This Spring Break I went to The Florida Shuttle Launch in Cape Canaveral. Seeing all the smoke during the Shuttle launch made me think about the planet and the decreasing ozone layer that scientists are saying will grow bigger and bigger if it doesn’t stop. Also, about 30 seconds after the launch (it was really cold), I felt this huge blast of heat and wind, and I noticed I wasn’t shivering anymore. Not only does this show that these launches cause significant heat changes but I can now see why all these scientists are so concerned.

I have interviewed Keith and worker for Whole Foods Bakerie’s. Whole Foods Bakeries products are all organic products. The bakery is a vegan bakery. Vegan means that seek to exclude the use of animals for food. They don’t use milk or egg products and no sugar. Instead of sugar they use natural brown rice or extracts or brown rice syrup. They use them because they are all natural. Whole Earth Bakery is a natural safe haven devoted to mother nature. One of Whole Earth Bakery agendas is to make sure people eat healthy and have no toxics in their food. They make sure there are no pesticides, steroid and food enhancement and have no hormones in it. They make baked goods, vegetarian meals, and natural juices. They make everything from scrap in their store. They’re open from 11am to 12pm open everyday of the week. They are very into preserving animals and giving animals their rights. They reside at Ave A and 8th street. Provide an open environment and use products healthy and conducible and are natural in the environment. The place is a healthy environment inside and out. People can post signs and different magazines promote environment things.

When I visited with my cousin we learned a lot of things. One of which was that they were organic. Some of the things in which I learned before such as such as the walls are made of wheat. The wall are made of the chasse fiber which is a by product of wheat used to make bread. The shelves and counter were made of 100% of recycled newspaper. She ended up telling me even more. Like the store is set at the corner of the block so they don’t have to use so much wasted light and just relay on the sun. They do use light bulbs but they use the kinds that waste so much energy. The told me also that they have special kind of cover for the heater so when poeple touch it they don’t burn them selves. The cups they use are biodegradable. They were so happy that I visited them that they gave me a free cookie which is usually $2.50. The counter that they use is a crate from where the got the cookies from. I talked to Lauren , Beth and Jack on this visit.

When I was in Palm Springs, I saw a lot of wind turbines all in the desert. There were hundreds of turbines, but what disturbed me the most, was that more then half of them weren’t functional, they were staying still and not providing energy, but i did find it encouraging that there were so many of them out there that were working. 

Yesterday Jeff, Laurence, and I went and visited a rep at bluestreak. The Man did not have much to say other then what we already knew. One thing that he said that i found particularly interesting was that all of chelsea piers was green not just bluestreak. This amazed me because it must take so much power to run that place and it is amazing that all of that can be done in a “green” way. I was also surprised to hear that by 2010 they hoped to be 100% green as well as having recycling deposit centers all around the piers. I think that it would be great to have the recycling deposit centers because then people can easily deposit there cans and bottles and then get money for it. I don’t think that we will visit with the Rep again because he didn’t have much to say but i will try to get in touch with a rep at another part of the piers. This way we might be able to get some more information on chelsea piers and how they are helping the environment.

Roughly, about 1 week before spring break we visited Charity:Water. Charity:Water is an organization that not only gives kids in Africa fresh water but Adults, the Elderly, and anyone who needs it and/or deserves it will get Fresh water. Their goal is to get every person in Africa fresh water, and with our help and donations they can do it.

I learned a lot from out guide she told use how their company extremely dedicated to giving these people in Africa at least fresh water for their everyday lives, and as seen in the videos, 80% of the diseases they get are from drinking dirty or somewhat contaminated water. But not only did they tell us how Africa needs better water, they told us how we can help, for example, we can apply our school for a fundraiser to donate money (with the permission and guidance by our teacher), or we can even sell bracelets at our school for $5 each and give the charity back the money. I think this charity is great and sustainable.

The following video shows most or some of the main goals of Charity:Water.

Charity Water Video

We were all excited to go for out third visit to Animal Haven. Sadly though, we would not being seeing Kendra or Tiffany at this visit, so this time we were more so on our own. When we arrived to Animal Haven on Saturday, we got to work cleaning the cat cages. It could be quite gross at times and some of the cats were insistent on staying in their litter box so that proved difficulty for us. Even though we sometimes thought it was gross, we did the job well and we apparently got it done fast. I think it helped being with other friends while doing this because 1. it made it more fun and 2. it would have been harder without assistance. We then were able to walk to the dog Bella, but we were mistaken and we put an adopt me sign on her even when she wasn’t up for adoption. A woman saw Bella and was interested in taking her home. We didn’t have animal havens card and we didn’t have the authority to tell her she could or she couldn’t. So, I ran back to Animal Haven and informed the receptionist. She hadn’t been very nice to us, I told her what happened which was when she told me Bella wasn’t up for adoption. Anna, Meghan, Edith nor me remember her ever mentioning this. I ran back to the women to sadly tell her she wasn’t up for adoption. I felt bad and also mad that she never told us that she wasn’t up for adoption, but I feel like she talked to us about adopt me vests making sure that we would put them on the dogs. I still love animal Haven and can’t wait to go back. I think I will shoot an email to Kendra and see if she has recovered from her surgery so we can talk about further plans. 

Maddie, Sadie, Lucy, and I visited MFTA on March 11, 2009.  We left around 2:45 and got there at about 3:30.  Once we got there we signed in, put our stuff down, and asked what our task was for the day.  Our job today was to fold cloth and make the shelf neater (it was messed up because they had a shopping day the day before and when the people were looking through the cloth, they often didn’t put it back how they found it).  We had the choice of deciding how we would clean it.  We could either take everything off the shelves and started over, or just try the fix what was messed up.  We decided to start over.  We started at the bottom shelf and took everything off, we then folded it and organized it by the size of the piece.  We then did that for every other shelf.  Once we had organized what was on the shelf before, there was a whole other bin filled with cloth that we had to put on the shelves.  All the cloth in that bin reached basically from one side of the wall to the other.  One of the pieces took all four of us to fold because it was so big.  The time went by very quickly and before we knew it, it was time to leave.

