Starting a Youth Animal Club

NHES was started about 60 years ago, and during this time we have grown to nearly 400,000 caring members and have helped rescue thousands of animals. It all began with just a few caring people who wanted to make the world a better place—so congratulations to you on starting a club—you are your way to making a positive difference for animals!

Some basics for starting a youth animal club:

Contact your school or local animal organization to find out if a youth animal club already exists. If not, request support from the school or shelter to help you establish such a club. This is an excellent way to build community partnerships, develop credibility as a club, and gain access to resources for recruiting new members, gaining adult guidance, etc.

Ask a trusted adult to help sponsor, mentor, or co-lead the club. This person can offer guidance for forming club goals, guidelines, leadership roles, projects, and other vital facets of club life. Also, the adult may help serve as an influential liaison for important club communications, such as contacting the media and local businesses.

At the first meeting, focus on: having fun, making introductions, and establishing the club framework. Bring food and drinks, play an “ice-breaker” game, and enjoy meeting people who share your passion for helping animals!

Some other things to do at the first meeting or two:

• Nominate and fill club leadership roles: president, treasurer, secretary, etc. Be sure club members filling these roles fully understand their responsibilities and can meet them adequately.

• Establish the basic goals and scope of the club—what animal issues will your club focus on? You may decide that you want to cover a large variety of animal issues, but it’s a good idea to start in one area, such as helping companion animals, while the club members get to know each other and accomplish their first goals together.

• Create an official club name and even design a club emblem! You will need these for your fliers, online communications, and public events. Plus, then people in the community will know and remember who you are when you’re out and about helping animals.

• Decide how often you'll meet and what attendance guidelines club members will follow. Since many kids and teens are very busy, consider being flexible with attendance so that more people can participate.

Decide which projects you want to do to help animals! After the club is established in the first few meetings, get to work on your club’s cause. Contact your local animal rescue and other nonprofits working to protect animals to offer your help. These rescues can tell you what issues are most significant in your area and what type of help the specific organization needs most. Of course, offering your individual talents and what the club would like to do is also important, so be sure to suggest your ideas as well.

Remember: No amount of people is too small to help animals and make a positive difference in their lives! NHES started with just a few and you can too.

December 2009

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