Sense of Community

Some good advice on raising your child with a sense of community...

"Help your child think about age-appropriate things that she can do to serve the community. For example, your young child might help you sort items for recycling or give money from her piggy bank to a charitable group. An older child might participate in walks for charity, volunteer at animal shelters or visit residents of a local nursing home..."

My daughter and I have adopted a dachshund mix puppy that was surrendered to a shelter in Louisiana prior to Hurricane Katrina. After the storm, she was relocated to another shelter that was eventually condemned because the owner was an animal hoarder. She was finally rescued by the The Oregon Friends of Shelter Animals and was brought to Oregon where we found her on Petfinder. She is a joy and a blessing, and pretty cute too. Not only do we have a daily reminder of the devastation wrought by the hurricane, but we have an opportunity to make a difference in our own community. We are signing up with our local Humane Society to help with their community education and outreach programs, and we hope to be able to "pay it forward" any way we can.