Students and staff of the Madison College Volunteer Center were able to donate cat beds to the Dane County Humane society thanks to the combined effort of the volunteers and planning that allowed students to safely receive the necessary materials, instructions, and drop off their finished cat beds for donation. 

Volunteers signed up through an online form in order to be a part of the project. Once signed up, students received a package through the mail that contained all of the materials and instructions that were necessary to make nice cat beds.   

Last spring, the Volunteer Center worked in a similar way to provide blankets to children in hospitals, or otherwise in need, through Project Linus. The group was able to coordinate sending supplies and receiving the finished blankets in a similar fashion as the cat bed project. 

“The student leader Milan, who was in charge of this project, was thinking about something similar we could do … we contacted Dane County Humane Society, and they’re pretty closed down right now, so we were like, ‘what would be most useful to you?’” said Brianna Stapleton-Welch, advisor for the Volunteer Center. 

“This was on their list of stuff, and we did pretty much the same thing. We mailed the students the materials and we are doing a drive-thru drop off,” said Stapleton–Welch. 

The Volunteer Center was able to make 18 cat beds for the DCHS, who thanked the volunteers for their effort and the beds they provided. The beds were dropped off outside of the Truax campus on Oct. 28, and outside the Goodman South Campus on Oct. 30. 

“Thanks to all of the student volunteers who helped make cat beds for Dane County Humane Society! There will be 18 cat beds delivered to DCHS soon. We appreciate that you’re helping keep cats cozy while they wait for their new homes,” wrote Stapleton-Welch following the project’s success.