Jan. 18. Third graders at Community School of Davidson (CSD) held a cat food and linen drive for Lake Norman Lucky Cats. It all began when a third-grader named Anabel was inspired to make a difference in her community by the CSD’s cherished “Shooting Star” theme song.
Written by former music teacher Laurie Loomer, the song is a tradition at the school and the first and last lines of the song inspired Anabel to make a difference in her community.
Inspiration
“I always wondered what I could do, one little person on this Earth…it takes just one to make the love grow!” Anabel told her Mom, “I noticed that some animals were mistreated and also that some shelters didn’t have the right supplies. The world wouldn’t be the same without animals so I wanted to help them and a bunch of my friends agreed.”
The kids formed a group called Lucky Pets and chose Lake Norman Lucky Cats as their first charity to support in honor of Max, a feral cat cared for by Anabel’s mother years ago. The effort quickly evolved into a class-wide project the students planned and executed.
Their teacher, Misty Belnap, supported their efforts and welcomed Abigail Jennings, founder and president of Lucky Cats, to speak to the class about community cats and how the students could help. 
Helping community cats
Both at school and during group meetings at the park, the children designed posters for the school halls, wrote and recorded a promotional video, as well as informational materials for their donation box. Some children chose to collect monetary donations in their neighborhood and gathered $47 to purchase cat food.
The cat food drive provided 76.3 pounds of cat food and 96 linen items for community cats in the Lake Norman area.
‘Compassion an care’
“The compassion and care demonstrated by these students is a bright light for the future welfare of community cats. It was inspiring to see their dedication and enthusiasm for this project,” Jennings, a Cornelius resident, said.
Lucky Pets plans to continue working to help animals. Their next project will focus on dogs, with plans to help horses and other animals in the future.
For more information on Lake Norman Lucky Cats, visit www.luckycats.org.
