Press Round up

Humane Society Silicon Valley September 2010 Newsletter

Two Paws Up to Henry Tien Shing Keys for collecting more than 50 blankets for our shelter animals! Henry and his mother Vivian wanted to do a fun summer project that would benefit the animals at our shelter. So, they set out to collect 40 blankets in 40 days! The two went to Freecyle and other locations to collect blankets, toys and other items. They also approached neighbors, family and friends for donations. They ended up surpassing their goal with 55 blankets and an assortment of toys and other items for our shelter animals.

"It's fun to help animals at the Humane Society because they need to be happy while they're waiting to be adopted," said Henry, who attends Fisher Middle School in Los Gatos. Mother Vivian says that collecting items for the animals was a great project because it challenged Henry, gave him a goal and kept him occupied during the last month of summer. Henry, who posed for a photo with Dino, one of our shelter guests who we highlighted in this enewsletter, said he enjoyed meeting the large dog. "Dino is a very sweet, adorable dog. I haven't really been around a large dog before," said Henry whose family has a 15-year-old pug at home. "I hope he finds a home."

Los Gatos Weekly Times September 7, 2010

Henry's been 'dog'-gone busy, collecting blankets for animals

When asked what he did over summer vacation, Fisher Middle School sixth-grader Henry Tien Shing Keys has a ready answer: He collected blankets and bags of toys to donate to Humane Society Silicon Valley.

Henry also attended basketball camp and went hiking, biking and golfing with his father, but the month of August was activity-free, so he and his mom came up with a project to collect 40 blankets in four weeks and donate them to HSSV.

"It was a way to get me thinking and get me through the entire month," Henry said. "Otherwise I would have been playing video games and watching TV."

At 11 years old, Henry is too young to volunteer at the shelter, so this was his way of giving back. "I wanted him to have a summer project, and he loves animals," mom Vivian Keys said. "I helped, but he managed the whole thing."

Henry and his mom used electronic media to solicit donations from family members and friends. "We mostly did everything on e-mail," Keys said. "We belong to the Los Madres parenting group and Freecycle neighborhood groups in Los Gatos and Campbell. We also contacted Facebook friends."

Henry knows how to use all those programs and was able to put them to good use, collecting 55 blankets in less than four weeks and exceeding his original goal.

"It was a fun project," Henry said. "It's also fun to help animals at the humane society because they need to be happy while they're waiting to be adopted."

When Henry and his mom took the donations to HSSV, Henry met a shelter dog named Dino. "Dino is a very sweet, adorable dog," Henry said. "I haven't really been around a big dog before. I hope he finds a home."

The Keys have a 15-year-old pug named Bucky, so were unable to adopt Dino themselves. "We want to focus on Bucky," Vivian said. "He went to all the concerts in town this summer."

Meantime, the humane society is planning its eighth annual Walk 'N' Wag fundraiser that will take place Oct. 2 at the Animal Community Center's campus, 901 Ames Ave. in Milpitas.

Final Count

The day before yesterday, I got more blankets from my grandmother. She lives in Carmel so I got to visit the beach. I also visited downtown Carmel. My grandmother had some blankets for us. After the visit, the final count on blankets stood at 55. Here are the final pics:

Ending Statement

Yesterday I received fifteen blankets, putting our total at 46. This means that 4 Weeks, Forty Blankets is now over.

I'd like to thank everyone who donated, or helped donate. A special thank you to the Happy Dragon, for helping by giving us things. Another thank you to the Humane Society.

Lastly, I'd like to thank Dino the dog, and of course, my mom. You two really helped it get going.

This is the official end of 4 Weeks, Forty Blankets. But who knows what will happen next year?

The Big Photo Shoot

Yesterday was my big moment. After lots of discussion, Mom finally got the Humane Society to do something exciting. Just what? I got to have my picture taken, the possibility of being in the Humane Society's fall newsletter and a chance to be in our local paper, the Los Gatos Weekly. This is just how it all went down.

We showed up with the car stuffed with stuff. I was holding some of the cuter stuffed animals to take some load off. Some of the Humane Society people were hosting a meeting outside, so we passed them on the way in. We came inside and told the person at the front desk why we were there. While we were waiting, we saw some new employees getting introduced to a big, 70-pound Shepherd and Chow mix named Dino (pronounced Dee-no). The person we asked for came in and saw that we were watching Dino. She explained that he would be the dog in the pictures with me later.

Now, let me explain about Dino. He's a young dog at only 4 years old, yet he's already had hip problems. In fact, he has a artificial hip. On the hip, you can see the mark where they did the surgery. However, that does not stop him from wanting to play, but the people have to stop him from playing TOO much.

Once we were done talking about the pictures later, with guidance from one of their trainers, I took Dino for a short walk. Actually, I'd more describe it as him tugging and me holding on in the begging. But after a little time, he started to walk calmly at my side. He's very sweet, and I got to give him some treats for being such a good dog. I wish Trinket got to have some of those treats. They were hamburger flavor.

As for the pictures, they were pretty boring compared to walking a dog that is about as heavy as you are. I'm glad I got to spend some time at the Humane Society.

Pic from Yesterday

Yesterday I visited LT. She wasn't at home, but the things were waiting at the end of her driveway. She owns two dogs, who were barking at us when we picked the stuffed animals up. Here is the picture of some of the stuffed animals (the cutest ones):

This Past Few days'(blankets and stuffed animals haul)

Two days ago I picked up two blankets, each in it's own bag. Yesterday, Mom picked up 9 baby blankets, two blankets and some cute stuffed animals. Here are the pictures:

The count on blankets is now up to 28.

More Stuff

Yesterday we pulled in a big haul: 2 medium sized bags of towels, 1 huge bag of sheets, 2 blankets, 3 small rugs and a dog pad. The contributors were Fae, Liza and Jeanee. Here are the pictures: