MARTINS FERRY — Students at St. Mary Central School in Martins Ferry recently collected donations to support Safe Haven, a cat rescue run by Belmont County Humane Society director Angela Hatfield.

Safe Haven is an indoor, free roam facility to more than 60 adult cats. All donations help save the lives of stray, orphaned and injured cats and kittens in our community.

Some SMC students volunteered at Safe Haven on May 17. As part of their volunteering, they delivered the donations collected, changed cat litter, cleaned the facility, groomed and played with the cats, and hosted a “Kitty Storytime,” reading cat stories to the cats. This benefits the students more than the cats, as they can practice reading aloud without the pressure of a human audience.

SMC encourages service to others. Many organizations either can not have minor-aged volunteers or accept volunteering from teens. COVID-19 also changes the way a lot of organizations accepted volunteering. Thus, there are not a lot of volunteer opportunities for younger children. This project was designed to help encourage the value of volunteering in service at an early age.

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MARTINS FERRY — Students at St. Mary Central School in Martins Ferry recently collected donations to support Safe ...

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