As mentioned our main goal as a service group is to raise awareness within our school community of the issues surrounding stray animals in Sri Lanka. Rather than solely focusing on one main event, we are expanding to smaller initiatives. In collaboration with house for habitat we were able to incorporate dogs to their annual 5km run. It was a great idea to raise their funds which are necessary for building houses down in Hambantota, but also to get our community more actively involved with animals such as dogs. Through this event we were able to put our name out there in the community as a service group.

This project took quite a bit of planning as we had to communicate with another service group for the first time. Rashmi and I never really looked outside our service group, but felt as though working with others would be a good experience to build leadership skills and branch out. It took about 2 weeks of emails and meetings to make the event as successful as it was. It was a learning experience which has made me a better leader and improved my planning skills. These are important and transferable skills that can be used on a large spectrum.

We came to school at 5:50 am on a Saturday morning. It took time to set up the water bowls, treats and help housing and habitat with their stalls. But once 7:30 am hit, the front porch was filled with runners and dogs of all ages. I was amazed to see the amount of  support received from the school community towards our service groups. It was important for our service group to keep a close eye on the dogs to ensure that they had adequate amounts of food and water during and after the run. For that reason we placed several members at the stalls along the running path to constantly check up on them. Unfortunately there was a tragic event in which, one of dogs had a deep cut and was extremely dehydrated. Without hesitation I hopped into the truck with Ritheek (one of my friend’s) and his dogs Sterling to rush him to the vet. After a hefty hour and a half, he was back on his feet.

As a service we planned for a successful event, but this was an important learning curve for us as a service. We had planned for all potential circumstances, which eventually payed off. We stood to our morals and attentively cared for all the dogs that came. It was our duty to ensure that it was a smooth run for the dogs. Moreover, it was a successful event for both Housing and Habitat as well as forCare For Paws, due to the attentive planning from both ends.