The Religious Life Community sponsored an event last Tuesday to make blankets and toys for animal shelters in the Indianola area. The event was one of the service opportunities highlighted as part of RLC’s Better Together Week.

Students involved in several campus organizations attended the event to help give animals in Indianola shelters a warm blanket or soft toys to play with.

The toys were made from T-shirts cut into strips and braided together. The T-shirts were donated by members of RLC and also purchased from Goodwill. The blankets were made of fleece and made into miniature tie blankets. Kiya Koda Humane Society and Second Chance Dog Rescue of Iowa will receive the blankets and toys.

Several of the students involved are RLC interns, but members of Kappa Theta Si and Wesley Service Scholars also participated.

The Greek life students who came were excited to help out with an activity that benefitted Kiya Koda, which is a direct partner for service activities with the fraternity.

“It’s fun, and our fraternity already partners with this great group for many other community service events. I’m glad that this was available and that so many students and animals are able to benefit from this today,” senior KOY member Tim Palese said.

Wesley Service Scholars Megan Waldbillig and Alyssa Pingel attended the event and enjoyed doing a variety of service events through the program.

“It’s very therapeutic” Pingel said. They both have pets at home and were glad to see the items going to a good cause.

RLC Interfaith Intern Elise Tauer said it made sense to do a service project for Kiya Koda and Second Chance, since many groups on campus partner with the shelters already.

“Since we are making them out of t-shirts it’s nice to recycle as well,” Tauer said.

Overall, the students made about 23 blankets and toys to give to the shelters.