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NewsDepth A+: Sylvania Students Love Animals

When the Toledo Humane Society had a huge increase in animals over the last few months, two animal-lovers came up with a plan to help out. The girls put their “do-it-yourself” skills to work and raised over $1,000 for the Human Society. This week's NewsDepth A+ Award goes to fifth graders Ella Weisz and Lucy Stipe, from Central Trail Elementary School in Sylvania, Ohio.

Ella and Lucy have known each other since kindergarten, and just last year started volunteering at the Toledo Humane Society. 

“We had to wait until we were old enough to volunteer,” explained Ella. 

WHen they’re at the Humane society some of their duties include walking the dogs, feeding the animals and cleaning out the kennels. 

“My favorite job is playing with all of the cats in the cat room,” said Lucy.

Before the girls could start working, they had to attend a class to teach them how to care for all of the different types of animals, including cats, rabbits, dogs, and the occasional rat or chinchilla.

Over the past few months, the girls noticed that the Humane Society was getting a lot of animals from other shelters that were overflowing or closing down due to the pandemic. They realized that resources were running low and wanted to help out.

“Lucy came up with the idea to make treats and toys and try to sell them,” said Ella.

“We found instructions to make dog toys and treats on Pinterest,” added Lucy.

After making treats and toys, the girls sold them from Lucy’s driveway. They even had a few online orders and delivered to porches, so move over Amazon.

 “Lucy and Ella are some of the kindest students I’ve ever had,” said Lucy’s teacher Mrs. Puterbaugh.

“We are so proud of the work that Ella and Lucy do. They have such big hearts and love animals,” added Mrs. Dona.

The girls even shared the secret recipe for their treats with us, but we promised that their secret was safe with us! This week’s A+ Award goes to Lucy and Ella for supporting the Toledo Humane Society and taking such great care of our four-legged friends.

Submit your ideas for our NewsDepth A+ segment to newsdepth@ideastream.org for consideration.