For the third straight year, 9-year-old Jaecee Rae Carr of Gray is conducting a “Warm the Shelter” pet blanket drive as part of an effort to earn a Girl Scouts badge.
“All animals deserve homes, but if they don’t find homes, I want them to be warm while staying at a shelter,” Jaecee Rae said. “That’s why I’m doing this blanket drive and hope to do it every year.”
In 2013, Jaecee Rae gathered 150 items for area animal shelters, and last year she gathered 200 items. On Saturday, she donated 70 blankets, towels and comforters to the Elizabethton/Carter County Animal Shelter, the first time she has given to the facility here.
Jaecee Rae, a fourth-grader at Ridgeview Elementary School in Gray, decided to donate to the Carter County shelter because several people from Elizabethton had donated items to her, her mother, Whitney Allen-Carr, said.
“The workers there were very appreciative of her donation, and she enjoyed visiting with the animals while there,” Whitney said.
This year, Jaecee Rae hopes to gather 500 blankets and other items to donate to the shelters.
After soliciting donations from family, friends and others in the community, she spent her Christmas money on blankets and bedding she found on sale at Hamricks, putting her just 150 items away from reaching her goal.
Now she is asking for your help.
“We need new or clean used blankets, towels, comforters or quilts,” her mother, Whitney said.
If you want to donate to the Warm the Shelter drive, send an email to jaeceeraeofsunshine@gmail.com. Jaecee Rae will accept donations through Jan. 15.
“This has been an exciting project for her,” her mother said. “We are overwhelmed by the people who have generously donated blankets. We encourage everyone to clean out their closets then email us, and we will come pick the items up or meet them somewhere.”