It was once said, “A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.”- Jack London.

Last month, Grandview High School FCCLA, headed by Ms. Krupa and Mrs. Landers, and the Optimist Club, run by Ms. Cameron, teamed up to collect old, unwanted t-shirts from students and faculty for over two weeks.

You’ll never believe what they did with them next… ripped them apart and turned them into chew toys!  The toys were for the rescue dogs over at Wayside Waifs and were later delivered by the school librarian, Mrs. Reich.

FCCLA member, Ey’Leonna Howard had this to say about charitable giving.

“Doing charity makes you feel good inside, I recommend it to everyone,” Howard said. She is a dog lover who owns two dogs: Tapps, 4 years old, and Reviele, 3 years old.

Howard went on to say that the experience made her feel great — like she was really helping out.  The best part to her was making the toys themselves, which included ripping the shirts into strips and then three- strand  braiding them. Howard even said that in the future she would consider working with animals such as cats or dogs.

The GHS Optimist Club played a significant role and no organization is complete without it’s leader.

Ms. Amy Cameron, head of the Optimist Club, was in charge of  gathering Optimist Club members to assist FCCLA with the event. Cameron is a self-professed “major dog lover.” Her brother, W. Bruce Cameron, is the famous author of  the bestselling book series “A Dog’s Purpose” and “A Dog’s  Journey.”

Cameron says it was absolutely worth it to bring comfort and care to dogs, who bring us so much joy.

“When we give to others it doesn’t just help them, it helps us it’s a part of our humanity,” Cameron said. The best part to Ms. Cameron was  how creative the students were and on the flip side she said  it was hilarious considering how bad her chew toys were.

As in all things there was a head of operations and that person was Mrs. Cheryl Landers for this particular charity event.

Mrs. Landers says she absolutely loves dogs and owns two: a beagle named Mike  and a basset hound named Gracie. The best part to her was how much fun FCCLA members had and that they got to help the dogs. When asked on a scale of 1-10, how much she believed that the  Wayside Waifs people appreciated the chew toy donations, she said a 10. Landers said it made her feel really good and she had so much fun.  She answered enthusiastically, when asked if it was worth it, ”Very much so.”  On charitable giving she had this to say, “Everyone should be willing to help others in need, no matter how large or small the donation.”

It just goes to show that sometimes everyone can use a little charity, even the dogs over at Wayside Waifs.