I went to Material for the Arts with Maddie, Sadie, and Surayya. Material for the Arts is a place where they have a series of materials. The materials are given to them by people who did want them, or wanted to donate something. After Material for the Arts is given the material, people can come and buy the stuff for their projects, art pieces, or anything they want to use it for. When we arrived there we were met by a women who assigned us a job and we got to work. Our job was to sort out old and thrown away jewelry. We had to put clumps of it in bags, and then it was tossed in a bucket. This way when the people come to shop, they are able to just grab a bag of jewelry to make a craft or something. I think the work went very well considering the fact that we finished almost all of it in the time that we had. We were able to learn a little about what we were doing, and we were able to see the kind of place Material for the Arts is really about. At first I didn’t know what to expect, but once I got there I knew Material for the Arts was a cool place. There were buckets and buckets of beads, large varieties of fabric, different statues everywhere, and a lot more. After getting there and meeting everyone, I felt like I was going to have fun, along with doing some work. What struck me was the amount of stuff they had. Our job was to sort jewelry and I thought it would be an easy task I could finish in only a little time, but it took the whole time we were there. There was a lot of stuff in the place and I was wondering how many people shop there and how many people would it take to buy all of this stuff. What I learned about the environment was that these things are all recycled things. The jewelry we were given was given to Material for the Arts after they were returned and were not able to be worn again. Instead of throwing al these things in the garbage and creating a bigger mess, they were given to Material for the Arts so that people can use them in crafts. A lot of different people come to get the materials. It isn’t just for people who can’t afford it, or public schools that have no money. It is for people who would like to use the materials. The goals I set for my next visit is to ask more questions. Trying to figure out our project in April is going to be hard so I think the more information we have, the easier it will be to come up with something to do. I think I should research a little more about where everything comes from. I think it is really cool how people just give it to this place, but what I am really wondering is how does Material for the Arts reach out to these people? For the Teach In on April 29^th, I want to remember the job we did. We could maybe think of something to present that is involved with making an art piece out of a bag of recycled jewelry.

Atlas, Jeff, and I have finally found an organization.  Our organization is called Blue Streak, which is a sports training center that using wind energy to power a lot of it’s equipment.  Atlas and I train there, and use a lot of the equipment, Jeff came along for our visit, and was with us when we talked to some of the staff.  The reason it is easy for them to use wind energy is because they are located on the Hudson River, so a lot of wind comes through there.  Our next visit is tomorrow.

Last Saturday Diana and I went to the BARC Animal Shelter in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It was extremely fun, so many kitties! However, all of them were in small cages (except for a few who were roaming around, I guess they rotate) in a dark, kind of creepy room. Volunteering on Saturday is sheerly petting the cats and playing with them– but on other days it’s other things. I’m going to go back there as soon as I can, I can’t wait to see Philip again!

Philip is a small grayish brown tabby with a disease called Bartonella, but it’s thankfully treatable. I learned about that disease, and another called FIV. It’s the same as HIV but for cats. The F stands for feline instead of human. Playing with the cats was incredibly fun, there were so many kinds! They were so sweet too. If you pull up a stool in front of the cage, and open the door, the cat will just walk right out (if they feel like it, most do) and plop on your lap! Provenzano was the one who went on mine, incredibly adorable. Another cat there was oddly named Oscarella, because they thought she was a guy so they named her Oscar. Then they realized she was girl, thus Oscarella. For my next visit I’m definitely going to do something more than playing with the cats. I want to help more. These cats are so cute and need homes so the more I can do to help, the better. Diana and I want to get the grade to sponsor a cat. We got some pictures while we were there, although it was pretty dark.  Hopefully the pictures I uploaded will show up….

 

RIP Campbell

Last week, Liam and I visited the Center for Architecture Foundation on Laguardia Place, hoping that they would teach us about green architecture. Unfortunately they did not have anything on green architecture, so instead we did intern jobs in their office. I had to file people’s portfolios and applications for the scholarship that the organization had, and put them into folders. Liam organized pamphlets in order that they would had out to wealthy people for donations. After doing the jobs, they let us walk around the museum, and we saw some interesting displays. One thing that was useful was they gave us two other organizations, Solar1 and the Science Barge.  

On Wednesday Madeline, Sadie, and I went to MFTA for the second time. Lucy was a new addition to the group and since she didn’t come the first time we explained to her what MFTA was all about. After that, we signed in and got right to work. Erin, like us, was a volunteer, however, if I remember correctly, she goes there more often than we do. Our task this week was to help Erin sort out old jewelry. These were the items that were returned or couldn’t be used anymore, although a lot of the earrings were on good condition. American Eagle donated the jewelry that we were separating. Since it would be impossible to completely untangle the jewelry, we took clumps and cut them with pliers so they would fit into the small zip-lock bag. When we got there, there were at least 5 huge crates that needed to be sorted. By the time we left, about two hours later, there about 2 left. Will us five working productively and quickly, the work went by very quickly. On the way back we got lost and Maddie got stuck on the train, but overall we all had fun and can’t wait to go again this Wednesday.

Our most recent visit to materials for the arts was our first working visit.  We left school at 2:45 to get there promptly at 3:30.  This time we had a new member to our group, Lucy.  Before we got there we filled her in on what Materials for the Arts was like, what they did, and what we would be doing.  We took the V train to Long Island City and walked a block from the subway station to arrive at Materials for the Arts.  We took the elevator up to the third floor and walked down the long hallway into the MFTA warehouse.  When we were inside we walked down the long walkway passing rows and rows of shelves stacked with art and office supplies.  At the end of the warehouse we got to the office to meet Johnese, the volunteer coordinator.  We all signed in the time we arrived and the time we arrived and the time we left.  Then we put down our stuff and she took us out into the warehouse where there were big yellow bins.  In the bins were huge tangled piles of unwanted jewelry.  It had all been donated by American Eagle.  Our job was to take big chunks of jewelry, not detangle it completely because that would have been close to impossible.  We then put the chunks into small plastic bags.  There was another volunteer named Erin who had been working there for a week.  She was doing the same thing we were.  Her and Johnese were giving us different ideas for a project we could do with the recycled jewelry.  We came up with an idea that we could give people a bag of random materials and see what they make out of it.  Erin was also telling us about her friends that get all there food from dumpsters in the back of restaurants.  The food they eat isn’t half eaten sandwiches or rotten fruit, it’s still packaged items that have expired a few days but are still okay to eat.  This is a good way of using and eating the food that other places are wasting.  The time went by very quickly and before we knew it it was 5 o’clock.  After thanking Johnese we left Materials for the Arts.  We got on the only train that was at that station assuming it would take us back to school.  We passed many stops, until we finally realized that we were going farther and farther into Queens.  We ran off the train on the next stop, so we could turn around.  The doors closed a little sooner than we thought they would and Lucy, Sadie, and Surayya were safely on the platform, while I remained on the train.  We didn’t really know the neighborhood or the trains so I don’t know what we would have done if the doors hadn’t opened a second time.  Even though that was a little scary, overall this last trip to Materials for the Arts was a great experience.

