AN ESSAY ABOUT AN ADOPTED CAT WINS $50K TO HELP ANIMAL SHELTER
Written by Brittany Styles on January 11, 2021
13 year old Sydney Hertzberg, who volunteers at an animal shelter in Michigan, wrote an essay about the cat she adopted when she was 11. Sydney was hoping to win the grand prize of money to donate to the shelter she volunteers for, because they’ve had a difficult year due to Covid.
Sydney’s essay was about how her adopted cat, who she named Mr. Mittens, changed her life. It was clearly a great essay because she won! She was awarded one of the top prizes of $50,000 in the Petco Foundation’s annual Holiday Wishes grant campaign! Best part; she gave the money to the shelter. Excuse me while I grab a tissue.
Sydney explained, in an article by the Detroit Free Press, that she “began volunteering in 2019 with her mother, Julie, at the shelter as part of her Bat Mitzvah community service project. She scooped litter, doled out cat food and wiped down tables and windows”. One day a young woman walked in to the shelter “with her hands cupped around a tiny kitten that she had found alone in a bush a few days earlier”. At age 11, Sydney offered to take the 4-ounce kitty home to bottle feed him and keep him safe. She ended up adopting him and now she takes him everywhere she goes, and has even taught him how to walk on a leash. Mr. Mittens even has his own Instagram page! I mean seriously…can this story get any better or more adorable?!
The Ferndale Cat Shelter’s board will discuss how to use the $50,000 Petco grant. They are grateful to Sydney for her essay, and for the amazing donation. Get the full story here.
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