Starting in October 2021, we began our search for a root cause to a problem and come up with a sustainable solution for our Silver Award Project. We narrowed it down to three topics: daily necessities, animals, and education. Then, we discussed subtopics that range from green solution for women’s hygiene to helping older cats get adopted. From there, we both realized that we want to work on a Silver Award Project that involves animals. Our love for felines led us to bring forth the importance of TNR and community cats for our project.

Trap Neuter Return (TNR) has many different subparts: fostering, adopting, community cats, and much more. Yet, not a lot of people know about it. Therefore, we contacted Ohlone Humane Society (or OHS) for a possibility of a partnership in our Silver Award project. A few emails and an interview later, the president of OHS, Ms. Ann Morrison, directed us to Ms. Sarah Wood. She has mentored us in the TNR process, and guided us to how we can bring forth TNR’s benefits for community cats. It was an honor working with her, and such a special treat to learn about her knowledge on TNR and community cats.

The Fundraiser

We wanted to raise money to donate supplies for Ohlone Humane Society (OHS) in order to help their TNR team. Raising around three hundred dollars, we were able to do exactly that. We sold over a hundred hair ties with cute cat and dog charms! From the proceeds, we were able to get two transfer cages, two med kits, puppy pads, paper towels, and much more. We met with Ms. Diane Shaw, the Vice President of OHS, and gave her the donations. Creating the hair ties, advertising with business cards, and handing off the well-earned donations, it has been a rewarding journey. We hope with the donations received, OHS is able to help more community cats and change their lives for the better. However, we knew this fundraiser and donations weren’t enough to provide a sustainable solution for our project.

Educational Videos

With the knowledge gained from Ms. Sarah, we were able to utilize it into making educational videos. By spreading information about TNR and community cats, we hope we can provide a sustainable solution to the root cause. The more people know, the more they can help. A movement is nothing without the people behind it, moving the movement. There are five videos covering different topics: community cats; what is TNR; a mock trapping demonstration; how to take care of a colony of community cats; and our hair tie advertisement. Along with the videos, we made three reels about the following: what is TNR, why stinky wet food is needed for a TNR session, and what materials/supplies are used for TNR.