K-Kids at Aspen Elementary School with some of the 477 pounds of pet food donated by staff and students. Photo by Sharon Allen

K-Club members move the donated pet food outside for transportation to Santa Fe Humane Society. Photo by Sharon Allen

BY SHARON ALLEN
Kiwanis Club

Aspen Elementary School K-Kids service club is off to a great start this school year! The first project of the school year was a food drive for local animal shelters. In just two weeks, 477 pounds of cat and dog food were donated by Aspen staff and students. In addition, the kids made dog and cat toys to be given to local shelters along with food donations. 

The club consists of 19 1st-6th graders who joined because they want to “make the world a better place in which to live”! They wanted to make the pet food drive a friendly competition between the classes in the school. After collecting for two weeks, the students weighed the food donated by each class. The weight of the food was graphed by class on a chart for all the school to see. The students in Ms. Wild’s ILP class won with 67 pounds and will receive bags of assorted treats. The next three classes, Ms. Bartram’s 3rd grade (58 pounds), Ms. Christensen’s 6th grade (55 pounds), and Ms. Gilbert’s 4th grade (53 pounds) were so close and will all receive class popcorn parties. 

The bulk of the food was gratefully accepted by the Santa Fe Humane Society and they promised to highlight the K-Kids’ large donation on their social media webpage.  

Aspen Elementary School K-Club members prepare to load up the pet food they collected. Photo by Sharon Allen

The donated pet food arrives at Santa Fe Humane Society. Photo by Sharon Allen