Midlands 7th grader donates time, love to local animal shelter

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - With her summer and fall extracurriculars at a standstill due to COVID-19, 11-year-old Jocelyn decided to take matters into her own hands and find something to do to give back during her downtime.

“I came up with this idea when all of the activities started getting canceled and I decided that I wanted to be able to give myself and my community around me something to do,” Jocelyn, a 7th grader at Beechwood Middle School said.

“I started a YouTube channel and I posted how to make cat and dog toys – in hopes that people would be able to make those cat and dog toys and donate them to their local animal shelter.” Her channel, a part of her Silver Award Program for the Girl Scouts, features cat toys and DIY videos handy for kids of all ages.

Her love of animals spurred her to find a creative way to get some of her friends & fellow students involved with giving back so she decided to do a linen drive. She asked for donations of old bedsheets and towels, items pet shelters like Pets Inc. desperately need - but that wasn’t enough for her.

Jocelyn said she wanted to do something that would help her “I asked my animal shelter if they needed any help with anything big, and they said that their adult cat community was not getting that much attention.”

Assistant Director of Program Services at Pets Inc., Elise, said when Jocelyn came to her she was thrilled, “She has been just a huge help, it really touches our hearts.”

Jocelyn’s “cat interview” videos have helped get more than a dozen cats adopted & now she hopes other kids will get in on the action too.

“It makes me feel awesome – I hope that people will be inspired to be able to make a difference in their local animal shelter...Just try to make the world for animals and people a better place.”

A purr-fect ending for a pretty amazing girl.

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