This time I went to Ollies alone. Amazingly the lady got there on time. It was a different person on Friday. Her name was Jo. We had been there about five minutes when Rochelle and a friend of hers who wasn’t actually volunteering and just came to say hello to “the love of her life.” Demi. We just played with the cats for about half an hour. Finally Rochelle started cleaning out the litter boxes. I washed the food and water bowls and swept out the cages. Later on Ashley (another of Rouchelles’ friends) came. Ashley helped clean the litter boxes. There was a new cat there named mittens. Everyone fell in love with him special Jo. That was because her “love” Solomon was ignoring her. There’s a kitten there named Aggie Pancakes who somehow got herself stuck in-between the cages and the wall. When I pulled her out she scratched my side. Even though we started late we finished a bit early and we played with the cats for about fifteen minutes before I had to leave.

Yesterday we left school at 1:30 to go visit Animal Haven.  We took a cab straight to the building on Centre Street, and got straight to work.  Kendra, the person we normally meet with, was out having surgery, so we were with Tiffany instead.  She was very nice. Animal Haven had a few separate facilities, but they want to move it all into just one.  The old facility in Flushing had just been closed down, so there were a lot of boxes of files and random stuff to sort through.  Tiffany showed us (me and Sophie) a bunch of boxes and asked us to sort them  into separate piles.  Meghan and Anna were addressing envelopes and thank-you notes.   After we finished sorting, Tiffany asked us to come into the back office-area to put some folders in drawers.  We put the label on the folder and slipped a smaller folder inside of it, then stuck it in the drawer.  Sophie and I got a good system going.    There was a new dog to the shelter, Lacey, who had just been washed for the first time.  She was very happy and had a little purple bow between her ears.  We were allowed to play with her for a little bit, which was really fun.  I think that it’s very important for a dog or cat to feel really welcomed as soon as they come to the organization, because a lot of the animals haven’t really been loved or cared for, and that’s why they’re there.  Lacey seemed very excited to be around so many people who would care about her so much. We grabbed our stuff and headed downstairs, to the main store area.  In the back is where they keep most of the cats.  Tiffany asked us to “socialize” with the cats.  We had to make sure we followed the safety rules, like putting hand sanitizer on our hands before we touched any animals, and not leaving two doors open at the same time.  There was one cat, Momma, who we all felt pretty bad for.  She was very, very skinny and one of her ears was cut off and smushed.  You could see all her ear organs.  She also had a bald patch on one of her arms.  I felt bad because she was 10 years old.  Kendra told us that the younger dogs and cats are always adopted more quickly, so I assumed it might be hard for Momma to get adopted because she was old AND in bad shape. We had a good time at Animal Haven, and we’re still thinking of how it relates to sustainability. 

Today, Meghan, Anna, Edith and I went to Animal Haven to work some more with the organization. This time we arrived on time and didn’t get lost. We were greeted by the receptionist, who told us to head up stairs to meet Tiffany. Normally, we would work with Kendra, but she is having oral surgery so we came to help Tiffany. She was very nice and set us right to work on all the things to be done. Since they are a small, non-profit organization there were many things to be done. This time though, I have to say that we didn’t work so much with the animals, but more on helping the organization with simple tasks. Meghan and Anna had to address envelopes while Edith and I organized files. We then got to play with a dog and then socialize with the cats. There was one cat, who was really beaten up, but the sweetest cat ever and we all wished we could support it. I think we all did what we were supposed to do and we did it well. I just think that we didn’t do so much to help the animals. We are still worried and trying to figure out how this connects to sustainability. We all understands that this is sustaining the animal community and we all love helping out. Just sometimes we feel it would have been easier if we chosen and organization that was more clear cut on how it connects to sustainability (like water issues or green gardens etc.). We still all love it there and we are going back tomorrow.

Today, Meghan, Anna, Edith and I went to Animal Haven to work some more with the organization. This time we arrived on time and didn’t get lost. We were greeted by the receptionist, who told us to head up stairs to meet Tiffany. Normally, we would work with Kendra, but she is having oral surgery so we came to help Tiffany. She was very nice and set us right to work on all the things to be done. Since they are a small, non-profit organization there were many things to be done. This time though, I have to say that we didn’t work so much with the animals, but more on helping the organization with simple tasks. Meghan and Anna had to address envelopes while Edith and I organized files. We then got to play with a dog and then socialize with the cats. There was one cat, who was really beaten up, but the sweetest cat ever and we all wished we could support it. I think we all did what we were supposed to do and we did it well. I just think that we didn’t do so much to help the animals. We are still worried and trying to figure out how this connects to sustainability. We all understands that this is sustaining the animal community and we all love helping out. Just sometimes we feel it would have been easier if we chosen and organization that was more clear cut on how it connects to sustainability (like water issues or green gardens etc.). We still all love it there and we are going back tomorrow.

So far we have tried multiple organizations, including Recycle a Bicycle, Slow Foods, American Apparel, and Tek Serve.  Recycle a Bicycle takes recycled bicycles and retouches them and creates youth programs with them, we sent them an e-mail but they never got back to us.  Slow Foods is a green organization for food, and we had contact with them, but they never got back to us.  We went to the American Apparel store, whose owner refuses to have factories in foreign countries so that there are no sweatshops, but just recently we found he had been charged of sexually harassing some of the workers, so we scratched the idea.  Tek Serve is a store on 23 and 8th that recycles computers and old parts, but they don’t have any way for us to come in and learn about it.  Now we are looking at green architecture, but have not made any contact with them. -Laurence Brent 

Today, Rene, Nile, Malcolm, Jonah, Milo, and I went to visit Charity Water a block away from the high school.  All six of us walked into the beautiful office space to be greeted by the volunteer coordinator Georgia Doremus and she ushered us to the sitting area with two big couches and two chairs.  As the conversation was about to start, Nile had to give Georgia his phone so his mom could speak to her, but she then handed Nile his phone back and he sulked down  embarrassed.  However, we then started our conversation.   We started out by telling Georgia about our sustainability project and that was followed up by her explaining Charity Water to us.  What they do is sell merchandise such as bottled water, rubber bracelets, clothing, and a few other accessories to raise money to drill wells for schools in Africa.  Two of the places in Africa are Kenya and Ethiopia.  Their cause sounded simple, but it’s not.  They have to raise at least 2 million dollars to achieve their goal.  They are really dedicated to helping these children and schools.  They have a program called Water For Schools where they get involved with schools throughout America to donate money and buy their merchandise to support schools in Africa, which is part of what we will be doing.  We just need to sign our school up.  We hope to sign up soon and be able to announce it at a near future middle school meeting.

