Why Foster Animals? Why Help Local Shelters?
Photo by Callie Hazel
All the animals my family have fostered and adopted out for AHeinz57. If interested in fostering contact the shelters through their website.
One of the most rewarding aspects of this type of work is the love and happiness you can bring to animals. Most of the animals that wind up in a shelter were abandoned or were found wandering or trapped. They are helpless in the kind of lives that they are dealt. Most come in and are scared, beaten, and hurt. Fostering and helping with shelters can help ease some of their pain, and it can help them feel the love that every animal deserves.
The local shelters in the area include; AHeinz57 located in DeSoto, Furry Friends Refuge located in West Des Moines. They are both great shelters that are always looking to better the lives of animals and are always in need of more help. Both organizations are volunteer-based and do amazing things for animals and families in need of a furry family addition.
My family started volunteering at AHeinz57 in 2019. My Mom and I were especially invested in helping out and getting involved in this organization. I have grown up with pets my whole life, and they have been a huge part of my life. When I was little my grandparents had acreage and had outside cats, I spent summers raising the kittens and playing with the cats. So when AHeinz57 needed more foster families I felt called to help. My family has fostered 18 cats/kittens and of those, we have adopted 2 and added them to our family, and we have 5 fosters now, and 4 other pets that we love and cherish.
Hosting these animals has enriched my life immensely. I get to watch kittens grow up, and feel safe and loved within our home and then be able to find their forever family. It is so rewarding to see animals that get adopted and are so happy because all animals are so deserving of that kind of love. Most of the animals that wind up in the shelter have had a very hard life, and it was a struggle each day for them to even survive, but they are still so full of love, and life.
Animals show us love every day, they may not be able to talk but they make sure to let us know how important we are. They need our help. Each animal’s life that is saved because of shelters, fosters, and adoptions are lives that are made better. I encourage anyone and everyone who loves animals to find a way to help local shelters.
Your donation will support the student journalists of Adel DeSoto Minburn High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment, attend conferences, and cover our annual website hosting costs.
![Rhyan Miller is the April student of the month. Miller is the daughter of Charity and Rich Miller, and has maintained a 3.925 GPA. Her three favorite classes in high school have been drama as literature, Prostart II, and news journalism. Miller participates in cross country, theater, individual and large group speech, the prostart team, student council, NHS, silver cord, and track. She feels that her experiences in those activities have made her more extroverted, sharing that she is "not afraid of [her] own voice anymore." Miller plans to attend Winona State University to major in psychology and minor in political science. Her advice to others is to "Fake it 'till you make it." She feels she was selected as student of the month due to her increased active presence in the classroom. She is also thankful for the good parking spot. In honor of her achievements, Raccoon Valley Bank has donated $100 to the ADM Scholarship Foundation.](https://blackandredgister.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/20260427_104331-600x450.jpg)
