Interview! Aimee St. Arnaud, Director at Humane Alliance a Program of the ASPCA
October 22, 2016
Interview! Stacey Carver, President and Executive Director of Berkshire Animal DREAMS (MA)
October 25, 2016
The past couple of weeks has been very tough on the little community that I live in, in Vermont. Some of you may have heard about the terrible accident that happened over Columbus Day weekend, killing five teenagers. While I didn’t know the kids personally, my son is a seventh grader at the school that they went to and I have felt a small piece of the pain the community feels for these kids and their grieving families. It can be overwhelming to know What to do When Tragedy Strikes. But together, we can move forward.
Unfortunately, tragedy happens every day, in a senseless act of violence or a natural disaster. It happens and we are never prepared for something like this. The school administrators and teachers were in shock when the story broke, as can be expected. They quickly realized that they needed some outside help, in order to help the children manage their grief.
How Does A Community Move Forward?
What have they done at school? They have brought in therapy dogs and done some special exercises to relieve stress. The community has come together in large numbers (1000+ at times) to show, that as a group, strength will come. School has begun raising money to help the families honor these children, as well. As can be expected, though, there is still such a feeling of senseless loss.
Why do I bring this up with the Community Cat Community? We see tragedy, hardship and suffering all of the time. Those innocent cats need our voices when they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. We need to become a community of caretakers and as a group, we can advocate and support others all around the world. This is how we can make a difference in the lives of community cats.
And of course, we also need to live life to the fullest. We need to make sure we are taking care of ourselves and our loved ones. So, I would ask all of you this week to take a moment for yourselves and enjoy life. You never know when it will be taken away. Someone very eloquently put it in an email, “Hug your Children”. I would also add, “Hug your Cats” (for those that want it).
Next week, I promise a much cheerier blog, but this week just seems like a time for much needed reflection…
Message From Stacy:
I just wanted to let everyone know that starting on November 1st, our show is going to go down to three shows a week, until the end of January. We are about to hit our 100th episode! However, after some reflection, I decided that NOW is time to work with our Community Cats Grantees, develop our Cat Academy and build out our Community Cats Colony membership site. KNOW that I am still VERY committed to the podcast, but many have a hard time keeping up with the volume of shows. Think of this as the perfect time to catch up!
This podcast, blog, website and other programs are all for you! So if you have topics you want to hear about, questions you have or possible guests in mind, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at stacy@communitycatspodcast.com. Also, don’t forget about our “burning questions” mentoring call on October 28th at Noon EST. To sign up, simply email me at stacy@communitycatspodcast.com.
Please continue to enjoy the show!
