Week One: Welcome Cougar Paws for the Cause

According to Meals on Wheels America, nearly 9.5 million seniors are threatened by hunger, which means a lot of seniors struggling to feed, not only themselves but also their pets. Living in the hustle and bustle life, we’re enormously proud to be a part of a student initiative called Cougar Paws for the Cause to help raise donations near and dear to so many.

You may be wondering what this cause is and who the organizers behind this portion of the initiative are.

Those, dear readers, are excellent questions.

We begin with the cause named Animeals on Wheels, otherwise known as Meals on Wheels. Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston (IM) mission is to "sustain healthy and respectful lives for vulnerable populations and promote interfaith relations and volunteerism." Animeals on Wheels is one of the programs they're working on, and we are so incredibly grateful to be a part of this.

The program delivers pet food to over 1,300 cats and dogs of Meals on Wheels clients. These clients were previously sharing their food with their pets that they've received from the Interfaith Communities.

These pets, to these Houston Area seniors, are so much more than just pets. They’re not only family members, but they are also life companions. Believe it or not, over 4,400 people that IM is helping are often home-bound and disabled; this is why they have solicited the help of Meals on Wheels in the first place. What this means is oftentimes a life of potential loneliness.

As humans who can move around the community, whether we choose to or not, we are still prone to this emotion. It can be debilitating. However, for these seniors, there is often not a choice to go to the store, get coffee with a beloved friend, or attend a social function. Therefore, their pets are only their connections.

With their pets, they watch television and do other activities together around the home without feeling lonely. However, feeding these pets, while a stunning act of love and compassion, was depriving seniors of the sufficient food they needed. Their pets are valued companions, and so Meals on Wheels decided to help out.

From food to veterinary assistance, this is truly a meaningful service to the Greater Houston Area. Without this service, many seniors and their pets would not be able to feed themselves, or would find it drastically more challenging to do so.

Thus, to help seniors, we are striving to raise as much food and other donations that we can this semester. This, of course, can only be done successfully with your valuable help.

About us

We're students from the University of Houston with the purpose of collecting donations while in Professor Emery’s communications class. Please leave us a comment or message us if you’re interested in donating or have any questions. We'll give more details about our donation boxes' location and time.

If you can’t donate food physically, don’t worry, you can also be as generous as you’re able to with a donation given through the Animeals on Wheels donation website. Even if you are unable to donate, you also can get involved in the pet-loving communities. Some places that we highly recommend are BARC animal shelter, the Friends for Life Animal Shelter, the Houston ASPCA, and, of course, Animeals on Wheels. If you can’t monetarily donate, please consider donating your time.

Thanks for joining us on our #givingback class journey. Your contributions always mean a lot to us as well as the community. Stay tuned for weekly updates, videos, cute pet pictures, and inspiring stories.

Be sure to like us on Facebook. There is a donation opportunity posted to our page there as well!