SHINE students make blankets for PK Rabbit
Palmerton students in the Carbon and Schuylkill SHINE Afterschool Program pet a rabbit from the PK Rabbit shelter in Whitehall on Thursday. The students made fleece blankets to donate to the shelter. Holding the rabbit is Kayla Strawn, assistant manager at PK Rabbit. JARRAD HEDES/TIMES NEWS
Dalainey Keiser, a Palmerton student in the Carbon and Schuylkill SHINE Afterschool Program, presents a fleece blanket to Kayla Strawn of the PK Rabbit shelter in Whitehall on Thursday. SHINE students from Palmerton made the blankets and chose to donate them to the shelter. JARRAD HEDES/TIMES NEWS
A small Whitehall animal shelter is the beneficiary of some comfy new gifts for its inhabitants courtesy of Palmerton Area School District students.
Palmerton students, spanning grades 1 through 4, in the Carbon and Schuylkill SHINE Afterschool Program made fleece blankets and presented their finished products to representatives from PK Rabbit with fleece blankets on Thursday at the Parkside Education Center.
Lead teacher Eileen Long said students were able to pick an organization of their choice to receive the blankets.
“They chose PK Rabbit because animal shelters aren’t often selected for these type of endeavors so they wanted to do something different and help them out,” Long said. “Students started with a 4-foot-by-4-foot square and cut out 5 inches on each corner. In between each corner, they had to make 1-inch strips and cut them to the top, where the corners would meet. They then took those and tied them together to connect two layers of the blanket.”
PK Rabbit started out with just two rabbit pens in 2014 and has grown to be able to house 10 rabbits and eight guinea pigs, assistant manager Kayla Strawn said. The guinea pigs, in particular, she said love fleece blankets, and the gifts will definitely be put to good use.
“We really appreciate what the students in Palmerton have done for us,” Strawn said. “We’re a very small program, so all of the help and support we get, we are very thankful for that.”
After accepting the blankets, Strawn and other guests from PK Rabbit talked to the students about the animals, sharing tips on what to feed them and how to best care for them. They brought along two rabbits and two guinea pigs, with students and teachers getting a chance to pet the rabbits.
“The students were really excited for this,” Long said. “They love animals and they could barely contain themselves waiting for this opportunity.”
Strawn said she plans on sending photos of the blankets in use at the shelter so students could see the fruits of their effort.
“We love getting kids involved,” Strawn said. “Having them learn about these animals and why they’re really important pets is fundamental and hopefully something they take with them as they grow older.”
