BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) - Eight-year-old Josie Adams, a second-grade student at Barboursville Elementary School, says she loves animals and wants to take care of them whenever she gets the opportunity.
“I love all animals because they are nice,” she said. “So for my birthday I wanted to help the animals at the animal shelter since they don’t have a home yet.”
Her mother, Maggie Adams, said while planning Josie’s birthday party the two talked about using the occasion to give back to the community.
“I asked if she would rather take up donations for something instead of getting toys and gifts for herself, and she quickly decided that she wanted to do something for animals,” she said.
So when the birthday invitations went out, guests were asked to bring items they could take and donate to the Huntington Cabell Wayne Animal Shelter.
“We have four dogs, a cat and two donkeys,” Maggie Adams said. “She had a pony that passed away this past year, so she wanted to do it in memory of her pony, Casper.”
Around 50 kids came to the birthday party and brought lots of cat and dog food, scratch pads, cleaning supplies, animal toys and treats, and other items as well. All of those items were taken to the shelter on the afternoon of Jan. 26.
“This is super sweet, thoughtful and generous,” said Courtney Proctor Cross, executive director at the Huntington Cabell Wayne Animal Shelter.
Proctor Cross said the shelter relies on donations from the community.
“We are fortunate that we receive many donations from the community,” she said. “We always need slip leashes, always need dog and cat food - and like to use Purina if possible so that we are not constantly changing the type of food, which could cause the animals some digestive issues. We spend a lot of money on flea medicines, vaccines and dewormer so our animals here are healthy … We have volunteers that come to walk the dogs. We receive lots of support from the community and can always use more, so this was a very kind and thoughtful gift.”
Maggie Adams said she and her husband, Jeremy, were both raised to give back to the community when possible.
“We want to instill that in our children as well,” she said. “We’re so proud of her.”
Josie Adams said this was one of her favorite birthdays.
“Helping all these animals really makes me feel good,” she said.
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