Events Associate
Alley Cat Allies