So, getting back to our meeting, after Georgia explained Charity Water, us asking a few questions, and  asking questions we went on a small tour of the office.  About 20 people work there so far and Charity Water is only in New York City, but they are incorporated with over 100 schools throughout America.  So, we then stopped in the room containing all of the merchandise.  Nile got on there computer right away to try to sign our school up while Georgia handed us a bunch of bracelets to start out with and sell for $5 each at school.  We each got one free though.  Jonah got some business cards to put out in his mom’s store to advertise Charity Water.  As we were leaving Georgia gave us a yellow jerry can that Africans use to carry water from the well in.  So now we have a bunch of bracelets to sell and a big old jerry can.     I think our new association with Charity Water is a great thing and they’re a great organization, and this visit expanded our view of our topic: water. They introduced us to a whole new cause that I think is really good to incorporate with what we’re doing.  We have arranged to go back next Wednesday evening to volunteer as well as start selling their merchandise at school.  We’re very excited to help Charity Water some more with their cause.  The one problem.  What will we do with the jerry can?

Hannah and I went for our second visit to Ollie’s Place yesterday on the 3rd. We were told to get there by 5 pm, but no one was there. At around 5:30, a woman named Emily showed up and let us in. She introduced herself and told us a little bit about herself, and we learned that she had been working there for only a few weeks. We were told to open about 3 cages at a time, and take out the litter box and scoop out the cat poop. Not a great job, might I add. After we did that, we had to sweep the bottom of the cage and put new food inside. It was much easier than the work we had to do last time, but it was difficult to get the cats back inside their cages. Ollie’s Place is a non-profit, no kill branch of Mighty Mutts. All the cats are spayed/neutered, and have all of their shots. People can not bring in their own cats to Ollie’s Place, they are all brought from the owners farm in New Jersey. (or so we were told from someone who works there)You can look at this link to learn more about Ollie’s Place, look at the cats we work with, and even donate money to help them out! http://www.olliesplace.org/

Today, Rene, Malcolm, Nile, and I went to the main office of Tap’d NY in Chelsea.  As we walked in we were greeted by founder Craig and co-worker Jake.  Each very nice and very welcoming from the beginning.  When we came in, Craig and Jake escorted us to the conference room, gave us their own Tap’d NY bottles of water, and we started talking.  The conversation started with an explanation of Tap’d and how it came to be.  Tap’d NY was originally thought of by Craig and was created to promote local bottled  water, and even better, tap water.  They believed that it was better for the environment and the economy to get bottled water locally and not have to import it for lots of money from all over the world.  As Craig said, “Why need to pay so much more money for something you already have in your own home?”  Also, importing from different places in the world needs planes and boats, which need fuel and oil to move.  Fuel and oil are bad for the environment because they pollute the air and are very expensive.  When Craig created Tap’d, he wasn’t trying to go against the other water bottle companies or anything, he was just trying to offer a better alternative.  Thus, Tap’d water officially hit the stores about six months ago.  Today, it’s in over 100 stores and markets in the New York City and they hope to expand to more places throughout the world.  However, instead of exporting the water from here, they would just be opening a local bottled tap water company in whatever place with their own delicious tap water.  Towards the end, we discussed meeting again a few times to help see the bottle factory, how they market Tap’d, and their finances.  They were very pleased to see that we wanted to come back.We left with a very good feeling about Tap’d.  We had tasted their great and simple bottled water and gotten t-shirts and knowledge to prove it.  We were very excited to come back.  As we left, Nile kept saying how Craig and Jake were awesome and how he was “seriously hyped to do this stuff,” and followed that up by putting his Tap’d t-shirt on and walking into a few stores on the way back to tell them about it.  So, today’s visit was pretty much an introduction to Tap’d and a jump start to our next few visits with Tap’d NY.  I felt it was good to have this day to talk to them and understand Tap’d; how they started and what they do.  All four of us can’t wait to get back there and truly get involved with Tap’d.         

Last Saturday, Harry, Liam and I visited Stephen Del Percio, the CEO and founder of GreenbuildingsNYC. Our topic is  green architecture, and GreenbuildingsNYC is a blog that promotes green architecture. We went to his office on 52nd and Broadway, and went into a hugh skyscraper. We waited for him in the lobby, and he came and took us up the elevator to his office. He is also a successful lawyer. He was a really nice guy, and offered us drinks and was really nice to us. The four of us sat in his conference room, and we discussed the topic of Green Architecture. We were not exactly sure what GreenbuildingsNYC’s main goal was, so we asked him, and he said that he is not even sure what the goal of his company is. He said that he wants to spread the word about Green architecture. He wants architects to visit his blog, so they can learn of different ways to make their buildings green. He said their was no specific goal for his website, but he wanted to be a resource for green architects. He also explained why green architecture is not as popular as it should be. He said then when architects construct their huge massive buildings made of glass, they say that it the building is fine and that it is green because the outer frame of the building is made up of glass. But if the building is made of glass, then the performance goes down, because it is not as sturdy and secure. He showed us some of the smaller brick buildings made 80 years ago, and they were sturdier than the taller more modern glass buildings. He says that although making buildings green, performance is a really important factor in architecture. Also, we learned that the buildings that state they are green just because they have glass and solar panels, does not mean they are a green building. They always leave their lights on overnight, and most of the time the glass they use is not even productive glass, and it just absorbs all the cold air and energy. Even Harry’s building called the River House is supposed to be green, but he said that he sees guys leaving their cars outside the building and blowing out the exhaust right in front of the building, creating pollution. The guy was really nice, and Harry and I asked most of the questions while Liam recorded most of the information. We learned a lot about green architecture, and we also learned about different techniques architects use to try to make their constructions green.  

