Hamburg’s National Honor Society recently held a pet drive in order to collect supplies for the Animal Rescue League of Berks County. This was the first event held by the National Honor Society for this school year that gave HAHS students the opportunity to donate to a charity. Officers Bella Denatala, Taylor Swartley, Jacob Engel, Ryan Daly and Emma Christman came up with the idea to support a local animal shelter and selected the Animal Rescue League of Berks County because they help over five thousand homeless animals each year. 

     The drive was held from September 28 until October 5 and gathered over 80 items during the five day period. In order to promote more donations, each donator was given candy and entered in a raffle for the chance to win a 25 dollar Amazon gift card. This year’s winner was Rhonda Kilner, one of the custodians at the high school. The drive was very successful, as items such as dog and cat food, dog and cat treats, toys, collars, bowls, and various cleaning supplies were all contributed by Hamburg students and faculty.

     Mrs. Bucheit, the teacher who oversees Hamburg’s National Honor Society, was pleased with the turnout of the first collection. “I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of donations we collected. We had a lot of high school staff members participate and donate along with the students which was nice,” said Mrs. Bucheit. “It was a successful community service project in my opinion – we had 13 NHS members participate by creating posters, flyers and manning the table in the mornings. We donated four large boxes of items to help animals in Berks County!” 

     Members of the National Honor Society are looking forward to a productive year filled with lots of community service and volunteer opportunities to enrich their final year of high school.