Hearts of Gold Pets

Howwwwdy! My name is Terra and I'm a mom working a full-time job. When Covid-19 first hit, I was looking for a way to give back to my community. I love kids and I've always had pets so I figured it was probably in one of those two realms. I had no idea it could be part of both!

I read an article about a teacher in Virginia who was also a volunteer at her local animal shelter. She had her kids make art for the shelter pets and cleared the place out! So I talked to a few of my principles here and TADA! Hearts of Gold Pets was born!

Elementary school kids make art for shelter pets in an effort to get them adopted. I do all the footwork and take care of the cost so there's no extra load on the teachers or the shelters who are already trying to do too much with too little. The shelters use the art to spread awareness and the kids get to see how they can positively impact the world!

We've done it five times so far, and this last time we did almost 700 pieces of art. I'm so proud of my kiddos and I love working with the shelters. The kids ask every time, "Are there more?" and the shelters are so thankful to have some help. Teachers state that this project helps their kids calm down before and after tests. Shelters are taking them to news stations and art galleries to create fundraisers.

Check out TikTok if you want to see some videos (@sparky) or my website heartsofgoldpets.org. I want to keep this project going but times are hard and everything's getting more expensive. If this keeps growing like I expect it to, I'm going to need some help in October when we do it again.

This is a really good cause! It helps everyone involved: the kids, the pets, the teachers, the shelters, and everyone in between. If you'd like to donate, please do so! I'll use the money for printing and shipping fees for the most part. Thank you so much for reading this post and for donating!!