Key Club makes a paws-itive impact with cat beds for the Animal Shelter

On Saturday, February 22, Burroughs Key Club members teamed up with local homeschooled students at the Ridgecrest Branch Library for a Teen Time event to create cat beds for the Ridgecrest Animal Shelter.
During this activity, students “upcycled” piles of fleece blankets purchased from DART, giving them new life for their furry recipients. The process involved cutting the seams of each blanket into three smaller sections. Students then cut five-inch squares from the corners and snipped strips of fleece from the edges to double-knot them together.
Sophomore Laticia Elbrecht-Sigala was somewhat familiar with the procedure, having previously made tie-knot friendship blankets.
“I would say this went better,” said Elbrecht-Sigala. “I’ve made two before and they turned out well, but I definitely worked a lot faster on these.”
Freshman Karah Higer focused on cutting, moving quickly through the task and prepping between 15 and 20 blankets to pass along to others. As a cat lover, she was motivated for the project.
“I love cats a lot and sometimes wish I could give every cat a home,” said Higer. “Knowing that these cats will have comfy beds makes me really happy.”
In total, the students created 23 cat beds in various sizes, perfect for catnaps of all ages.
Overseen by Library Branch Supervisor Charissa Wagner, Saturdays of Service is a recent addition to the local library’s programming. Key Club has collaborated with the library for several of these Saturdays of Service events.
In previous activities, Key Club members decorated Post-it notes with inspirational messages for library visitors to take and brighten their day. They also created “Have a Good Day” cards adorned with puff balls and colored pencils for residents at Bella Sera. Their next service project will involve coloring Easter cards.