Phi Alpha Delta, a pre-law fraternity at LSU, is holding an animal shelter donation drive through Sunday as an accessible way for students to help the Baton Rouge community.
Kennedi Moncreary, a senior studying English at LSU and the community service chair of Phi Alpha Delta, said she came up with the idea to leave a donation bin in the LSU Library accepting pet toys, blankets, towels, food and cleaning products such as dish soap and multi-purpose cleaners to give to a local shelter.
The collected items will be donated to Companion Animal Alliance after the drive finishes Sunday. The well-known shelter in Baton Rouge cares for more than 9,000 animals annually and constantly seeks donations, volunteers, foster families and permanent homes for its animals.
“I love animals, most people love animals, so I feel like it was great to be able to help them,” Moncreary said.
Moncreary said as students are settling into the new semester, not many are able to sign up for weekly shifts at the shelter. So, she thought it best to have a drive rather than an actual event.
By Thursday afternoon, they had received 15 donations, mainly pet food. The drive was supposed to be last week, but due to the snow, it was pushed back, and Moncreary said she felt that’s why the organization couldn’t get as many donations as hoped for. However, she is confident she will see more participation next time when students’ schedules aren’t interrupted by inclement weather.
If students could not donate this week, Phi Alpha Delta has a whole year of community service events planned, the next being with the Baton Rouge Food Bank on Feb. 15, which will soon be available to sign up for. Moncreary encourages anyone looking for service hours to volunteer, even if they are not in the fraternity. She shared that she hopes these opportunities reach non-members and get them involved with the organization and their community.
Moncreary says her job is simply to assess what is needed in the Baton Rouge community and, in response, put together events that would be beneficial for students to participate in and are easily accessible.
“I’ve always helped my community. I feel like I knew about a lot of community service out there that others didn’t,” said Moncreary. “As a community service chair, I can help other people know what’s out there.”