On February 25, 2009 Sadie, Madeline, and I went on our first visit to Materials For The Arts.  When planning for our trip I was emailing back and forth with the volunteer coordinator, Johnese Wilson.  When we got there we were first introduced to the deputy director, Chelsea Romersa, who talked to us about how often we could be there and what they were looking for in interns.  We then talked to the direct donations coordinator, Ahmed Tigani, who talked to us about how they give art materials to public schools and non-profit organizations.  After him, we talked to Johnese Wilson (the woman I had been emailing with).  She just gave us the overall description of their organization and what they were trying to do.  This organization gives art materials to public schools and non-profit organizations that are committed to some kind of art.  They can take as much as they want, but are required to write a thank-you letter to the donators.  The small items have random donators, but electronics like televisions and computers have a specific donator that they would have to write the letter to.  This organiztion is in special need of electronics that are fairly new (about 3 years old) and still working, so if you have any electronics that you know would be helpful for an organization that is committed to arts (that means no cellphones, gaming systems and so on) and you would like to donate it, please contact Ahmed Tigani at atigani@mfta.org or call 718-729-3001 x.203.  Thank you.

Me, Johnese, Sadie, and Maddie

After we talked to Johnese, Chelsea, and Ahmed, Johnese gave us a tour of the place.  There were electronics, beads, paper, backdrops, paint, and a lot of other things.

On Wednesday, Shulian and I (and my parents) met Bob DeCandido at Central Park at 5:00pm. Shulian got to meet him for the first time! Bob (and his wife) set up a private owl walk for us, for our project, which was nice of him (we are going to thank him soon). This time we didn’t just look for screech owls, but we saw them! (See picture below. I could not get the video to work.) But let me start from the beginning. Shulian and I were freezing the whole time (again), but it was all worth it. We started walking into the woodsy part of the park to search for owls. Bob showed us some tree cavities that owls might live in (see pictures below). With a tape measure, Shulian and I measured the height up to the top of the tree cavity. We also measured around the tree, to find the circumference. (These measurements are written below.) We also asked Bob some questions. Once again, my camera ran out of memory so I took notes. My goal for next time is to definitely make sure I have a free memory card! So, we kept standing there and looking up at trees. As we were waiting, we actually saw a raccoon peeking down at us from a tree branch! His little face just appeared and then disappeared again. As it got darker and darker, I didn’t think we’d be so lucky in seeing owls. But all of a sudden, we saw a silhouette fly by! A little screech owl landed on a tree and started trilling his call! Then, he moved to another tree, along with a second owl. Screech owls are way smaller than I expected. Unfortunately, the owl came out because he was telling us to go away, resulting from the bird-calling machine that Bob was using again (see picture below). This visit really confirmed that there is lots of controversy over those bird-calling machines. Again, when the owl was making his trilling and hooting noises, a lady came over to us and asked Bob, “That’s the owl, right, making those noises, and not a tape?” Shulian and I were actually laughing, not because of what they were talking about, but the lady’s tone—when Bob said sarcastically, “Oh, I don’t think we’ve met before,” the lady said in a real snotty tone, “You know who we are, it’s just that your memory is as bad as your knowledge of owls!” Then, a bit after, when Bob was whistling to the owl, the lady said, “OH PLEASE!” which made Shulian and I laugh at her even harder. However, Bob had something to say to the lady. He thinks that watching the owls every night consecutively can really interfere with them. When he asked her if she watched the owls every night, she answered yes. He told her what he thought, but she didn’t listen. In this case, I agree with both sides, that both of them are wrong. Bob also told us that, if you use the bird-calling machine too much, the owls won’t come out because they are so used to it, so they don’t take it as much of a threat. Aside from the arguing, we learned many things on this visit:

• Bob believes that it takes several years to determine if screech owls are actually “sustainable.” Over a shorter period of time, like 2 or 3 years, the project is easier to predict the outcome of, as opposed to 10 years or so. The question is, in the words of Bob, “Are the owls breeding and will they establish a small enough population to be sustainable?”
• Bob told us about a lady that we might go see, Marie Winn, who thinks that this project is a just a publicity stunt, and that it wasn’t done correctly (more controversy!). Marie Winn also wrote the book Central Park in the Dark (which my mom actually read!).
• Bob gave us something to think about: Why are great horned owls doing so much better in population than screech owls, in New York City?
• Bob compares determining why the owls left the park in the first place, in the 1950’s, with determining what a person dies from. He said the owls could’ve left for a variety of reasons, possibly a combination of reasons. These reasons are: pesticides, low initial population (making it harder to reproduce), and the Parks Department cutting down dead trees. Cutting down the trees is a problem because screech owls don’t like to travel far, and could have trouble finding a new home.
• Bob thinks that the population of squirrels could be a threat to the owl population because they are noisy and owls don’t like that.
• I asked Bob what he thought of my idea: if sparrows decline, do owls also decline, since owls eat sparrows? He didn’t really think that would be true.
• Raccoons are predators of owls. If people feed raccoons, there are too many, causing the decline of owls. Bob’s theory is: The population of one animal=the decline of another.
• He explains that it is good that naturally some owls die, otherwise there would be overpopulation. However, there are some problems with releasing owls into an unfamiliar urban park. Along with staying alive, they have to face the hazards that come with living in an urban park.
• These current problems could be pesticides (which the park doesn’t use so much anymore), fast-moving traffic, and leaving the park for food (due to less rodents) requiring the owls to learn the city environment as well. These problems are very similar to the ones that are causing them to disappear now.
• Owls would always come back to the park after leaving it for food. Bob compared this with us going to school in the day and then coming home afterward.
• When owls leave the park, it is dangerous because of the traffic outside the park. Bob said that if we still had horses and buggies, the owls would be fine. He explained that owls could see a mouse across the street and swoop down low, without looking at their surroundings, getting in the way of a car and getting hit.
• To keep this project going, there are probably going to have to be owls released into the park on a regular basis, to sustain them. Bob said that some people could think of that as either a success or a failure, because the goal is to eventually not have to keep releasing the owls, but get to a point where the owls can sustain themselves. Bob said this goal would take many years to meet.
• Owls nest lower than 20 feet.
• Some signs in finding where owls live are feathers and whitewash (owl defecation) on the ground.
• Like Sunny the park ranger, Bob believes that getting people informed about owls and parks is very important in sustaining the owl population.

I know that some of this information is the same as in the interview with Sunny the park ranger. I am comparing information. Watching the owls was absolutely amazing. It was like you saw another side of New York City, a hidden part of it. The owls are SO cute. It is the first time I’ve seen one in the wild! It makes me really excited and motivated to continue the project. The Photos Below: The first picture is of the screech owl in the tree. The black blob in the middle is him/her. The second, third, and fourth pictures are tree cavities that screech owls nested in during the past years. The fifth picture is of Bob’s bird-calling machine. The sixth picture is of Shulian and I measuring the height up to the tree cavity (the same tree in the first tree cavity picture). The height is about 16 feet and the circumference is 5 feet. We also measured another tree, which had a height of about 18 feet and a circumference of 7 feet 3 inches.

