DECA students will begin collecting products for the local animal shelter Cause for Paws. Donations are encouraged to be brought by all students, not just DECA students, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and will be accepted from the end of April until late May.

Cause for Paws is a local, self-funded cat shelter in Parkland that has a mission to rescue cats and give them a safe and loving home. The shelter is a non-profit organization and relies on volunteers to assist, provide supplies and educate the community about the cats. The Humane Society has partnered with MSD to collect products such as food, paper towels, pee pads, disinfecting spray and other things the cats need.

The drive has been postponed until late April; supplies should be brought to the advisors of the project’s room’s: Sharon Cutler in room 704, Lisa Webster in room 703 and Mitch Albert in room 511.

DECA officers are happy to work with this organization because they know collecting donations for the kittens will immensely help the shelter.

“I am excited that DECA is branching out with the organizations we work with and I hope to see how we can work closer with Cause for Paws,”officer junior Alexis Presno said.

DECA officers and advisers try to cater to all MSD students and since most people have a soft spot for animals, they thought it would be a great idea. The shelter organizer reached out to the school through Instagram because she knew about the previous charity drives DECA has participated in.

“We try to do different types of collections so we can make the most out of them, since different things cater to different students,” director of philanthropy junior Geetanjali Srivastava said.

DECA has not partnered with Cause for Paws in prior years, but has collaborated with organizations such as Jacobs Shoes, Relay for Life, Harvest Drive, Light the Night and more. Branching out to different people and places has been important for the program because they want to help as many organizations as they can.

“We try to branch out with different organizations and nonprofits,” Presno said. “We haven’t worked with any animal shelters in the past and we wanted to do something new. They reached out to us and we thought it would be the perfect opportunity.”

Cause for Paws will take all the help it can get from the students. Anything that will benefit the cats will be appreciated by both the cats and those at the shelter who take care of them. A more specific list will be released once the charity drive gets closer.