Young Animal Lover Proves It Takes A Village

SAN CARLOS, CA -- One person can make a difference. And in the case of Maya Akers, one youngster can.

The 11-year-old San Carlos youth has a list for the animals at the Peninsula Humane Society, and is not only checking it twice, she's delivering it to the critters at the shelter.

This sixth-grade student at Central Middle School in San Carlos is playing Santa for the variety of animals. She asked for donations for shelter necessities at her home Saturday and received an overwhelming response.

"Excellent -- our garage is full of donations," her mother Diana Dull Akers said. "She had a fantastic time doing this donation drive and was beaming with excitement greeting each visitor who arrived."

The big yellow signs and giant stuffed dog on top of the mother's car at curbside apparently helped draw some attention from drivers. Dull Akers counted 37 visitors who showed up to drop off 22 harnesses and collars, 33 new and used blankets and the most popular item -- 223 towels.

In addition, 100 cans of cat and dog food were also donated, along with toys, pet carriers, and snake items including rock warmers, a decorative skull rock and boxes of frozen mice. The mother-daughter duo has already made a delivery to the shelter. The donation drive will expand beyond the house to a table at a local market.

"On behalf of our shelter animals, we want to thank Maya for hosting this donation drive for items our animals need. We also want to thank everyone who donated. We are so grateful for the kindness and generosity of our community, and for young people like Maya,” Peninsula Humane Society spokeswoman Buffy Martin Tarbox said.

The donation drive is so continuing through the week. You just might not get to meet the extraordinary adolescent and her hamster, Tutu. Maya and her mom are advising those who still want to donate to leave the items on the porch at the house located at 2820 Brittan Ave. in San Carlos.

The enterprising youngster is turning the donation drive into a school project at the middle school called R.O.P.E.S., a voluntary, extra-curricular activity that may serve as a community service project. R.O.P.E.S, which stands for Rite of Passage Experiences, requires the fourth-, sixth- and eighth-grade students develop oral and written presentations on their projects.
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Maya's motivation is pretty simple. It starts with family and ends with her own experiences. Her grandmother has adopted three rescue dogs from the Humane Society. Plus, the girl volunteered there during a summer camp.

"I immediately took a certain liking to a rabbit," she admitted to Patch. She was also pleased when two kittens, Rainbow and Jefferson, got adopted.

Her mother admitted to wondering if this young self-proclaimed animal lover would come home with a shelter full of animals to adopt. After all, this shelter has seen three pigs come into the system in one year. The last one, named Piggy Smalls, got adopted right away, and lives on a farm.

"I was trying my best to give her a taste of that. She just wants to give back," Dull Akers said. "She's a die-hard animal lover."

Essentially, Maya has spread her wings -- and with that, her ambitions and experience.
She has learned to be ok with having frozen mice in the vehicle, the result of one neighbor's cleaning out of her freezer after her pet snake died. The Humane Society feeds the rodents to the owls it keeps in its rehabilitation division. The reptiles like the mice too.

"I want to help these animals have a great Christmas or whatever they might celebrate," Maya insists.

The Peninsula Humane Society "animal wish list" consists of items many people could find scrounging through their houses.

It calls for the following for all animals:

• Towels (used or new)
• Unstuffed blankets (used or new/no comforters)
• Paper towels
• Newspapers

Going to the dogs:

• Harnesses (preferably "Sensation" or "Easy Walk")
• Canned gravy-type food
• Nylabone chews
• Creamy peanut butter
• Rope toys

The cats will fancy:

• Fancy Feast or Friskies cat food
• Canned tuna
• Unscented baby wipes for kittens
• Large shoeboxes (with no lids) for cats to sleep in
• Ping-pong balls
• Pipe cleaners
• Feather toys/long cat wands

Small animals could use:

• Timothy Hay (a type of hay that guinea pigs like to eat)
• Untreated wicker items for rabbits to chew on (baskets, balls, knick-knacks)

For the birds:

• Bird toys (small and medium)
• Sisal rope
• Feather dusters

Reptiles may slither into the act with:

• Critter containers (all sizes)
• Butcher/wax paper
• Incandescent light bulbs (60-100 watt)

More information on the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA may be obtained www.phs-spca.org.

--Images courtesy of Peninsula Humane Society