Who are Paw Pals? Generous friends of Alexandria’s Animals who help animals in need, and they might be younger than you think. Some Paw Pals ask for toys for shelter dogs and cats for their birthday parties instead of toys for themselves. Others host a lemonade stand and donate the profits to animals who need medical care. And now, Paw Pals have new resources to help them help even more animals at AlexandriaAnimals.org/PawPals.

Paw Pals with the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria can now access templates for invitations and thank you cards, lists for most-needed shelter items and tutorials for using technology and social media to help their cause, with adult assistance of course.

This program is just part of the AWLA’s growing programs to help young people get more involved in animal welfare. Summer camp at the shelter is now a tradition for many local children, as is stopping by after school to read to adoptable cats, but older students can now earn service hours and learn about careers in animal welfare at our Teen Service Nights and students of all ages can volunteer from their home to help animals enjoy their time at the shelter and get adopted more quickly. At-home projects include drawing portraits to help increase visibility of longer-stay animals to making blankets and toys to keeps our shelter animals smiling.

Learn more about all of our opportunities at AlexandriaAnimals.org/Youth and never miss a new event or activity by signing up for our youth program emails HERE.