On Wednesday evening, SERVE hosted Kennel Blanket Making, inviting students to create blankets for the Peoria County Animal Protection Services.
Attendees had the opportunity to create not only the blankets but dog toys and treat bags that would also be donated to PCAPS.
In gifting these items to PCAPS, pets are guaranteed to be provided with these items upon being adopted.
“They give out a bunch of kennels, dog treats, all those types of things to help those new owners,” Azariah Evans, sophomore social work major and incoming SERVE president, said. “We like to throw this event in there every once in a while to help out because people love making stuff for pets and animals.”
The inspiration for the event came from Miracle McClendon, a senior nutrition major and special events coordinator. McClendon had recently adopted a cat named Jellyfish from PCAPS and wanted SERVE to do an event that involved helping animals at the shelter.
“I just saw how caring they were, and they were able to make sure Jellyfish had stuff to come home with,” McClendon said. “I asked them where it comes from, and they come from volunteers, so I thought it would be really neat for Bradley students to get interested in doing stuff like that.”
The Kennel Blanket Making event was just one of the events SERVE hosted for National Volunteer Week. NVW is a week to recognize the impact of volunteer work, and SERVE strives to bring that recognition to Bradley.
“We as an organization host an event every single day until Saturday,” Evans said. “Our goal is to bring people out, tell them about why community services are important and learn about the needs in the Peoria community.”
SERVE will end off this year’s NVW with their final service on Saturday in which students will be able to volunteer at the Peoria Zoo and Luther Botanical Garden or PCAPS to hand out items made at the Kennel Blanket Making.
“SERVE does many volunteer events throughout the semester, especially in the beginning of semesters,” McClendon said. “We typically stick signs out on the quad, so people can go ahead and scan the QR code, and it’ll put you in contact with us.”
Further information on events SERVE hosts and how to get involved can be found on their instagram page.
