Shorecrest Students Give a Half-Ton of Pet Food to the SPCA

ST. PETERSBURG - The 1,200 pounds of food the fifth-graders from Shorecrest Prep donated to the SPCA Tampa Bay is just enough to feed the shelter animals for three days.

It underscores the size of the homeless population of dogs and cats in Tampa Bay for the students.

Seventy-eight Shorecrest students, along with their teachers and parents, packed the facility on Tuesday, May 24, 2011, to present their donation of goods to the nonprofit, which is at 9099 130th Ave. North, in Largo. The students had collected food, blankets, newspapers and other important supplies.

As Middle Division English teacher Mindy Artze predicted, they beat their record food donation from last year by over 200 lbs.

But she also stressed that the lessons the children get out of the trip are nearly as important as the amount of the items donated.

“For us this is probably the best community service project that we can do, because the children relate so well with taking care of animals,” Artze said. “They’re able to see that the animals need their help and support, so this is a great way for them to be able to help the community.”

After meeting with Sharon Hauser, the Director of Education and Community Outreach for the shelter, and then unloading the trailer full of food and supplies, the kids went on a partial tour of the 10-acre facility, interacting with a wide variety of animals along the way.

A common misconception regarding the SPCA is that it only houses cats and dogs, but that notion was quickly put aside when the kids saw horses, goats, rabbits and even ferrets inside the grounds of the shelter.

In fact, SPCA Tampa Bay takes in 12,000-14,000 animals of various species per year.

“It’s really important for them to see all the animals they’re doing things for,  because as you can see, it’s not all just dogs and cats,” Hauser said. “And the animals love it just as much as the kids love it. They love the attention.”

While the SPCA is extremely grateful for the Shorecrest donation every year, Hauser wanted to stress the long term benefits of helping the shelter.

“For us it’s a win situation, not only because they donated so much food, but we’ll get new adopters from this, new volunteers from this…You want it to be an ongoing thing. We need this all year round.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION

The shelter's hours are:

Tuesday - Thursday: 11am to 7pm
Friday: 11am to 6pm
Saturday: 11am to 5pm
Sunday: 12 Noon to 5pm
Closed on Mondays