Call for Stories

We’re a few days into PrideStrong Weeklong and Pride members have already gone out into their communities and helped make a change. One hour of time might not seem like a lot, but it means a lot to animals in need.

And we want to share these little victories with the world. One hour of volunteering might not seem like a big deal, but there is a story behind every good deed.

Did you connect with one of the animals you met?

Did you help your local shelter catch up on the dishes or laundry?

Did you recruit your friends in your cause to help animals in need?

What motivated you to volunteer?

When you’re done with you volunteering shift, make sure you fill out the PrideStrong Weeklong survey and add as much detail as you can. Once that’s complete, share your story on Facebook or send your story and pictures to truepridestrong@gmail.com to be featured in the PrideStrong blog.

Share you story so we can share it with the world!

Helping Animals from Home

Tomorrow is the first day of the PrideStrong Weeklong. Starting tomorrow, members of the Pride will go out into their communities and donate just one hour of their time to an animal-related charity.

If you still haven’t selected your charity, don’t worry. While it may be too late to volunteer in person, there are still ways to help animals in need from the comfort of your own neighborhood. Here are some ways you can participate in the PrideStrong Weeklong:

• ResQWalk is an app that will donate money to an organization of your choosing just for walking. Download it now and go for an hourlong walk. Done and done!
• Spend an hour calling around to your friends and family for donations! You can collect money, food, blankets, or cleaning supplies and then deliver them to a local animal organization. Make sure to check that the organization is ethical.
• Every animal shelter needs comfy blankets for their animals to sleep on! Have you ever wanted to learn to sew, knit, or crochet? Well, spend a few hours learning and then donate your creations to your local shelter.
• Call up a nearby animal-related organization and see if they need any help with the website or social media. You could help write adoption profiles, newspaper ads, and more from the comfort of your couch.

Have other ideas for how to help? Make sure to share them on the PrideStrong Facebook page and, as always, make sure the organization you help is ethical in its treatment of animals and people.

Stepping Up: One Woman's Mission to Feed Homeless Animals

If something needs to change, it’s up to you to change it. That’s the way Colleen Jousma sees things. Instead of waiting around for things to get better, Colleen stands up and gets to work.

“When I see a need in my community, I don’t try to find someone who can fix it,” she explained. “I bring solutions to the table and make sure a solution is found.”

Combine her drive to make the world a better place with her love for animals and Colleen was destined to begin volunteering. For the upcoming PrideStrong Weeklong, Colleen is looking for other people in the Los Angeles area to help feed and care for animals in need.

“I am organizing a pet food and supply drive for Saturday, January 14,“ she said. “Pets of the Homeless provides help for medical bills and also food for pets of homeless individuals. The supplies that I am collecting will go to area animal welfare/rescue groups.”

During the PrideStrong Weeklong, Colleen will be doing a pet food and supply drive for Feeding Pets of the Homeless and is reaching out to Pride members in the L.A. area to participate. However, she also realizes that the commute across L.A. can be daunting for some so, using her years of expertise, she’s created a how-to guide so people can run their own food drives closer to home.

Not only are food drives simple to run and incredible effective, they help fill a need in every community, Colleen explained.

“Food pantries receive some pet food through the year, but the amount is small in comparison to the needs that families and individuals have,” she explains. “Financial emergencies can happen to anyone. Having a food pantry nearby that has pet food will easy anxieties for the family and fill the belly of a pet in need.”

In a previous food drive, Colleen collected over 65 pounds of food, pet supplies, and monetary donations. And you can do the same. Just follow Colleen’s motto:

“If it’s to be, it’s up to me.”

Ready for the next PrideStrong Weeklong?

During the last PrideStrong Weeklong, more than 50 people came together and

supported 35 animal-related causes, helping more than 600 hundred animals and donating almost $6,000 in the form of volunteer hours.

Now, the question is, are we ready to top that?

Mark you calendars because January 8th through the 15th is the second PrideStrong Weeklong, an event that helps bring people together to support and care for animals in need. All you need to do is find one hour during that week and it will make all the difference.

During this week-long event, participants donate one hour or more of their time to an animal-based charity or cause of their choosing. Once the hour is up, participants will fill out a brief survey about what they did when they volunteered.

Cleaning kennels, walking dogs, writing emails, and answering phones were just a few of the things Pride Members did to help animals in need.

It may only be December, but now is the time to start planning. If you haven’t already, start researching local charities and finding opportunities near you. Make sure you also check out the PrideStrong WeekLong Facebook page for more information and to read stories from our last event.

Curious about our last PrideStrong Weeklong? Check out this video:

Animal initiative commencing!

Kickstarting the PrideStrong blog with a simple "We're here!" post. Gotta have something for the website to link to while it's under construction.