On Wednesday I went to Materials for the Arts in Long Island City with Sadie, Sarah, and Surayya.  We were interested in this organization because they collect furniture, office supplies, and art supplies and donate it to artists and public schools.  Our topic is recycled art and we thought fit our topic very well because they reuse unwanted materials and make it into art.  Wednesday was our first trip and we plan to go many more times.  This time they interviewed us and gave us a tour of the warehouse where they store all the supplies. 

To get ther we took the subway.  While arriving at Materials for the Arts I thought it was going to be an office that just just supports artists that recycle.  I was suprised and happy to find out that they also donate to public schools.  I thought it was a very good idea because public schools don’t have a budget for school supplies.  The way this organization works is that anybody can donate supplies, electronics or furniture to Materials for the arts.  They work there everyday organizing and putting things on the right shelves, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays they have a shopping day.  That is the day when all the recipiants come to take what they need.

My goal for our next meeting is to ask more questions relating to the environment and how their job relates to saving it.

Today Ava and I went to Central Park.  We arrived at the location at West 110th Street to meet up with Robert-the birdwatcher- at exactly 5:00pm.  It was my first encounter with Bob and Ava’s second.  He is very nice, in his 40’s and wore jeans and hiking boots and a backpack full of his equipment.  His wife Deborah whom we have talked to on the phone a couple of times was also on the bird walk (technically the Screech Owl walk).  It was a really great opportunity for Ava and me because this was a private tour, and we could ask as many questions as we wanted.  The questions we asked were basically the same ones we asked Sunny the park ranger.  Like, “Do you feed the Screech Owls? or “How do you keep track of them?”  Bob the Birdwatcher showed us trees that have previously been inhabited by Screech Owls.  He told us that the owls — because of their small size — usually nested within 20 feet of the ground maximum.  Ava and I took measurements of these trees.  We had to find out the height – from the ground to the nesting spot, the diameter and the circumference.  The more we know about the owls the more of a chance we can understand their lives and be able to find them.  Finally after talking about the Owls, Bob led us to a spot in the middle of the woods with trees everywhere near a little creek.  We stood there, and listened, and we heard nothing.  After a while of patiently waiting, Bob decided to show us his bird calling equipment.  It was a recording of a Screech Owl, and surprisingly it didn’t sound like a screech at all.  To me it sounded more like the braying of a horse.  Bob explained that the owls would come out sooner or later to defend their “homes” from the “newcomer” – the recording.  It was getting very chilly and my feet were frozen.  Darkness loomed overhead, and Ava and me were getting restless.  I could tell that Bob was getting worried that in the end we weren’t going to be able to see these magnificent owls.  After rewinding the recording many times, we finally heard something in the distance.  It was quiet, but close behind us.  Bob turned the recording off and the Screech Owl kept cooing.  Just then we turned around and saw two Screech Owls coming towards us.  They were small, and by then it was dark so we only saw their silhouettes.  They were beautiful against the night sky.  One situated herself (we knew it was a girl) on a branch and just waited there for 10 minutes, cooing and waiting for the response she was never going to get– see the picture below.  Two women later showed up at the spot and immediately got enraged at Bob because of the bird calling equipment.  They said that he was stressing the owls out by using a bird caller.  However, he turned it around and said that they were disrupting nature by standing there everyday watching them.  After this argument Bob told us that Screech Owls in Central Park is a very controversial topic and that every person we would talk to will have a different opinion. Overall this visit was amazing, and in a way was the climax of this whole experience-even though I still have 2 more visits to go to.  In the end I was freezing and it was 6:40ish when we finally left the park, but for the minutes we saw the owls, I forgot all about my frozen feet and enjoyed those moments, that I am sure I will never forget anytime soon.

(Note about picture: I know it is hard to see but the Screech Owl is the dark blob that is exactly in the middle of the picture.)

 

I was able to finally get in touch with Cook and Fox Architecture. They are willing to give us a tour on Friday that 27th at 3pm. This weekend I walked by the New Museum on Bowery, and they had an exhibition called Modern China or something like that, with a wall filled with recycled objects and sustainable ideas. I took a picture of two of them that caught my eye, and thought I would share them. The first is of a recycled basketball that was used as a water bucket. The second picture is of a kid’s pistol toy made out of completely recycled materials. There’s more information under the pictures.                                                         

Last night I watched an episode of Planet Earth. It showed the beautiful rainforest and many of it’s inhabitants. I learned what male birds of paradise do to attract females during mating season, these amazing creatures put on beautiful displays (one of them was a big black oval with turquoise spots so it looked like a face!) and the more detailed and magnificent, the more female birds they will attract. But not only that, I also learned how they got so elaborate. It was evolution. Generation after generation, these birds have to mate to survive, so each time they get a little better. My hypothesis is that many years later, the displays will be beyond belief. I learned many other things, like how a certain type of plant digests bugs, and how a spider uses the plant for it’s meals. But the worst thing is, these trees are being destroyed. The animals’ homes. I doubt the birds of paradise will get far if this destruction continues. I can’t wait to continue learning about animals and sustainability!-Kirra

Saturday afternoon, at 4:30, Shulian and I met up at the Central Park Belvedere Castle to meet with one of the park rangers.  We had to wait a bit for the ranger to arrive to speak to us, but while we waited, we were thinking of good questions to ask the ranger. 

The park ranger, named Sunny, took us into a small room to do the interview.  The minute we saw her, she was very nice to us and we could tell she would be helpful in answering any questions.  We filmed the interview (but then my camera ran out of memory, so I took notes for some parts of it!). 

At first, Shulian and I only had about five or six questions to ask.  I was picturing us having no more questions to ask and the interview sadly being over in fifteen minutes.  But that is not what happened!  We thought up really good questions on the spot, as we went along with the interview.  Like Bob DeCandido, and the people on the bird walk, I could tell that Sunny was very passionate about the owls. 

We learned a lot of helpful information from Sunny (this is not in any particular order):

·      The owls are not really kept track of, except updates that the park rangers hear from park visitors.

·      Sometimes the owls will fly out of the park, around the borders of it, because there is food out there on the city streets.  However, they will definitely come back into the park because that is where their habitat and nesting areas are. 

·      Sunny believes that the reason for the owls’ original disappearance in the 1950’s was because of habitat loss—owls lived in dead trees, and foresters removed the dead trees to make the park look more presentable, causing the owls to lose their homes.  However, foresters today usually check out the tree before cutting it down.

