On April 18, 2021, Shine City Project joined forces once again with our beloved faculty advisor, Tara Pike-Nordstrom! Tara is the UNLV Recycling Manager and Sustainability Coordinator, and she has a strong, loving heart for helping our Earth and our environment. For several years, she was our faculty advisor while Shine City Project was still a registered student organization at UNLV. Our most memorable cleanups that we have had with Tara was our late-night cleanups at Sam Boyd Stadium where we helped to collect all of the bottles, cans, plastic cups, and other recyclable materials from the bleachers. All of these items would quickly fill hundreds of bags which would then fill up several large-size dumpsters. Tara and her crew would often be there for several hours after midnight.
On this Sunday afternoon, we met Tara at her home where she runs the All Friends Animal Sanctuary! The All Friends Animal Sanctuary has a mission of rescuing and providing a safe, lifelong home to animals in danger of being slaughtered, neglected and/or mistreated in Las Vegas. The sanctuary is home to more than fifty animals, including chickens, cows, goats, pigs, turkeys, turtles, sheep, and a sulcata tortoise. Every animal is precious and has a story of how they came to the sanctuary, and the sanctuary hopes to provide a place where each animal can live comfortably and peacefully for the rest of their lives.
At the service project, we had sixteen volunteers who came to help out! Several of our volunteers were joining us for the first time, including several members of CARP Las Vegas and Generation Peace Academy! In the beginning, we received a tour around the sanctuary where we learned about the various animals living there. For many of the animals, our volunteers had the opportunity to pet them, while even providing a small snack! After being introduced and getting acquainted, we divided into various jobs and began the work at hand! While a lot of the work involved cleaning up poop from the goat, cow, and pig areas, there were also food and water bins which needed to be cleaned and refilled for some of the animals. Overall, the service project provided a precious opportunity for us to grow our hearts for animals, especially for our younger volunteers. We really appreciate Tara's love and dedication for her animals, and we hope to come back again soon!