·      We were wondering why the owls couldn’t just move to another tree after their home got cut down.  Sunny told us that owls get stressed out if their home is gone all of a sudden.  Their stress could cause them not to eat, killing the owls because of dehydration and malnutrition.  However, some owls will go find another tree to live in, and survive. 

·      She also believes cutting off tree branches (which won’t kill the tree, it’s just to maintain it) would cause owls to disappear—owls roost on branches and hunt from them. 

·      One of the possible reasons for the disappearance of owls now is probably because of lack of food—people poison rodents because they don’t like them, and then owls eat those poisoned rodents, causing them to get poisoned themselves.  There is no poisoning of rodents actually in the park, but those rodents run in from the outskirts of the park (apartment buildings and such).  This is one way the public can help in maintaining the existence of screech owls in the park—don’t poison rodents!

·      Last winter, there were six owls (three mating pairs) seen in the park, but now there are probably more because they have all had babies, causing them to multiply more quickly.  Now, Sunny believes that there is a “steady state” of owl existence.

·      For some reason, last year, owls nested near streetlights.  Sunny questioned this because owls are known to be nocturnal, having light-sensitive eyes.  She believes that, after having lived in the park, the owls’ eyes have adapted to light a little bit. 

·      Since there are more cars, there are less sparrows.  Since owls eat sparrows sometimes, we wonder if the decline in sparrows caused a decline in owls.

·      We asked Sunny what she thought of the bird call machine that Bob DeCandido was using.  She believed that it was an interference during mating time, because an owl might think it is another owl and want to mate with it.  Sunny is not totally against the machines though. 

·      The rehabilitated owls in Central Park come from the Raptor Trust in New Jersey (which we are planning to visit!).  Sometimes birds are taken from the wild to live in captivity if they are so badly injured that they cannot survive in the wild.  We were wondering if the birds seemed to miss the wild, or if they adapted.  Sunny said it was hard to tell. 

·      The borough that currently has the most owls in New York City is the Bronx, in Van Cortland Park and Pelham Park. 

Sunny said that an important part of keeping the owls in New York City parks is understanding their basic facts.  For example, knowing what they eat!  That is where owl pellets come in.  Shulian and I thought it would be a good idea to educate the 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th graders by dissecting owl pellets—it would also be something fun for them to do! 

         Sunny the park ranger was extremely helpful with this project, and she was really interested in what we were doing.  We have to remember to send her a thank-you note! 

 

Saturday morning, Shulian couldn’t make it so I went alone with my mom to the New York Botanical Garden.  At ten o’clock, we went on a bird and owl walk lead by bird-and-owl-expert Robert DeCandido.  He is the man who first reintroduced screech owls into Central Park, when the owls were nowhere to be seen in New York after fifty years.  Shulian and I will also be doing our main interview with Robert DeCandido. 

This visit was more of an introduction to the topic, and a chance to meet Robert DeCandido, as opposed to an interview.  However, it really helped me with Shulian’s and my project!

Although I was pretty freezing, going on this walk was an amazing experience!!!  At first, I felt out of place.  All the people that were there were wise old bird experts.  It was really funny because these people had giant high-tech binoculars and huge cameras with foot-long lenses, and my mom and I were standing there with small binoculars that were out of focus and a digital camera!  It was so obvious they really knew what they were talking about.  There was this small bird in a tree, and my mom and I were questioning what kind of bird it was.  One lady came up and said, “Oh, that’s a North-eastern white-bellied chickadee,” or something like that.  I was thinking, “How do they know that!”  Even though these people were more experienced with birds than we were, everyone was very nice and made us feel included during the walk. 

We saw many birds on the walk…chickadees, blue jays, cardinals, hawks, white-bellied crossbills, nuthatches, and turkeys. Everyone was holding out their hands with sunflower seeds on them and chickadees actually landed on our hands and ate the food that we were holding! It was amazing, and I could not believe it!  I could feel their little feet on my hand, and got to see how beautiful they were up close (I will upload pictures of this when I get them, by Wednesday). 

Bob DeCandido was trying to get the birds near us by using a bird-calling machine, which made it sound like real bird calls were all around us.  It was interesting because there was another bird-walking group that was getting mad at our group because they thought using the bird-calling machine was interrupting wildlife, and tricking the birds.  Although I can see both sides of the situation, this lady was being very nasty. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t find any screech owls, but we found something very valuable…owl pellets!  They were everywhere around the trees where the owls live.  They were real owl pellets!  I gathered some up in a bag.  I found it very generous when Bob said, “If you find any owl pellets, give them to Ava for her project!”  Everyone, with their high-tech birding equipment and brains full of bird knowledge, kindly gave me what they found.  I have a feeling that Bob is going to be very helpful during our future visits. 

When I got home, I dissected the owl pellets using tweezers and a small brush (it reminded me of fourth grade!).  Because they weren’t sterilized, I used medical gloves.  I found many bones and kept them for future reference. (See the pictures below.)  I think it is important for me to dissect these owl pellets since Shulian and I are thinking of incorporating the dissection of pellets into our Teach-In presentation.

I learned many interesting things during the walk.  When we found a pigeon feather on the ground, one lady concluded that it was a left wing feather.  She said the spine of the feather is usually closer to the front, and it points downward.  I found this very interesting, and I will find out if that is true for owls too.  I also learned that great-horned owls are much more common in New York City than screech owls…I wonder why.  

This was so amazing, and I feel like I was one of the “birding people.”  It is so cool to know that people could have so much passion for birds and owls like this, and I really appreciate their appreciation for animals and nature.  I am so glad that these are the people who Shulian and I are talking to for this project.

 

In my visit to the Birdbath Green Bakery, I was assisted my woman named Beth.  Beth had shown me around the store and explained to things I had already known from looking at the website such as the walls are made of wheat.  She told me that the wall is made of the chasse fiber which is a by product of wheat used to make bread.  She next had talked to me on how here shelves and counter were made of 100% of recycled newspaper which’s significant material.  She told me how it was a challenge but it was very much worth it. Also she said that she hoped that now one will ever spill water or any kinds of liquid on it since it was made of paper and we all know what happens when liquid mix with water.  It gets very saggy.  Next she explained to me how the cups were made of corn which is biodegradable.  Biodegradable means it can be made into valuable products for soil for planting.  When I was about to arrive, I was kind of worried if I would do something wrong or something went wrong.  This would all change when I arrived at Birdbath.  I was greeted by Beth.  She was very sweet and she asked one of her co workers to take over.  She said their wasn’t much to do so i just asked questions.  After I had left I felt like I had a better understanding of the shop.  I told her I would return sometime this week.  What motivated me into doing the work I was doing was because it kind of reminded me ofSaint John’s Food Pantry.  Opening boxes putting them in order.  I figured out that I had great people skills with these people.  I say this because the people got along with me and I got along with them.  What interested me the most was how many things were reusable in the store.  An interesting quotation I heard was “If you come with a bicycle or a skate board at anytime of the day, you get a 25% discount which in some cases subtracts 1 dollar or more.”  From a floor made of wood not cut from trees, reusing coffee beans when extras, to paint not toxic to others, this store is very into RRR (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle).   P.S In my visit I didn’t take any pictures but I will make sure to do so next time so I uploaded one from the website. 

This past Thursday, on February 12th, Meghan, Edith, Anna and I went to Animal Haven, an organization that houses stray cats and dogs. Animal Haven is a small shelter so they cannot take in every animal, but they do make sure that every animal has a place to go. For our first day we got lost on the way there and we came in late! When we arrived everyone was nice and they introduced us to Kendra, the volunteer coordinator. We had contacted Kendra through phone and email, but it was our first time meeting her face to face. Kendra was great and extremely welcoming, we sat down with her and we discussed the goals for our project, what is was and what we wanted to accomplish.  She showed us around all the rooms explaining what we could do as we walked around (walking dogs, socializing with cats and dogs, creating signs, doing paperwork, feeding the animals, doing laundry and many other things). We met the dogs and cats and everyone working there. She explained to us how Animal Haven is a nonprofit organization and the shop on the ground floor, is what supports their animals. Everything you buy is basically feeding their animals. We said our goodbyes and we left we were beaming with excitement for our next visit.

Yesterday Anna, Sophie, Edith and I went to animal haven to get a tour of the shelter and set up when we would come back to volunteer and what we could do for them. The organization takes abandoned animals in the tri-state area and try and find them a home. They have limited space, so they try and take in the animals that need it most. It is a no-kill shelter which means that they do not kill animals for space or age, only if the animal is sick. It is a non-profit organization and all the money that they make from animal food, clothes, leashes, etc. goes back to the animals. There are only 7 full time payed employees, the rest are volunteers. They want to spend as much money as they can on the animals and as little as possible on the workers. They are very thankful for the many donations from big corporations that they receive and are always looking for more. I was amazed to see all of the animals in clean areas with space to roam about. It was not what I would have thought a shelter would look like seeing some other shelters. Everthing was very put together and it was all about the animals.

Yesterday Ava and I went to Central Park and stopped at the Nature Center near the lake.  This was where we were scheduled to meet up with park ranger, Sunny.  We arrived at the center around 4:15, but Sunny wasn’t available until 5:00 because of an animal emergency that needed to be taken care of.  At 5:00 Sunny took me and Ava into what I am guessing was an educational student room, where the Park teaches kids about the wildlife.  There were chairs neatly lined up in rows.  Ava and I sat in the front, our parents sat behind us in the second row and Sunny positioned herself upfront.  We admitted that we were very nervous.  However, after the first question was asked (about screech owls) we were on a roll.  This wasn’t a normal sustainability visit; this was a 30-minute interview (that was video taped) just talking about screech owls in Central Park.  We mostly talked about the owls’ stay in the park.  A couple years ago Central Park rangers decided to release twelve screech owls back into the park, after they mysteriously disappeared years before.  Some of the questions Ava and I asked Sunny were…(1) where they liked to nest, (2) how do the park rangers take care of them/keep track of them, (3) are the owls fed by the park rangers, and finally (4) if the park rangers were expecting to release any more owls into the park. Sunny answered many of these questions and seemed to be well informed.  She thought it was a great idea to educate others about the owls, because she believed that the more people know, the safer the owls will be in the future.  When Sunny was done talking and we were done asking questions we thanked her, and took some pictures – (shown below).  It was a great experience, and was very fulfilling.  A feeling that makes you think to yourself “wow, I’m really helping these owls.”  Ava and I still have plenty more visits that are briefly planned out.  We plan to visit an organization in New Jersey focusing on birds of pray – the screech owl is one of them.  Also we plan to interview a bird watcher, who Ava met earlier in the day when she went on a bird walk in the Botanical Gardens, which I didn’t attend.  Along with this we are considering making a plan with Sarah Barlow’s Aunt who specializes and knows a lot about birds.  Lastly, next Sunday Ava and I already have a date to do a bird walk late in the evening in Central Park.   Before Sunday my goal is to do a little more research on screech owls, so I can be more informed.  I already have some websites planned out, to which I will visit soon.  For our April presentation Ava and I are considering having the kids dissect owl pellets, which we will collect on our bird walks.  We think it would be fun and different plus educational.  However, this is just in the planning stage, and can likely be replaced with a different idea.  Overall I really enjoyed our first visit, and I am looking forward to the upcoming ones! 

Today Sophie, Meghan, Edith and I visited Animal Haven Shelter, an animal shelter for cats and dogs who have been abandoned and need homes.  We met with Kendra, the volunteer coordinator, who gave us a tour of the three floors and learned what Animal Haven is all about.  The first thing that struck me was the first floor which has a warm cozy feeling and seems like a boutique where you can buy pet supplies and food.  Also, on this floor are the cats that are ready to be adopted.  They are in large, spacious areas playing, sleeping, cuddling and exploring.  The first floor gives you the feeling that you really want to take one of these cats home.  I know I did.  On the floor below are dogs who also need a home.  No matter how big the dog is they are in pretty large cubicles with lots of information and directions clearly written out including their names, how long they have been there, medicine they need, if they are friendly with other dogs, different coats and leashes they require for walking.  On the top floor there is an area that looks like an obstacle course where the dogs can run around and get lots of indoor exercise and training.  Overall, Animal Haven seemed like a really well run organization.   Everything there comes from donations or from the profits that are made from the boutique sales.  What made Animal Haven seem so special is that they really care about where their cats and dogs end up.  They not only make sure the animals are well taken care of but they spend a great deal of time, socializing the animals, making them as people friendly as possible so they have better chance of finding a home for them.  One dog was deaf and was too frightened to go outside to be walked so they take him up to the training room so he gets a chance to run around.  Two adorable kittens had been dropped off in front of Animal Haven in a box of meatballs a couple of days ago.  These animals need human contact, play, training, walking, petting so a home can be found for them.

-Banana